On Wednesday 30 June, the Times Educational Supplement published an article focusing on how desperate schools are for funds after the National Funding Formula was announced.

This article mentions that even schools that seem OK now, can and will discover issues in the future in regards to resources, staffing and funding as a direct result of the real-terms government budget cuts by government.

Nicky Gillhespy, school business manager with the LEO Academy Trust, said, “[I have] never felt under so much pressure to balance the budgets as I do now.”

In terms of resources, she says schools are doing everything they can in order to save money. Gillhespy said, “Already we spend time looking for the best deals, to buy glue sticks at reduced costs”. Now, schools are worried that they may have to make cuts to staffing as it is “the only budget left to cut”.

It brings to mind a comment left by one secondary school teacher who has signed the Resource Our Schools statement, who said: “If I need specialist resources, I have to buy them myself. Money is tight – I find myself getting wound up over children using too much glue, or sharpening pencils too much! Decisions are being made based on finance, not educational value.”

This situation is a terrible one to be in at a time like this, when there are already severe teacher shortages. But it is equally important that schools have sufficient resources. They shouldn’t need to cut corners with glue sticks either, which is why we need support for the Resource Our Schools campaign.

Schools and teachers need to be focusing on educating children to the high standard that the UK has become known for around the world and not having to worry about whether they have the basic resources to do their jobs.

See the full article from Tes here.

Please also sign and support our Resource our Schools campaign here.