Austerity is a “cruel choice” and the Government needs the courage to tackle school funding issues head on, a Bath Headteacher told campaigners at a meeting held last week – as momentum grows amongst Heads, parents and concerned residents across the area.

Twerton Infant School and Nursery Headteacher, George Samios, pulled the plug on this year’s pantomime because he could not justify the cost when he is facing a budget deficit and support for vulnerable children has already been cut.

A meeting in Saltford Hall last Wednesday heard that while there is more money in the school system overall, there are more pupils than ever before.

Mr Samios said: “We work hard to meet the needs of individual children, but this requires adequate funding. A large proportion of schools are spending more than their income.

“Our school has needed to withdraw the one-to-one counselling we were providing for six pupils a week – those who had experienced adversity and trauma.

“We aren’t able to update our computers and last week we had to cancel the visit of a theatre group for a panto. It wasn’t a significant amount of money; but this year we’re facing a deficit. I can’t justify £400 when I have staff I need to preserve.

“If austerity continues, I’m feeling increasingly that it’s a choice that is cruel. There are alternative ways to meet the funding shortfall. The Government needs courage to face it head on.”

Andrew Bailey, a national campaigner from the School Cuts website, said the overall figure had increased, but per pupil funding had not kept pace with growing costs – including salaries, pensions, and the introduction of the apprenticeship levy. This had combined with a “baby boom” between 2000 and 2012, with 475,000 more pupils entering secondary school than just three years ago.

Kevin Burnett, who retired in 2017 after twenty years as a teacher and is now the local Secretary of the Headteachers’ Union, said: “Political choices are now being made in a different way.”

He added that austerity shrank school budgets and resulted in “squeezed” support and the need to prioritise support to only the most vulnerable children.

He said: “Teachers are leaving – the people who love it the most, but can’t take it any more.”

He questioned why the Government is spending so much on Academies, claiming schools can access grants of £20,000 just to change their names.

“I’ve asked what difference academisation makes,” he added. “There’s no evidence it makes any difference at all. That’s scandalous and shocking. They are privatising education by the back door.”

Event organiser, Joan Liley, said the cuts are hitting social mobility for the most vulnerable children, and the economy was losing out as a result.

Responding to the comments, Jacob Rees-Mogg said after the meeting: “The Institute for Fiscal Studies has confirmed that overall, schools funding is being protected at a national level in real terms per pupil over the next two years.

“In addition, the new national funding formula will increase funding for B&NES schools, which have been historically underfunded compared with areas such as Bristol. This is good news for local children and their parents, which begins to right an historic unfairness.

“Academy reforms have proved successful in many schools, with over 450,000 pupils currently studying in sponsored academies. Many of these schools were under-performing before academisation and are now rated ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’.

“The Multi-Academy Trust structure has many advantages, for instance, allowing schools to share resources and deploy specialist staff across several schools.

“As Tony Blair’s administration started the academy programme, it is just silly to call it privatisation.”

Stephen Sumner