Schools get '˜creative' with funding crisis

Local headteachers have reacted to claims the county's schools will be more than £44 million worse off by 2019/20 than they were in 2015/16.
Caistor Grammar School headmaster Alistair Hopkins EMN-170425-095700001Caistor Grammar School headmaster Alistair Hopkins EMN-170425-095700001
Caistor Grammar School headmaster Alistair Hopkins EMN-170425-095700001

Data released on the School Cuts website, published by the NUT and other teachers’ unions, predicts the amount schools will get under the new National Funding Formula (NFF).

According to these figures, one of the hardest hit would be Caistor Grammar School, with a reduction of 23 percent.

Headmaster Alistair Hopkins said: “We have been working very hard over a number of years now to mitigate any anticipated spending cuts. We manage our finances accordingly.

De Aston headteacher Simon Porter EMN-170425-095815001De Aston headteacher Simon Porter EMN-170425-095815001
De Aston headteacher Simon Porter EMN-170425-095815001

“What is important to all of us at Caistor Grammar School is that we continue to maintain the high quality education and support that we give to our students.

“That will always be our priority.”

The figures apply to both secondary and primary schools, with all but three in this area showing a reduction in funding.

“Nationally the funding crisis in education is leading to schools making cuts to teaching and support staff,” said Simon Porter, head of Market Rasen’s De Aston School, which is predicted a 15 percent drop in funding, according to the website.

De Aston headteacher Simon Porter EMN-170425-095815001De Aston headteacher Simon Porter EMN-170425-095815001
De Aston headteacher Simon Porter EMN-170425-095815001

Schools face impossible choices as a result of real terms cuts to spending per pupil.

“Reduced budgets mean fewer staff and, with fewer staff, class sizes in many schools across the country are increasing.

“Schools cannot sustain the level of support they provide to pupils, or the range of subject options and enrichment activities if they are not adequately funded.

“As the headteacher of De Aston, I, like other heads am being forced into making tough choices but am prioritising keeping our children safe and well-educated.

“It is not easy, but as a school we are being creative and trying to do more with less.

“I look forward to the promise of fairer funding actually materialising.”

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