Prospective Parents and Carers

Firstly, sincere apologies for being unable to communicate with you directly about this, but as places have not yet been allocated by Admissions we do not have access to your contact details.

Secondly, apologies that this situation has arisen at such a difficult time for you. We fully appreciate that this could have been a significant factor in your considerations and it is regrettable that the timeline has had to fall as it did.

In summary, for quite some time now we have faced difficulties as a result of the way schools are funded. Costs to all schools have increased significantly while funding has not kept pace. For us this has been compounded by our provision for Complex Special Needs (our Resource Base), which has been historically underfunded and continues to be so. At a parent/carer meeting in January 2017 we outlined the financial position we were in and the steps we were having to take. The effects of these measures (including increased class sizes in Key Stage 2, reduced staffing, limited trip subsidy, postponed purchase of non-essential resources and minimal grounds/building maintenance) have been managed in the short term but have certainly been felt by all. Thanks to the efforts of our amazing staff and parents (most notably through the PTFA) the quality of education, attainment and our special ethos has been maintained despite these challenges.

However, additional financial constraints have been put on all schools and we now have to consider more significant and unpalatable options. In short, we are as effecient as we can be, there are no more savings to be had.

1. We are proposing to close early to pupils on Fridays (1pm), with effect from September 2019. This measure will mean that we can make savings by reducing the number of teachers employed by the school (fewer cover teachers for release time needed) and reducing hours worked by support staff. We can minimise losses to learning time by rearranging the weekly timetable. This arrangement allows us to keep class sizes and staffing ratios as they are.
2. We are having to consider stopping our provision for children with Complex Needs, and will be in talks with the Local Authority around this. This is devastating to consider as this provision is absolutely central to the school’s ethos, but we are simply no longer able to subsidise the shortfall in funding for it from our main school budget. This measure would impact on our school as a whole and would have a massive impact on the children, families and staff who utilise and deliver this provision. There is no implementation timeline for this at present.

We will be holding an information session for prospective parents shortly to explain things more fully and we hope that you will be able to attend. Details will be posted here and shared via social media.