‘Parents picking up the pieces of the education funding crisis in Bristol’

The most vulnerable children in Bristol are being hardest hit by budget cuts that are affecting schools across the city.

While the Government has made much of the claim it is putting money into education, a group of teachers, parents and industry experts argue the reality on the ground tells a very different story, with vital special educational needs (SEN) among the services losing out.

Schools across the country are £2billion a year worse off than they were in 2015 and Bristol is bearing the brunt of this, according to the creator of School Cuts website Andrew Baisley.

Andrew Baisley says he is still worried about the precarious situation facing school funding

Speaking at a public meeting in City Hall on Thursday, the campaigner said: “It’s increasingly becoming obvious the precarious position schools are in. We have the biggest rise in secondary school students in a generation.

“The impact has started now. The figures won’t be published until July, but I’m sure that next September, the number of teachers will be down on this September.

“We have still got a lot of work to do with the campaign to protect schools and Bristol is at the sharp edge of this.”

Mum of two Sarah McClelland said: “I have been home educating for 11 months because my son has special needs and he has been affected and I do not know how to trust in the system ever again, knowing what I know.

“A lot of parents are picking up the pieces of the crisis in the education system because they are not willing to put children through the suffering they are subjected to because of the cuts.”

Christine Townsend says children with special educational needs are being hit the hardest by cuts

Her sentiments were echoed by others in the room and education campaigner Christine Townsend claimed she has heard of cases where special educational needs children are being “pushed out”.

“Parents are facing suggestions that their child might need to go to another school, or are getting letters about attendance.  At national and local levels, the law is being used against parents in a way that circumnavigates the obligations of schools,” she said.

People in Bristol took to the streets in their thousands to protest against school funding cuts in May, but there was a feeling of despondency in the air on Thursday, when numbers were fairly thin on the ground and the situation facing the future of education looked bleak.

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In response to this, Baisley said: “As a consequence of the general election and the fuss that we all made, we have made a dent in the cuts that schools are facing and that’s a fantastic tribute to everyone involved in this.”

Dad and campaigner Huw Williams argued that all parents care deeply and that is evident in the hundreds that gather in local meetings across Bristol and deliver leaflets at school gates.

Recent school leaver George Angus is calling on people to lobby against education funding cuts

Recent school leaver George Angus said students are becoming increasingly disillusioned with education and called on people to form local groups and rally their representatives for the fair funding every child deserves.

The National Education Union (NEU)will hold a mass lobby of Parliament on Tuesday, October 24 to protest against education funding cuts. A coach will leave from Bristol in the morning and everyone is welcome to join, visit the NEU website to book.

Read more: Rally against ‘criminal’ cuts to Bristol’s schools