I knew I could count on your reply.
The 2015 Popularity Contest (aka UK General Election )
- Thread starter rascal
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Clint Planet
Utter Cad.
http://www.theguardian.com/educatio...f-extra-support-to-children-due-to-cuts-poll?
Schools providing £43.5m of extra support to children due to cuts – poll
Survey shows school leaders paying for food, clothes and washing facilities to outings and head lice treatment, raising fears for deeper cuts in next parliament
Three-quarters of school leaders in the poll said they were frequently or occasionally providing food in addition to free school meals. Photograph: Chris Radburn/PA
Sally WealeEducation correspondent
Schools are providing an estimated £43.5m of unfunded support for children from low income families who have been left “high and dry” as a result of coalition cuts, a poll of headteachers has revealed.
According to the survey, published on Friday, eight out of 10 headteachers (84%) who responded said they were providing more support than five years ago, including food, clothes and washing facilities.
Others said their schools were paying for outings, head lice treatment and haircuts, as well as birthday cards and presents for pupils who would not otherwise receive any. Often teachers were paying out of their own pockets to help those most in need.
More than four out of five (84%) identified a change in financial circumstances among parents of those children affected, while 66% said they were having to step in to provide services that would previously have been delivered by health and social services – of which more than seven in 10 (72%) said they were providing mental health support.
Less than a week before the general election, the survey will raise grave concerns about the pressure on schools providing the additional support, and the impact on the most vulnerable children, of deeper cuts in the next parliament.
The poll of 2,000 school leaders across all phases of education was commissioned by the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), which represents 29,500 school leaders in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and was published on the first day of its annual conference in Liverpool.
Russell Hobby, the NAHT general secretary, said the survey showed that schools were operating like a “miniature welfare state that’s being delivered ad hoc”, but warned that spending to alleviate the short-term effects of poverty meant there was less money to spend on education, which was the real route out of poverty.
“Regardless of the promise to protect education spending in the next parliament, cuts to other public services will come home to roost at the school gates. Schools are already finding that they are providing unfunded support. Our research estimates that this costs all state schools about £43.5m a year.
“This is money that schools are having to find to help families who have been left high and dry by cuts to public services. This pressure is only going to increase. We know that whichever political party holds power after next week, deeper cuts are coming.
Hobby continued: “This is a hidden, national scandal that’s going to hit families very hard, very soon. Schools will do all they can to help and in many cases they’re already providing more support than they can afford.
“Schools are judged on results and on the quality of the teaching and learning they offer but this is a much wider problem. Asking schools to foot the bill for cuts elsewhere, and abandoning the poorest families is the wrong way to go about paying down the deficit.”
Of the 2,112 school leaders who took part in the survey, 81% were frequently or occasionally providing items of school uniform, with 33% doing so frequently. Three-quarters (75%) were frequently or occasionally providing food – in addition to free school meals – with 38% doing so frequently.
Three-quarters (77%) were providing school bags and stationery; almost half (46%) have provided basic items of clothing like underwear; almost a quarter (24%) have provided laundry facilities; 15% were providing shower facilities, and more than half (54%) were providing free after-school clubs and help with transport.
Headteachers warned that poverty was having an impact not only on the number of pupils arriving at school hungry, but also on pupils’ concentration, mental health and self-esteem.
The survey also suggested that schools were increasingly becoming a vital support network for parents. School staff were giving up time to help parents complete official paperwork, attending medical, legal and social services meetings to support parents, and giving time to parents who needed someone to talk to about their worries, debts and family needs. One school was running its own food bank; others were helping with “wraparound care” for nursery children, who are funded for only 15 hours a week.
Others were supporting needy families with ICT [information and communications technology] and printing costs; funding places at breakfast and after-school clubs for low income families who were working but unable to afford the provision; free PE kits, and family bus passes to help parents with children at different schools due to the current shortage of places.
The figure of £43.5m was arrived at after asking each respondent how much they spent per year from their school budget on extra support – among those in charge of primary schools the median was £2,000; for secondaries, £3,000. Given there are 16,788 state-funded primaries, and 3,329 state-funded secondaries in England, the NAHT survey estimates the national annual total to be £43,563,000.
