Kenilworth School urging parents to fight against school cuts

In its school newsletter sent to parents on Friday March 3, headteacher Hayden Abbott claims the government’s new national funding formula for schools would ‘significantly disadvantage’ its pupils.

And a more detailed document posted on the school’s website reads: “Continuing to offer the same broad and balanced curriculum in the future which meets the needs of all our students is going to be impossible under the national funding formula.”

Kenilworth School is not the only one which is against the government’s plans.

Headteachers of six other secondary schools in and around Warwick district have united against the proposals.

In a letter sent on Wednesday March 8, Central Warwickshire Secondary Schools urged parents to write to their MP or respond to the consultation on the government’s plans.

If introduced, the formula would see funding per pupil reduce in real terms by the 2019/20 academic year.

The independent National Audit Office has also said if no more funding becomes available, schools will have to find £3 billion of savings by 2020 - which means budgets would have to go down even more.

Both of these factors could result in an average cut of 11 per cent to schools’ budgets.

As well as Kenilworth School, the joint letter sent to parents was signed by the heads of Myton School, Trinity Catholic School, Campion School, North Leamington School, Southam College and Aylesford School.

It reads: “As a group of heads, we have major concerns about the impact on educational provision of such severe reductions to school budgets.

“We have already made many procurement and staffing savings, so you need to be aware that if we really do have to cut a further 11 per cent from our budgets over the next four years, then it is extremely likely that we will have to make cuts to the way we currently deliver education to our students.

“Well-funded education provision is vital to our children’s wellbeing and the nation’s future prosperity, and as heads we will continue to deliver the best we can within the constraints we have to operate within.”

The news follows the publication of figures by the National Union of Teachers showing the possible scale of the cuts schools could face.

The government claims its new formula is fairer as each pupil would attract the same amount of funding no matter where they were in the country - which is not the case with the current system.