Education - Conservative Impact



Free Schools
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/apr/25/free-schools-policy-under-fire-as-yet-another-closure-announced-plymouth

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/jul/24/why-spend-840000-renovating-st-anthonys-free-school-close

Pre-School - The Impact of Cuts
To be worked on

School Cuts Calculator
School Cuts is an unaffiliated campaign, who are non partisan. Their data and methodology are public and available on their website for anyone to interrogate and use. It is important to note, the use of their data on this wiki, does not indicate any allegiance to the Labour party.

School Cuts provides a by school calculator that allows the public to check how government cuts are impacting. It has a very powerful search facility where a postcode can be entered and then an interactive map of the area shows all schools. By clicking on a school a detailed breakdown of the cuts affecting that school is presented.

Data Methodology for England
School Cuts use the Schools block funding allocations for 2015 / 2016 as the baseline. This gives the per pupil funding for every mainstream school. They compare these with the funding amounts from the Government’s illustration of the impact of the NFF that was realised through the COLLECT system. Funding to cover PFI costs have been removed from all sums.

They used the Office for Budget Responsibility’s estimate for inflation for the period 2015 to 2020.

They assumed that local schools’ forums would implement the National Funding Formula as the Government has recommended.

All the data is available at https://bit.ly/school_cuts_data Andrew Baisley, 6th February 2018

Data Methodology for Wales
School Cuts used Welsh government data to calculate cuts to Welsh schools over this Parliament, 2015 — 2020.

Using the 2015/16 funding as the baseline, they calculated the impact of cost increases and pupil number increases on school funding.

The website uses the following assumptions in making its calculations:


 * That inflation for schools will amount to 8.7% over the lifetime of this Parliament. This figure is in “Financial sustainability of schools” published by the National Audit Office on 14 December 2016 (page 15) and applies equally to schools in Wales and England.
 * That funding for schools in Wales increases by 2.86% over this Parliament in line with the increase in Welsh Government revenue, but that pupil numbers in Welsh schools increase by 3.68% as predicted, leading to a reduction in funding per pupil over that period.
 * That the above changes in funding and pupil numbers are distributed equally among schools in Wales.

The website also assumes that Welsh councils do not provide additional funding for their schools from other areas of spending. Where any Welsh council does provide additional funding, the figures for schools in that council will be lower than our predicted figure.

All the figures are in 2016/17 prices. Andrew Baisley, 22nd March 2017

The Calculator


Enter a school name, a postcode or the first part of the postcode into the calculator to identify schools in your area. An interactive map shows the schools within area of the postcode you select. By clicking on the school a screen opens that shows you the total cuts for that school between 2015 and 2020. It also shows what that represents per pupil. As the highest proportion of costs in schools is wages, this typically means a loss of teachers. The estimate is on average 2 teachers per primary school and 6 teachers per secondary school. `

SEND in Crisis
Pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) are seeing a crisis in funding. According to the Department for Education’s own figures, more than 2,000 children in England with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) have no education provision at all.

Principles underlying the Code
The 0-25 SEND Code of Practice describes the principles that should be observed by all professionals working with children and young people who have SEN or disabilities. These include:


 * taking into account the views of children, young people and their families
 * enabling children, young people and their parents to participate in decision-making
 * collaborating with partners in education, health and social care to provide support
 * identifying the needs of children and young people
 * making high quality provision to meet the needs of children and young people
 * focusing on inclusive practices and removing barriers to learning
 * helping children and young people to prepare for adulthood

More information on the principles that underpin the Children and Families Act and the guidance is given in Chapter 1, Principles, in the 0-25 SEND Code of Practice. This document also details the legal requirements placed on local authorities and schools, requirements they struggle to adequately meet due to funding cuts even where some education is being offered.

Sign the Petition
School Cuts have a petition demanding adequate funding to meet SEND educational needs. The text of the demand is:

The Government has a basic duty to make sure all children can access school but instead it’s failing thousands of children who just want to learn.

In our country education for every child is a fundamental expectation. We shouldn’t accept anything less. That’s why as heads, teachers, support staff and parents we’re urging you to:


 * Properly fund SEND in all schools/colleges, ensuring no child has to wait for a place in school
 * Give funding back to local authorities so they can commission SEND support and services in line with what children in their community need

You can find the petition here. Please sign.

Articles to follow up
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/hygiene-poverty-schools_uk_5b27b938e4b056b2263c4841

Free Schools Analysis https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/jul/24/why-spend-840000-renovating-st-anthonys-free-school-close

Social Justice in Education https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/may/03/choice-inequality-education-system-social-segregation

Funding Siphoning school funds to Tory areas. https://nyebevannews.co.uk/tories-caught-siphoning-education-budget-to-tory-seats/

Labour Manifesto Education