Among those who said they were providing more support, more than half (55%) identified cuts to social care services as a contributing cause, while more than a third (37%) blamed a cut in health services.
The NAHT called on the government to implement a system of data-sharing so schools are automatically informed when pupils are entitled to free school meals and therefore pupil premium funding, rather than relying on individual parents to apply for their children.
Hobby said: “We’d like to see government departments working together to give schools the information they need so that low income families get the support they are entitled to. At the moment the burden of proof falls on the families themselves and children are missing out. This just isn’t right.”
The shadow education secretary, Tristram Hunt, who is expected to address the NAHT conference later on Friday, responded to the survey warning of a perfect storm ahead for children and young people under a future Tory government.
“David Cameron’s plan for extreme cuts – double the cuts next year than this – plus his refusal to match Labour’s plan to protect the entire education budget in real terms, means a perfect storm is brewing for children and young people. Labour has a better plan – protecting early years education, school spending and post-16 education in real terms.”
Schools providing £43.5m of extra support to children due to cuts – poll
Survey shows school leaders paying for food, clothes and washing facilities to outings and head lice treatment, raising fears for deeper cuts in next parliament
Three-quarters of school leaders in the poll said they were frequently or occasionally providing food in addition to free school meals. Photograph: Chris Radburn/PA
Sally WealeEducation correspondent
Schools are providing an estimated £43.5m of unfunded support for children from low income families who have been left “high and dry” as a result of coalition cuts, a poll of headteachers has revealed.
According to the survey, published on Friday, eight out of 10 headteachers (84%) who responded said they were providing more support than five years ago, including food, clothes and washing facilities.
Others said their schools were paying for outings, head lice treatment and haircuts, as well as birthday cards and presents for pupils who would not otherwise receive any. Often teachers were paying out of their own pockets to help those most in need.
More than four out of five (84%) identified a change in financial circumstances among parents of those children affected, while 66% said they were having to step in to provide services that would previously have been delivered by health and social services – of which more than seven in 10 (72%) said they were providing mental health support.
Less than a week before the general election, the survey will raise grave concerns about the pressure on schools providing the additional support, and the impact on the most vulnerable children, of deeper cuts in the next parliament.
The poll of 2,000 school leaders across all phases of education was commissioned by the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), which represents 29,500 school leaders in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and was published on the first day of its annual conference in Liverpool.
Russell Hobby, the NAHT general secretary, said the survey showed that schools were operating like a “miniature welfare state that’s being delivered ad hoc”, but warned that spending to alleviate the short-term effects of poverty meant there was less money to spend on education, which was the real route out of poverty.
“Regardless of the promise to protect education spending in the next parliament, cuts to other public services will come home to roost at the school gates. Schools are already finding that they are providing unfunded support. Our research estimates that this costs all state schools about £43.5m a year.
“This is money that schools are having to find to help families who have been left high and dry by cuts to public services. This pressure is only going to increase. We know that whichever political party holds power after next week, deeper cuts are coming.
Hobby continued: “This is a hidden, national scandal that’s going to hit families very hard, very soon. Schools will do all they can to help and in many cases they’re already providing more support than they can afford.
“Schools are judged on results and on the quality of the teaching and learning they offer but this is a much wider problem. Asking schools to foot the bill for cuts elsewhere, and abandoning the poorest families is the wrong way to go about paying down the deficit.”
Of the 2,112 school leaders who took part in the survey, 81% were frequently or occasionally providing items of school uniform, with 33% doing so frequently. Three-quarters (75%) were frequently or occasionally providing food – in addition to free school meals – with 38% doing so frequently.
Three-quarters (77%) were providing school bags and stationery; almost half (46%) have provided basic items of clothing like underwear; almost a quarter (24%) have provided laundry facilities; 15% were providing shower facilities, and more than half (54%) were providing free after-school clubs and help with transport.
Headteachers warned that poverty was having an impact not only on the number of pupils arriving at school hungry, but also on pupils’ concentration, mental health and self-esteem.
The survey also suggested that schools were increasingly becoming a vital support network for parents. School staff were giving up time to help parents complete official paperwork, attending medical, legal and social services meetings to support parents, and giving time to parents who needed someone to talk to about their worries, debts and family needs. One school was running its own food bank; others were helping with “wraparound care” for nursery children, who are funded for only 15 hours a week.
