It’s been a tough few years for schools, who have been left feeling anxious and uncertain about their future. These uncertainties have been brought about through the planned national funding formula, the real term cuts and the constant dangling of the forced academisation carrot.
Just two years ago, schools were sent into a frenzied panic as the government announced its plan for all schools to become academies by 2022. Yes, that decision was later revoked, but I’m sure there are some schools who moved to academisation based on Nicky Morgan’s announcement and were undoubtedly left dismayed when the U-turn came just two months later.
As for those maintained schools that didn’t take the plunge, I’m sure that said U-turn was a relief, but most school leaders that I’ve spoken to believe that the academisation programme hasn’t fallen off of the government agenda – it’s simply going to come in via a different route. Of course, there are still instances when schools can be forced into academisation because of an order made by their local authority, or if an Ofsted inspection deems them to be failing.
This means that all schools are pushing harder than ever before to ensure that they’re judged to be Good or Outstanding – and while nobody would argue that every child in England deserves to be taught in a school that is Good or Outstanding, the fact remains that Ofsted inspectors are inconsistent with their judging and often known to focus on relatively insignificant admin issues, ensuring that every single ‘i’ is dotted and ‘t’ is crossed.
That leaves schools feeling vulnerable, believing that if we don’t do everything in accordance with Ofsted 100%, they’ll be taken away from the LA and forced to become an academy. The jury is still out on whether academisation really does raise standards, with many sources indicating that it actually doesn’t.
As well as the pressures being faced by maintained schools, all schools are currently facing challenges and threats around funding. The promise of the National Funding Formula appears to have been around for significantly longer than anybody would expect, and yet there still seems to be little certainty regarding its implementation or how schools will be affected. Irrespective of what the NFF brings in, and regardless of whether rural schools benefit and city schools lose out, the fact remains that the issue lies in the funding, not just the formula.
There have been many publications showing that all schools face real term cuts, and that by 2020 those cuts will be up to 11% per pupil. This year, many schools began to see changes in their budgets that have resulted in them having to make savings. The biggest spend for all schools is staffing, and we’ve seen many stories published about schools needing to reduce their numbers of support staff by way of making cutbacks. This is only going to worsen – if schools don’t have money to pay staff, they’ll quite simply have to lose them.
It’s ironic, isn’t it? As schools endeavour to achieve the best they can so as to avoid forced academisation, the likelihood of that happening is intensified by the fact that they can no longer afford high-quality teaching and learning staff. This government clearly needs to re-think its priorities.
Caroline Collins is a specialist leader of education and head of school business strategy and resources at Miles Coverdale Primary School
