Today, Head Teacher Mr Hadley-Pryce and Head Teachers from across England will engage in an unprecedented event to raise continuing concerns relating to school funding and teacher recruitment and retention.
A thousand Head Teachers will gather at Downing Street in support of the campaign group Worth Less? After three years of relentlessly reasonable campaigning we remain extremely concerned that we are unable to lead and serve our schools and local communities in the way that we wish to.
Despite a newly introduced National Funding Formula the Department for Education has failed to meaningfully address the crucial issue of funding.
In July 2018 the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies confirmed that since 2010 school budgets have been slashed by 8% in real terms. In August 2018 the independent Education Policy Institute stated that schools in many parts of England face a severe “shortage of teachers”.
Worth Less? has repeatedly requested that the Treasury and Department for Education meaningfully address these two crucial issues. These requests have largely been ignored.
In light of this, we feel that we have no alternative but to deliver a plea to the chancellor and Secretary of State for Education to support schools, families and children in three fundamental ways:
- Fund all schools adequately and reverse the real terms cuts that have happened over the last 8 years
- Make an immediate £400 million cash injection to support the beleaguered SEND/High Needs Block
- Meaningfully improve real term per pupil funding for the post 16 education sector