More than 1,000 parents, children and teachers descended on Bath city centre this afternoon (June 8) protesting against central government school cuts in one of the biggest demonstrations the city has seen in recent memory.
The protest comes after nearly every headteacher in the Bath local authority area signed a letter which argued a “broken funding system” has left Bath schools at “breaking point.”
Campaign group Fair Funding for All Schools - BANES, which is run by concerned parents, organised the march, which started in Queen’s Square at 12pm and ended at the Royal Crescent.
Speeches were made by local headteachers and Bath MP Wera Hobhouse, who attended the protest alongside new BANES council members.
Wera, who used to be a secondary school teacher, said: “There were mote than 1,000 people on the streets of Bath today, and the Government need to listen to us.
“I'm a firm believer in people power; if we make enough noise, we will bring about change.
“It makes me very angry that the Government hide behind disingenuous school funding figures; they need to face the reality and understand what's happening in classrooms across the country.
"I will keep fighting in Parliament on behalf of teachers, parents and children.
“Everyone deserves a proper education.”
The group claims that schools in BANES are experiencing unprecedented cuts to school budgets.
Spending per child in BANES schools in 2018/19 is down in real terms by -8.8 per cent in Bath and by -6.7 per cent in North East Somerset from 2013/14.
At the same time, pupil numbers and costs have gone up.
They say that issues caused by the “funding crisis” vary from school to school, but common problems reported by head teachers include:
- Bigger class sizes
- Fewer teaching assistants and support staff
- Inadequate support for children with additional needs, from SEN to mental health support
Low or no funding for equipment, training and activities to promote a broad and balanced curriculum
A spokesperson for Fair Funding for All Schools said: “A healthy education system is fundamental to a healthy society, but unless things change fast, our children will not have the individual support they may need at key developmental stages, with potentially lifelong consequences.
“As parents, we are extremely concerned.”
Kevin Guy, BANES Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, who was on the march, said: “The new Lib Dem council administration fully support this protest, and I am deeply concerned that the funding crisis has got to this point.
“We will support Wera Hobhouse in lobbying government to provide appropriate funding for our schools so all children in Bath and North East Somerset are given the best possible education, and benefit from opportunities as a result.”
George Samios, head teacher at Twerton Infant School, who also addressed the crowd, said: “We are having to do more and more with less and less.
“As head teachers we are being put in very difficult situations, and our staff are as well. Schools are under more pressure now than they have been for a long time.
“The future of our country is uncertain, and the next generation face huge challenges.
“We ought to be investing in them and equipping them to overcome these challenges through providing the best possible education, and this is not possible on a shoestring budget.”
Department for Education statement
A DfE spokesman said the Government has given every local authority more money for every pupil in every school since 2017, while allocating the biggest increases to the most underfunded.
Its spokesman said: “Under the National Funding Formula, funding for schools in Bath and North East Somerset has increased by 7.6 per cent per pupil this year, compared to 2017-18.
"This amounts to an extra £9.3m when rising pupil numbers are taken into account, and is well above the national average per pupil increase of 3.2 per cent.
“While there is more money going into our schools than ever before we know schools face budgeting challenges, which is why we have introduced a wide range of support to help schools reduce costs and get the best value from their resources – from a free-to-use vacancy service to cut the costs of recruiting teachers, to advisors who are providing expert help and support to individual schools that need it.
“The Secretary of State has made clear that as we approach the next spending review, he will back head teachers to have the resources they need to deliver a world-class education.”
Government ‘hiding behind disingenuous figures’
But Bath MP Wera Hobhouse is not satisfied by this explanation.
Wera said: “I don’t know how many times I’ve shouted about this in the streets alongside teachers, and alongside my colleagues in Westminster.
"The government just say, ‘we’ve spent more money on schools this year than last year’, which is completely disingenuous.
"They are intentionally hiding behind wilfully out of context figures.”
She added: “The bottom line is our children’s education is suffering.
"Not only is this government completely incapable of doing anything positive in our society, but they are actively ignoring the problems.”
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‘The future looks very bleak’
A number of Bath headteachers have gone public with their concerns.
Welton Primary School headteacher John Snell said: "The under-funding of schools is unjust and immoral
"Society will look back in a few years and think, why did we allow that to happen?”
Paulton Infants School's Julie Hogan said: “The system is broken, and our young people are being systematically failed by the generation who should be nurturing, educating and empowering them.
"Without adequate funding, resources to meet the needs of our children, the future looks very bleak indeed.”
Peasedown St John Primary School's Damian Knollys said: “The government has failed to understand that education is an investment in the country’s future, not simply a cost on a balance sheet."
St. Saviour’s Junior School headteacher, Joe Beament said: “There is significant pressure on school budgets, schools across Bath and the country are making difficult decisions.
"These choices are having an impact on the quality of education we offer the children as we are forced to reduce resources and teacher assistant time and consider increases in class sizes or even closing early.
"Teachers and school staff have always gone that extra mile; we see the children every day, we put in the extra hours and work ‘above and beyond’ to support the children, giving them the very best experiences and education.
"However, without adequate funding the offer to the children will reduce and the pressure on school staff will increase.
"The government’s misleading sound bites are a smoke screen to the reality of school finances.”
The Fair Funding for All Schools petition can be found here.
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