Schools get heavy on 'voluntary' contributions

In another example of how the vast amount of money Britain hands over to the EU towards its lavish costs - £115 million every single week on average - is depriving essential public services, a new report has revealed that schools are increasingly having to send heavy-handed demands to parents for 'voluntary' financial contributions.

Quote a parent who received such a letters, the Guardian reports: "It read like a letter from a debt-collector ... "Our accounts indicate you have not made a contribution," it stated. "Our records indicate you have not contacted us." In fact, it was a letter from a state primary school. And it was asking for "voluntary" contributions of £40 from parents to its annual fund".

"I recognise that you may feel unable to pay the full amount," the chair of governors went on. "We always invite parents to write to us to explain their circumstances and propose an alternative."

Another parent told Education Guardian that her child's state school in Buckinghamshire had rung her "several times" when she did not immediately pay its annual voluntary contribution.

A report by the Department of Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) on the cost of schooling last year found that three in 10 parents were asked to make voluntary contributions.

Secondary schools tended to ask for £44 a year, while primaries asked for £27. Nine per cent of the 1,500 parents surveyed said they were asked to contribute £100 or more to the annual school fund.

Clarissa Williams, president of the National Association of Headteachers and former headteacher of Tolworth Girls' school in Kingston-upon-Thames, says voluntary contributions enable schools to buy things without tapping into government funds.

"We used to run the school minibus, buy wheelie bins, and kit out the library with the money," she says.

All things which many of us understood were supplied out of the taxes we pay.

But in truth, huge amounts of that money is now being sent to the EU instead, since Tony Blair agreed from 2007 to increase our payments by 63%. This was despite the failure by auditors to give a clean bill of health to the EU's accounts for 14 years in a row.

Now schools are having to make up the shortfall.

Teachers threaten strike over £200m school funding cuts

Teachers are threatening to strike over plans to cut £200m from school and college budgets amid claims it will "ration" teenagers' opportunities - reports the Daily Telegraph.

They will ballot for industrial action at sixth-forms where staff face redundancies to plug the funding black hole.

The National Union of Teachers branded the cuts "an absolute disgrace" and said Labour risked leaving many young people on the "scrap heap".

It marks a significant escalation of the row over an eleventh-hour drop in funding for institutions across England, putting courses for as many as 50,000 teenagers under threat.

Last week, head teachers warned they could sue the Government's Learning and Skills Council over the episode.

Meanwhile the European Union continues to enjoy its net £6bn a year (or £115m a week) funding deal, agreed in 2005 before the economic crisis erupted.

The Government is facing the need to make major cuts in public spending to compensate for money spent on supporting banks and the economy, but has so far refused to re-open debate on the scale of cash Britain hands to the EU.

This is despite the fact that, back in November, the accuracy of the EU's accounts was seriously criticised by auditors for the 14th year in a row, with billion of pounds of EU spending once again unaccounted for.

Colleges forced to take 'drastic measures' after £60 million cut

Head teachers are considering drastic measures, such as turning down thermostats and forgoing new text books, because of a "comprehensive mismanagement" of government funds which may lead to tens of thousands of students losing college places.

The Daily Telegraph reports that a surprise £60 million cut in the budget for the education of 16 to 19 year olds in England was announced to schools last week, jeopardising the future of an estimated 35,0000 students.

This came despite a promise in early March that the money, allocated by the by the Government's Learning and Skills Council, was available to take on more students in a drive to encourage teenagers to stay in education.

Many heads recruited additional sixth-formers in response only to later be told the money was not available.

Now they say they will have to resort to cancelling school trips and building repairs among other "desperate" measures in order to make up for the shortfall.

EU 63%: teachers 2.45%

A teachers' strike set for tomorrow is set to close or partially close more than 6,000 schools in England and Wales - reports the BBC.

Warnings to parents from 88 local authorities - half of the total - show that 28% of schools are expected to face disruption from loss of lessons to complete closures.

The one-day pay strike is being staged on Thursday by members of the National Union of Teachers over a pay dispute.

The union is attacking a pay deal which represents a 2.45% rise this year with a further rise of 2.3% in 2009 and 2010, arguing that it is below inflation and is therefore an effective pay cut.

Christine Blower, the union's acting head, said: "What we're saying to the government is, if you really do value teachers, then make sure that they're paid at least at the level of inflation - which we take to be the RPI, which is 4.1%."

