SOURCE GUARDIAN: Grammar schools ask parents for donations to cover funding cuts
The government’s plans for a revised “fair funding” formula
would mean most grammar schools were worse off as a result of the changes
proposed by the education secretary, Justine Greening – at a time when the
government is banking on grammar school expansion as a key domestic policy aim.
The Grammar School Heads’ Association said more than 100 of the existing 163
grammar schools in England would be worse off as a result of the proposals,
with more than 60 suffering deep cuts in annual budgets. The new “fair funding”
formula unveiled by Greening at the end of last year would impose cuts on
schools in mainly urban and suburban areas, and redistribute funding to more
rural regions that have received considerably lower per pupil funding for many
years. However, the policy failed to inject any new funds into the school
system, meaning that thousands of schools in England with frozen budgets will
be further disadvantaged. Grammar schools, which select by academic ability at
the age of 11, are worse off than many state schools because of their failure
to admit disadvantaged pupils eligible for additional government funding of
more than £900 each a year. Altrincham Grammar School for Boys has just 26
students receiving pupil premium funding out of 1,250 students enrolled, or
just 2% overall. Schools in England are not allowed to charge pupils for
teaching, attending or applying to join a school. But they are allowed to
approach parents for donations and to charge for additional activities such as
trips. While some grammar schools already ask parents for regular donations,
Tim Gartside, the headteacher of Altrincham Grammar School for Boys in
Trafford, said his school was considering asking parents for donations of £30
to £40 a month if the new formula goes ahead. Parents of pupils at Latymer
school, a grammar school in north London, were told last year that a “very
significant financial shortfall” could force it to cut staff, increase class
sizes and offer fewer subjects at GCSE and A-level. A letter from the school’s
headteacher and governors asked for donations of £30 to £50 a month, and told
parents such contributions were “considerably less than the average fees of an
independent school”. Other grammar schools known to have asked parents for
donations include Southend High School and Ilkley Grammar School.
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