As a school, we feel that it is our duty to provide parents with a fair and accurate picture of the real state of school funding in Sandwell.
All state schools in England are funded by a grant from the Department for Education, but since 2010 school funding for each child has fallen by 8% in real terms (according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies). All this at a time of rising cost pressures on school budgets.
As a result schools are having to make difficult choices on how to spend their limited funding, as their income has not kept pace with the rise in costs since 2010. All schools are working very hard to ‘make ends meet’ but this is becoming increasingly difficult and almost impossible.
On average, for 2019/20 school funding in Sandwell will be cut by £13.3 million as compared to four years ago. This is an average of:
(Source: www.schoolcuts.org.uk)
As funding has become tighter, schools have had to cut back on:
There is also a crisis in funding for pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).
From March 2018 there was a very small increase in funding for schools, however, this increase has gone nowhere near closing the gap between what our school receives and what our school needs to deliver the education all our children deserve.
If you think government should fund schools sufficiently and fairly, please show your support by adding your name to the petition ‘Increase Funding for Schools’, as well as encouraging family and friends to do so, via the link below:
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/232220
(You will be asked to add some minimal information (name, email address, postcode) and then you will be required to confirm your email address by responding to the automated response sent to you.)
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and please support your children’s future by signing the petition.