The offer contrasts sharply with the government's agreement to increase Britain's annual contributions to the EU by 63% - or £2.5bn net extra every year from 2007-13.

This excessive generosity was despite EU auditors remaining unable to approve the "majority" of the EU's spending - a situation that has persisted for 13 years running.

This EU pay deal was endorsed by a majority of MPs back in February. So unless the MPs responsible imagine that there is a bottomless pit of public money to plunder, none who unjustifiably voted to support splashing so much extra on the EU can complain when it emerges that there isn't enough money left to pay teachers fairly.

MPs must acknowledge the reality that if they approve an obvious waste of vast sums of public money in one area, then that decision will have consequences in other areas of public spending.

This is a simple economic reality that everyone is familiar with in their own personal lives, and which MPs must realise applies to national finances too.

MPs must take responsibility when this happens, particularly where it affects their own constituencies. Rather than (as so often) posture in support of public services facing cuts, despite having voted to waste large sums that could instead have been used to help.

Widespread disruption to schools is likely in a number of both inner city and rural areas. Leeds, Cardiff, Suffolk and Cumbria all look likely to have many schools shut or partially closed.

The £230m primary schools sell-off

Almost 300 primary school sites have been sold off in the past decade as local councils seek to raise funds, according to a More4 News/Channel 4 News online survey.

The sales have generated £230m for authorities, as councils struggle to meet government funding demands and combat falling school rolls.

The research shows a further 188 primary schools sites are earmarked for future sale.

Critics say the sell-offs are a 'missed opportunity' to improve educational standards, and could leave authorities short of classrooms in the future.

Christine Blower, acting general secretary of the NUT, said: "The findings both surprise and depress me. At the moment we still have extremely large class sizes all over England and Wales, and because of these sell-offs we will find ourselves with insufficient classroom capacity further down the road.

"Whilst the pupil population might be decreasing at the moment this was the ideal opportunity to reduce class sizes and keep spending on education at the same level so that we can begin to fulfil Gordon Brown's promise that state school children will be funded to the same level as those in the independent sector."

Government funds schools according to how many places they have, rather than the actual number of pupils. It urges authorities to close schools with too few children, as they are seen as an ineffective use of resources.

The survey found that the council which received the most for primary school sales in the past decade was Oxfordshire, whose sell-off programme led to £39.8m being brought in from sales.

Others in the top 10 included: Hertfordshire at £25.6m, Cambridgeshire at £19.7, West Sussex at £15.8m, Havering at £15.4m and Leeds at £13.7m.

Over Easter, Cumbria County Council became the latest authority to indicate it was going to close primary schools under a reorganisation programme.

Councils pledge to put the money raised from primary school sales back into education funding, and many new schools and facilities have been built using the revenue.

However, professor Tony Travers, a local government expert at the London School of Economics, warned that pledges on education spending have to be taken with a pinch of salt.

He said: "You have to take councils at face value when they say they will be ring-fencing funds. But ring-fencing doesn't necessarily mean extra spending on education."

Overall, 113 councils responded to questions filed by Channel 4 news online under Freedom of Information rules, to show that 298 primary school sites had been sold off in the past decade for a total of £236,337,577.

'Good schools' to hand back £85m savings

Good schools could be forced to hand back thousands of pounds every year under a new Government "tax" on prudent head teachers, the Daily Telegraph reports today.

For the sake of grabbing back an amount of money equivalent to less than a week of what the government plans to hand to the audit-failing EU under the new EU budget deal, head teachers at some of the best-performing state schools in the country may be forced to axe staff or raid library budgets to finance improvements to facilities rather than tapping into their savings.

The little-noticed move could affect as many as 20,000 primary, secondary and special schools and would require any school with extra money at the end of the year to hand a share back to local authorities.

Schools are set to lose 5% of outstanding balances, even if it has been set aside to fund new buildings, playground improvements, sports facilities or drama studios.

Mick Brookes, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said "Schools are going to have to find that five per cent additional money from somewhere else.

''This includes the money schools use to buy books for the children, teaching materials and sports equipment.

"If schools have to give back £25,000 or more, it could mean losing a teacher."

Pauline Cox, the head teacher at Tiffin Girls' Grammar School, Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, which came top in the country in one GCSE league table this summer, said: "We have a 1950s school which is falling to pieces and needs repairs, which cost money.

