THERE is concern amongst parents in the town after news broke announcing that Queen Elizabeth’s School in Crediton has begun negotiations with staff about potential redundancies.

Support for students with Special Needs is one area in which the school has said it has seen significant cuts in funding.

It says consultations and negotiations are taking place with staff.

Rupert Poole, principal at QE School is urging all parents and members of the community to contribute to the government’s consultation, launched earlier this week, on a National Fair Funding Formula for schools.

At a meeting held at the school on Monday March 14, there was no mention of the redundancies despite parents raising their concerns, confidentiality and data protection issues sited as the reason for the omission.

CONCERN FROM PARENTS

Vickie Pearson, whose son attends the school has given the Courier the following statement:

“I have accessed the minutes from the latest governors’ December 2015 meeting and am horrified to find that the school is currently in severe debt.

“Principal Rupert Poole, has made a decision to reduce current support staff within their SEN department by half, leaving only 10 floating staff within the entire school.

“I have grave concerns of the impact this shall particularly have on children whom are currently statemented within the school. Please bear in mind that currently there are at least 17 statemented children within year 7 alone.

“What has concerned me further is that Rupert Poole has failed to inform parents of children whom this shall be effecting.”

“Professionally I work as a social worker, I have a very clear understanding of the digression that will occur within a child’s education if support of teaching staff is reduced.”

Another concerned parent who didn’t wish to be named said: “I attended the meeting as a parent of a child who receives support from the SEN department.

“ The meeting was well attended by parents who were also concerned about the information that is circulating. The Principal and Governors seemed surprised by the level of concern and were quite defensive. I left the meeting feeling extremely worried that the decisions have already been made.

“What concerns me the most is the lack of consultation with the parents of those children which will be affected and how those children will cope. How can “Every Child Matter” if the cuts go ahead?”

CONSULTATION MEETING

A meeting is set for June which could discuss the outcomes of any consultations in regard to the redundancies.

Devon County Councillor Nick Way, Crediton Rural said: “This is a difficult time for the whole school community including staff, parents, the school management and the governors, many of whom are parents or grandparents of children at the school.

“It goes without saying that this is a situation no one wanted.

“I share the frustration shown by parents who articulated their concerns well at the recent Parent Council meeting and it is important that their views are taken on board.”

Principal, Mr Poole told the Courier: “The current system of school funding means the amount schools receive varies massively from region to region across England.

“The good news is the government has recognised the problem and earlier this week launched the long-awaited consultation on school funding.

“I’m encouraging all parents and members of the community to contribute to that consultation, details of which can be found at the Department for Education website: https://consult.education.gov.uk/funding-policy-unit/schools-national-funding-formula/consult_view , or via an organisation called: www.f40.org.uk which represents a group of the lowest funded education authorities in England.”

Mr Poole added: “Whilst the government has recognised the issue, schools like QE still face the situation of rising costs and reduced income, and the need to ensure they set a balanced budget for 2016-17. Schools nationally also face increases in national insurance and pension contributions for staff as well as the new national living wage.

“The best case scenario is for an improvement in funding for 2017-18, but nothing has been guaranteed or finalised yet, which is why it is so important for people to contribute to the consultation.”

The importance of contributing is brought into particular focus in Crediton.

Mr Poole commented: “Unfortunately, the school is facing a situation of reduced funding and increasing costs. We are seeing reductions in specific funding streams, most notably income to support students with Special Education Needs.

“As a result we are having to reduce our costs and we are currently negotiating with staff about potential redundancies.

“Until these confidential consultations and negotiations with staff are complete, it is not appropriate for me to comment any further, other than to say we will do our absolute utmost to minimise the effect on all of our students.”

Mr Poole concluded: “The proposed changes at Queen Elizabeth’s have protected the curriculum offer to students at both GCSE and A Level.

“Despite the significant funding challenges faced by all Devon schools, Queen Elizabeth’s remains committed to all aspects of our provision.

“This year we have more students applying to QE from outside our catchment area, both in year seven and particularly in our Sixth Form.

“QE students achieved the best A-level performance of any school, in both the private and state sector, in the whole of Devon last year.”

In October QE cancelled its Enrichment Week as a part of cost-saving plans.

ALL SCHOOLS TO BECOME ACADEMIES BY 2022

In George Osbourne’s budget this week, he has announced plans to make all schools into academies by the year 2022 and allocated £1.5bn towards this goal.

The proposal will see an end the more than 100 years of local authorities meeting the educational needs of their region.

Given the effect that becoming an academy has had on QE, it begs the question, how will this affect the fortunes of other schools in the area, in particular, Chulmleigh Community College?

Because academies are exempt the national pay regulations for teachers their pay will become under review by each individual academy, uncertainty over pay could lead to fewer new teachers.

UNION HAS CONCERNS OVER ISSUES AT THE SCHOOL

A UNISON spokesperson has concerns over the issues at Queen Elizabeth’s School, Crediton, a school which has undergone a number of restructures over the last few years and said: “Yet again, it is the staff at the lower end of the pay scales who are at the greatest risk, yet the senior management team has increased in size yet again.

“How can this possibly be of benefit to the children at the school?

“Taking away staff who directly work with children, helping them to achieve as best they can, yet having in place a seemingly too large and unwieldy management structure.

“Staff are under huge pressure at the school, and are not being given time to complete the paperwork which may help to keep some of them in post – this is very poor from QE which, in UNISON’s experience, is the only school in the county not to give staff the time to do this, yet expecting them to complete in their own time.

“Given that many staff work above and beyond their hours with no extra pay for the good of the pupils, this comes as a real slap in the face.

“UNISON and its members will continue to challenge QE on its stance which they believe does not serve the best interests of the pupils, staff or the local community.”

• What do you think of the QE staff redundancy plans? Will your child be affected?

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Write a letter, suitable for publication, to: “The Editorial Manager, “Crediton Courier”, 102 High Street, Crediton EX17 3LF or email: [email protected] .