The National Funding Formula Consultation

THE INTENTIONS BEHIND THE FUNDING FORMULA Justine Greening , Secretary of State for Education: “The proposals for funding reform will mean that all schools and local areas will now receive a consistent and a fair share of the schools budget so that they can have the best possible chance to give every child the opportunity to reach their full potential. Once implemented the formula will mean that wherever a family lives in England, their children will attract a similar level of funding, and one that properly reflects their needs.”

Is the National Funding Formula a good idea? My personal view – Yes it is. The intentions are right but changes do need to be made to ensure that all schools are funded sufficiently and are able to provide a good education. David Rutley, MP for Macclesfield: “While I support the aims of the new funding formula, I am concerned about the potential impact these current proposals will have on local schools, as the proposals would lead to Cheshire East becoming the lowest funded local authority area nationally.”

Funding is made up of 3 main elements AWPU – Average weighted pupil unit. This is the amount of money that every school receives per pupil. Pupil / school led factors – dependent on a variety of factors such as health, prior attainment, deprivation Lump sum – given to all schools.

Current funding

Proposed funding under National Funding Formula

Cheshire East is a high performing authority with relatively low deprivation. Because the AWPU will be reduced by 3%, we will receive less basic money per pupil. The additional factors will increase by 5% and many of our schools will not rate highly here, so the money that we lose on basic AWPU will not be made up for by increased additional factors. Under the new formula Cheshire East will be the worst funded authority in the country.

Cheshire East £4179 Cheshire East will be less per pupil by: England £4524 £345 North West £4523 £344 Statistical Neighbours £4270 £91 Geographical Neighbours £4411 £232 F40 £4290 £111

How much does it cost to run our school? The next slide shows the absolute minimum that our school could function with.

Educational equipment The absolute basics Staffing 1 principal 7 teachers 1 TA to support Foundation 2 TAs to support individual pupils 1 business manager 1 admin 1 site maintenance officer 1 cleaner Mid day supervisors Cover costs for illness / injury £550,000 Educational equipment £20,000 Premises, bills, rates, insurance £65000 Services: 36,000 Total: £671000

With only the absolute basics this is what our school would look like: 1 teacher in each class No non contact time for teachers – A statutory requirement in mainstream schools No additional support for any pupil unless they have a legal entitlement No money to be able to subsidise any school trips or activities No money for building improvements apart from essentials, ie: safeguarding or health and safety issues No investment in technologies No replacement / updating of existing computers / technology Only essential and basic curriculum resources available. No budget for staff development and no budget for increases in staff salary increases – leading to challenges in recruitment / retention. No budget for school support and development. No additional activities such as wider opportunities, forest schools, No budget for supply teachers / cover

Our children deserve more than a basic education

In addition to the absolute basics we have additional staff who have key roles in our school 5 additional teachers (not full time) who provide non contact/PPA time, ECaR, pastoral support, sports development, SEN leadership - £112,000 Additional TA support (122.5 hours) - £77,000 Total (added to the absolute basics) - £860,000

Income for 2016/17 General annual grant (GAG): £805,000 Pupil Premium: £26,000 Sports Premium: £10,000 High needs funding: £22,000 TOTAL: £863,000 Cost of current staffing and basic essentials: £860,000

You can see that based on this year’s budget we can only just afford the current staffing levels. These figures do not include any extras such as: Wider opportunities for music Forest Schools Financial subsidies for trips, clubs etc Any resources beyond the basics Any building work beyond the essential.

Under the proposed formula Highfields would receive around £22,000 less than it currently does in it’s next budget. It needs to be recognised that costs will also increase.

By 2019 the impact on our budget would be:

What can you do Nothing Get tweeting Social media Raise awareness Sign petitions Talk to family and friends Fill in the consultation document and let your voice be heard.

The consultation is very complicated but please don’t be put off The consultation is very complicated but please don’t be put off. As a minimum please complete the first 4 questions. Try to make your responses personal. It will have far more impact than a collective and standard response.

Focus on: There is insufficient funding per pupil. The percentage of the pot that goes into the AWPU must remain at 76% and not be reduced to 73%. This would preserve the intentions and integrity of the formula but gives a larger amount to each pupil before the additional factors are included. A larger basic amount per pupil is essential to provide a high quality education.

Please talk to me I am here to offer suggestions and support. The computers are set up in the ICT suite if you want to do the survey here whilst at parents evening. Don’t do nothing – the quality of your child’s future education is on the line!

Additional Parent meeting Following on from last night’s parent’s meeting I will be doing another meeting on Thursday 16th March at 2.30pm Please come along