Others were supporting needy families with ICT [information and communications technology] and printing costs; funding places at breakfast and after-school clubs for low income families who were working but unable to afford the provision; free PE kits, and family bus passes to help parents with children at different schools due to the current shortage of places.
The figure of £43.5m was arrived at after asking each respondent how much they spent per year from their school budget on extra support – among those in charge of primary schools the median was £2,000; for secondaries, £3,000. Given there are 16,788 state-funded primaries, and 3,329 state-funded secondaries in England, the NAHT survey estimates the national annual total to be £43,563,000.
Among those who said they were providing more support, more than half (55%) identified cuts to social care services as a contributing cause, while more than a third (37%) blamed a cut in health services.
The NAHT called on the government to implement a system of data-sharing so schools are automatically informed when pupils are entitled to free school meals and therefore pupil premium funding, rather than relying on individual parents to apply for their children.
Hobby said: “We’d like to see government departments working together to give schools the information they need so that low income families get the support they are entitled to. At the moment the burden of proof falls on the families themselves and children are missing out. This just isn’t right.”
The shadow education secretary, Tristram Hunt, who is expected to address the NAHT conference later on Friday, responded to the survey warning of a perfect storm ahead for children and young people under a future Tory government.
“David Cameron’s plan for extreme cuts – double the cuts next year than this – plus his refusal to match Labour’s plan to protect the entire education budget in real terms, means a perfect storm is brewing for children and young people. Labour has a better plan – protecting early years education, school spending and post-16 education in real terms.”
Nick Clegg, summed up completely.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...mer-coalition-colleague-reveals-10218326.html
Utter bell.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...mer-coalition-colleague-reveals-10218326.html
Utter bell.
daylightrobber
Player Valuation: £15m
Another bloody bigot who, because of his money has had too much influence over politics and policy in this country.
ToffeeDoug
Player Valuation: £35m
I agree, but helped put there by Blair and Brown toadying up to him in the late 90s.
Yes he thinks its great , but if the economy under any government does not take off, and the current degree students do not go on into well paid jobs to pay a % of their loan back - what will the debt be in the future for the tax payer? Billions?
daylightrobber
Player Valuation: £15m
Strange play from the Tories that leak. Can't see the tit-for-tat benefiting either of the coalition partners.
Interesting, and hopefully irrelevant;
http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/news/west-london-news/boris-johnson-could-face-high-9151477
http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/news/west-london-news/boris-johnson-could-face-high-9151477
daylightrobber
Player Valuation: £15m
Eh! He's been around a lot longer than that.
ToffeeDoug
Player Valuation: £35m
I know but in 1997 The Sun famously switched their support to Labour and the payback came in the years that followed.
Blue 1
Player Valuation: £70m
I hope he dies soon. Shame it will take longer for the world to be rid of his malign influence. Evil turd.
daylightrobber
Player Valuation: £15m
An interesting piece on the right wing press in the run up to the election.
https://opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/oliver-huitson/press-campaign-so-far-'coup'-gathers-pace/feed
and another one about the role they may play once the results are in
https://www.opendemocracy.net/ourki...coup-and-labour-is-doing-nothing-to-stop-them
https://opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/oliver-huitson/press-campaign-so-far-'coup'-gathers-pace/feed
and another one about the role they may play once the results are in
https://www.opendemocracy.net/ourki...coup-and-labour-is-doing-nothing-to-stop-them
daylightrobber
Player Valuation: £15m
Hardly right to say he was put there by Blair & Brown though is it?
Thatcher helped Murdoch bring down the print unions and allowed him to take over the Times & Sunday Times whilst already owning The Sun & NOTW. Should have gone to the monopolies commission but unsurprisingly didn't.
It was Thatcher who handed him the power and influence and he's been abusing it to spread his bile ever since.
The Esk
Player Valuation: £70m
The Tories know there's no Con/LD coalition after Thursday the maths don't work.
The strategy is to get weak liberals to vote Tory on the basis that LD is a bust force and therefore a wasted vote.
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