''We already have to scrimp and save to do this, and now whatever we manage to pull together for the next year will be taxed. I feel robbed. The fury among teachers is remarkable."

In a Parliamentary answer to the Liberal Democrats, the Government admitted that £988 million of last year's surplus – almost 63% of the total – had been "committed for specific purposes", which may include buildings.

David Laws, the Liberal Democrat children's spokesman, said: "This Government plan is a tax on good schools. It is taking from the prudent head teachers that are about to fund major capital projects and giving to less prudent ones and those who have already spent their money."

Andrew Baker, the head of Westcliff High School for Boys, Essex, said: "I have never heard a proposal that is so devious and unprincipled as this.

''It will encourage schools to make irresponsible expenditure to avoid the taxman."

Terry Molloy, the head of Claremont High School, Brent, north London, said: "This money is meant for my children, to make their education better. Why should they be punished like this?"

Under the new EU budget deal, Britain is set to pay the audit-failing EU £6bn (net) a year - that's £115m every week until 2013.

This deal is expected to come before MPs for approval sometime in the next session of Parliament, starting next month.

Can MPs really justify voting billions of pounds extra a year to such a wasteful organisation as the EU, while the government has to resort to clawing back fractions of that amount from prudent schools seeking to improve their facilities?

Has the EU now usurped 'Education, Education, Education'? MPs will confirm their real priorities with their votes on the European Communities (Finance) Bill.

OECD: UK trails Slovenia in class sizes

Class sizes in Britain are among the highest in the developed world, reports the Daily Telegraph today.

An international study published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has revealed that only six other countries - Japan, South Korea, Turkey, Brazil, Chile and Israel - have more children in primary school lessons

Teachers criticised the findings and challenged Gordon Brown to deliver on his pledge to match budgets in state schools to those in the private sector.

Parents claimed that large classes were to blame for thousands of children leaving primary school unable to read or write properly.

The annual study – Education at a Glance – said that 25.8 pupils aged five to 11 shared the average lesson in 2005, and this was "large by international standards". It put Britain behind countries such as Hungary, Slovakia, Mexico and Slovenia in a league table of 29 nations.

Steve Sinnott, the general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: "While Britain has now achieved the average spent on education by industrialised countries there is much more to do.

"I look to the fulfilling of the Prime Minister's commitment to match public with private spending on education. State school class sizes must be brought down."

Richmond: Children's centres hit by cash shortfall

Plans for much-needed children's centres at borough primary schools have hit the rocks because of a £665,000 shortfall in government funding - reports the Richmond & Twickenham Times.

Lowther Primary School, Barnes, was due to submit a planning application for its centre next week, but the cruel blow means the project is now in serious jeopardy because of a lack of cash.

And two other proposed children's centres - at Heathfield Primary and St Richard's, Ham - could also be forced to scale down.

The blow comes as a result of a failed application for additional funding from Richmond upon Thames Council.

Pat Hutchies, headteacher at Lowther Primary School, said north Barnes had been identified by the government as a key area for a children's centre.

She said: "One of the ideas of these types of centre is that they can deliver intermediate services, not just education.

"Health visitors could have a proper space not just a tiny chair in the corner of a room.
"This kind of service is hard to deliver at the moment in the area and it would have just been the most marvellous opportunity for families in the community.

"There will be a significant shortfall in the cost of what we want and what we should be delivering.

"North Barnes deserves the facility so we can deliver hard to access services.

"We are going to be campaigning to get the money - where there's a will there's a way.

"I think if you look at what is right, the community deserves it. It's extrememly disappointing."

She added the idea had been in the pipeline since the early 1990s, but it was only since the government pinpointed the area as part of a wider children's centre plan that dreams started becoming reality.

A Richmond Council spokesman said: "The three new-build children's centres, at Heathfield Infants, St Richard's with St Andrew's and Lowther Primary, are facing a combined shortfall of £655,000.

"The children's centre capital programme consultants, employed by the DfES to oversee the Children's Centre initiative, supported Richmond's request for additional funding.

Subsequently, however, the DfES has, initially, refused the funding.

"If Richmond does not receive the additional funding, then the council will have to rationalise its plans for children's centres schemes in the borough."

