AN ISSUE which will no doubt be a huge talking point in the run-up to next month’s’ General Election was debated at a school in Winnersh last month.
The Fair Funding for All Schools campaign, which is seeking a change to the proposed funding formula for schools across England, held a public meeting at The Forest School, in Robinhood Lane, on Thursday, April 27.
Parents of school-age children and local residents came along to hear about what pressures are currently facing schools, and heard from a range of speakers, including Wokingham Borough councillors and political leaders, as well s Mary Sandell, the school’s headteacher who resigned earlier this year over funding cuts.
Campaigner Annabel Yoxall said: “Our first public meeting at The Forest School was well attended by parents, teachers and local councillors. It was an informative evening and gave people the opportunity to ask questions, raise concerns and to discuss our next steps.”
Attendees were also invited to sign a postcard calling on the Secretary of State to protect funding for every pupil, and to ensure no school loses out as a result of the National Funding Formula.
The postcards were delivered to Westminster on Tuesday, May 3 along with postcards from every other fair funding group from across the country.
Finchampstead resident Becky Eytle said: “We’re hearing rumours that the local schools are about to ask us to pay a specific top-up sum for each child. This is a tax on parents. We understand that schools are under pressure and fully support them, the problem is at the government level. Whoever wins the general election needs to fund schools properly.”
Cllr Charlotte Haitham Taylor, Wokingham Borough Council’s then executive member for children’s services, spoke at the event. She said: “It was a valuable meeting for parents and the community to come together to hear about some of the critical financial challenges that our schools and governors are facing. Our schools in this borough do an amazing job but this is despite been historically poorly funded and indeed the worst funded in the country. Under the proposed new funding formula from central government our schools will still be at the bottom of the table for funding.
“I was pleased to be invited to talk about the actions I have been able to take to ensure that ministers and our local MPs have listened to what is happening here in our borough, including our most recent meeting with Nick Gibb MP the Minister for Schools. There is still much more that we can continue to do so that this issue remains firmly on the radar at Westminster, and on the Minister’s desk, particularly when parliament starts again after the elections on 8th June.”
Bulmershe and Whitegates councillor, and Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Wokingham, Cllr Andy Croy said: “The meeting was a great success. Mary Sandell gave a very passionate and powerful speech. The speaker from the NUT was also very knowledgeable while the representative from the national campaign gave a good sense of where the campaign is going in future. There were some extraordinarily passionate contributions from teachers and parents who have seen at first hand the impact of the funding crisis on local schools and children.
“There was also some concern that many parents, but not those in the room, do not appreciate the scale of what is going to happen to our schools over the next few years.
Just because your child is happy in school does not mean that the school is not in crisis. Parents need to be saying to their head teachers – “How bad is it?”
A second Fair Funding For All Schools event is being planned for May 26. More details will be released closer to the time. For more information on the campaign search ‘Wokingham Borough Schools Fair Funding Campaign’ on Facebook.
