Are Schools Being Failed?
With budget cuts across the education sector, it’s fair to say that a number of schools are starting to struggle, that’s if they haven’t been for a while. A number of school leaders have now spoken out about the issues that they are experiencing in the current crisis and the impact this is having on their schools.
Under Staffed
Across the UK a number of schools are reporting that they are now understaffed. The majority are blaming this on the tightening budgets, mixed in with the rising energy costs that even schools are affected by. However, some are including the recruitment crisis that we are also seeing across the education sector.
The questions here are then, are we having a recruitment crisis due to the low levels of pay that are being offered within our schools? Are these low levels of pay due to the decreasing budgets or have they just not been increased to coincide with inflation?
Educational Visits
Educational visits have enhanced the work that schools do, while offering extra stimulation for pupils outside of the classroom. For many pupils, these visits are the only chance for certain experiences that they may get, making them vital towards not only their education but also life experiences and mental health. However, the tightening of budget cuts, the reduction of council resources and limited staff numbers mean that many schools have had to reduce these visits, or even cut them completely.
Some schools have reduced from having at least one visit per year group per year, to one visit in a set year group, typically funded by parents of the pupils, which sadly means that there are a number of disadvantaged pupils due to the cost of living crisis.
Classroom Resources
It’s not only outside of the classroom where resources are being limited. The cuts in budgets have affected the resources that are found within classrooms. Where many schools previously had enough books for all pupils in a class, they are now reduced to using photocopies of sections of books for their studies. Physical education classes are now using a reduced number of resources as these have been deemed the most expensive, and least worthy, despite the country on the verge of an obesity crisis.
Here at The Learning College, we sadly cannot help you with your educational visits, or your classroom resources, but we can help you towards getting the staff you have, or any new hires the qualifications that they need to be the best at their jobs. Our budget-friendly qualifications are Ofsted regulated and are studied entirely online, meaning that you do not need to lose classroom hours to study.
For more information, please contact the team today.