Hounslow: Budget cuts could mean loss of six community teachers

Anger is brewing over council proposals to cut funding for six valuable community teachers working in Hounslow schools - reports the Richmond & Twickenham Times.

The community outreach officers currently help organise activities - including fun trips, adult education classes and evening clubs - at the Beavers Community, Green Dragon, Berkeley, William Hogarth and Edward Pauling primary schools, as well as Sparrow Farm Infants school.

But, as part of £1.3million cuts to be made to next year's children's services and life long learning budget, Hounslow Council has proposed cutting funding for the officers in a bid to save £350,000 over three years.

It is believed that alternative funds might be available to allow these workers to carry on their work, but some teachers and parents said they still feared the worst.

Kim Osborne, whose eight-year-old daughter Broghan attends Beavers Community, has written to all the parents at the school asking them to support her fight to keep the funding.

In her letter, Mrs Osborne writes: "Without our valuable community teacher, school funds will dwindle, families will not get the opportunity to socialise, our children will not be able to continue taking part in fantastic educational events, the PTA may fold and teachers may not get as much vital support as they would like from parents. The school will never be the same again.

"We cannot allow this to happen."

A petition has been placed at The Hub community centre and in shops around Hounslow by Mrs Osborne.

Mrs Christine Haflam, acting headteacher at Berkeley Primary, said her school would "lose out a great deal" if community outreach officer Stephanie Collis had to leave.

"I think we would either be working really hard to maintain the work that Stephanie does, or some of these services might not happen," she said.

In its report on the proposed cuts, the council recognised that "these community officers are based in some of the most deprived areas of the borough and perform a valuable role in involving parents with education".

A final decision on the fate of the teachers could be made as late as March 2007 when the council sets its final budget for the next year.

At the time of going to press, Hounslow Council could not be reached for comment.

Other possible changes proposed in the Children's Services and Lifelong Learning report:

1) Increasing school meals by 10p from 2007, raising an extra £100,000 per year for the Hounslow council's coffers.

But a council report warned there was "the risk of a reduced take-up of meals if prices are increased".

2) Grants for voluntary language classes could be cut to save £33,000 a year.

The classes help residents to learn English.

A report examining all possible budget cuts said that "opportunities for ethnic- minority communities would be reduced at some cost to the council's policies for social cohesion" if the classes were stopped.

3) The Ride children's home in Brentford could be closed to cut £200,000 a year from the budget.

Cared-for kids would be placed in other facilities and staff would be made redundant, the council's report said.

The under-utilised home is in a prime residential area, the council noted, and could be sold to generate a "significant" amount of money.

Mr Valery Agborsangaya, manager of The Ride, did not wish to comment on the proposed closure.

Chemistry labs 'need £2bn boost'

A small report in the Daily Telegraph today says that plans to upgrade chemistry laboratories in schools will fall a quarter of a century behind a government target unless extra money is earmarked.

According to the Royal Society of Chemistry, almost £2 billion is needed to achieve the right standard and keep the country competitive.

Richard Pike, the RSC chief executive said, "Without something being done to address this slippage, Britain could drift to the margins of world science as potential young talent goes unexploited."

MPs intending to vote three times this amount to be paid to the EU every year until 2013 need to decide who they are elected to represent. Co-operating with other European countries and supporting economic development abroad does not need a vast central EU budget - especially one that auditors cannot sign off as accurate, and which is beset by reports of waste, maladministration and fraud.

Cleethorpes: Parents to fight school closures

Parents in North East Lincolnshire are preparing to fight plans to close primary schools in the region - reports the BBC.

Councillors say up to five schools must close to reduce 3,500 surplus places - a figure which could rise to 4,500 by 2009 unless action is taken.

Elliston and Bursar in Cleethorpes, and Littlecoates in Grimsby, are earmarked for closure.

Eastfield and Ravendale in Immingham are also under threat.

Parents of Bursar pupils are planning a protest at Grimsby Town Hall on Monday.

In addition to the closures, other schools in the region could be merged under the plans, which will be discussed by the council cabinet on Monday.

Although there will be a public consultation, parents are angry by the timing of the announcement.

Father-of-three Mark Baxter, who has two children at Bursar, told BBC News: "They have just gone ahead with this and dropped it on us.

"We want to make them aware that we plan to highlight the fact we don't want this school to close and that we are going to fight it."

Meanwhile, parents with children at Elliston Infants School are also meeting to form an action group.