Dear Parents,
The Cornwall Association of Primary Headteachers has advised that this letter would be sent to all parents explaining to them the very serious financial pressures that schools are facing. The heads and their governing bodies are also writing to their MP; many have already done so. During the last week or two, MPs from across England have been raising their concerns with the Secretary of State and on the floor of the House of Commons – we are urging our MPs to add their voice to the growing concerns being expressed nationally.
The Government is imposing real terms funding cuts on schools by freezing the amount of money that is allocated to schools for each pupil at the same time that inflation, the contributions that schools have to make towards their employees pensions and National Insurance contributions have risen significantly. This affects all schools and academies alike, both primary and secondary. Whilst the amount of money coming into schools from government has remained static, the amount going out on expenditure due to government imposed changes has risen considerably.
Schools across the country are funded differently, and have been for many years. Generally, schools in rural areas are funded at a lower level than those in cities. This government has been brave enough to try and address these differences and introduce a new National Funding Formula, and the initial details were announced just before Christmas. However, rather than help rural areas such as Cornwall, it is now clear that many schools will actually lose funding; the new formula announced will do nothing to help the majority of schools in Cornwall. Figures from the National Association of Headteachers, National Union of Teachers and the Association of Teachers & Lecturers, using the government’s own formula and statistics, show that between now and 2020 there will be an average cut in funding of £339 per pupil in primary schools across the Country. Some Cornish schools have already made staff redundancies over the last three or four years, class sizes have already increased.
It is clear that schools in Cornwall are already struggling with their finances. We do not want children in this county to miss out on being taught a full curriculum in a school which has sufficient teachers and support staff to give children the attention they need to make the best of their education. The current Government was elected on a manifesto that promised to protect school funding. It is clear that this pledge is not being honoured in real financial terms. We are asking our MPs to press the Chancellor to use the Budget to announce increased education spending. We are also asking our MPs to stress the impossible financial situation that Cornwall’s schools are facing when meeting with the Secretary of State for Education, Justine Greening and her ministers. The Chair of the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee, Graham Brady has asserted that "it is clear that the draft published by the DfE does not rectify the long-standing unfairness of education funding,” and many other senior Conservative MPs have already publicly condemned the funding reforms announced.
What can parents do to help and support their school?
The more people that raise their concerns with their MP, the more likelihood there is that changes may be made. The government is currently consulting on their funding reforms, so now is the time for Cornish parents to make their voice heard. You can two things:
Your local MP will be expecting to hear from you – they know that we are sending this letter to you all!
Clare Crowle, Executive Headteacher, Trenance Learning Academy
Robin Cowen, Chief Executive Officer, The Learning Academy Trust
Matt Hurry, Chair, Board of Trustees, The Learning Academy Trust
Cookies are small data files that are placed on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. Cookies are widely used by online service providers in order to (for example) make their websites or services work, or to work more efficiently, as well as to provide reporting information.
Cookies set by the website owner or service provider (in this case, eSchools) are called “first party cookies”. Cookies set by parties other than the website owner are called “third party cookies”. Third party cookies enable third party features or functionality to be provided on or through the website or service you are using (such as advertising, interactive content and analytics). The third parties that set these third party cookies can recognise your computer both when it visits the website or service in question and also when it visits certain other websites or services.
We use first party and third party cookies for several reasons. Some cookies are required for technical reasons in order for our Services to operate, and we refer to these as “essential” cookies. Other cookies enable us and the third parties we work with to track and target the interests of visitors to our Services, and we refer to these as “advertising” or “analytical” cookies. For example, the embedding of YouTube and Vimeo videos, as added by individual schools will require “advertising” cookies to be enabled in order to successfully play them. Schools that, for example, opt to track visitor data using Google Analytics will require “analytical” cookies to be enabled in order to do so. These third party cookies are used to tailor content and information that we may send or display to you and otherwise personalise your experience while interacting with our Services and to otherwise improve the functionality of the Services we provide. We also enable schools to employ cookies and similar tracking technologies in connection with their use of our Services in order to allow them to track visitors to and interactions with, their school website.
eSchools websites may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us and to enrich your user experience. The cookies differ depending on the information. You can adapt your cookie preferences, although please note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer. We will not, without your express consent, supply your personal information to any third party for the purpose of their or any other third party's direct marketing.
Our Services allows schools to embed code which may potentially contain cookies. Please note embedded content, if displayed on one our websites, has been added by the school and not by eSchools. The embedded content added by the school may require additional cookies or tracking technologies to be enabled in order to function.
You have the right to decide whether to accept or reject cookies. Be aware that cookie preferences are set on a per device basis; therefore you may need to set your preferences on each device you use.
Initial cookie pop-up banner: You can exercise preferences about what cookies are served on our Websites by selecting your preference from this modal which appears upon visiting an eSchools website/login screen and dashboard. You can also change your cookie preferences by clicking on the link on the footer of any page. The banner will reappear annually (August 31st to coincide with the academic year) to confirm your settings.
Browser Controls: You can set or amend your web browser controls to accept or refuse cookies. If you choose to reject cookies, you may still use our Websites though your access to some functionality and areas of our Websites may be restricted. As the means by which you can refuse cookies through your web browser controls vary from browser-to-browser, you should visit your browser’s help menu for more information.
Disabling Most Interest Based Advertising: Most advertising networks offer you a way to opt out of Interest Based Advertising. We will not, without your express consent, supply your personal information to any third party for the purpose of their or any other third party's direct marketing. If you would like to find out more information, please visit http://www.aboutads.info/choices/ or http://www.youronlinechoices.com.
Mobile Advertising: You can opt out of having your mobile advertising identifiers used for certain types of Interest Based Advertising, by accessing the settings in your Apple or Android mobile device and following the most recent published instructions. We will not, without your express consent, supply your personal information to any third party for the purpose of their or any other third party's direct marketing.
We may update this Cookie Statement from time to time in order to reflect, for example, changes to the cookies we use or for other operational, legal or regulatory reasons. Please therefore re-visit this Cookie Statement regularly to stay informed about our use of cookies and related technologies. The date at the bottom of this Cookie Statement indicates when it was last updated.
If you have any questions about our use of cookies or other technologies, please email us at support@eschools.co.uk.