Primary schools warn of larger class sizes, less staff and fewer resources amid council budget cuts

Primary school headteachers across Wrexham have issued a warning of the “significant challenges” facing schools in light of looming budget cuts.

It comes as the local authority faces a potential financial deficit of £22.6m next year and £29m over the following two years.

Education in Wrexham is bearing the brunt of the cuts, with a five per cent saving being applied to school budgets, after inflation.

Although school budgets will technically be boosted by £5.7m in 2024/25, due to inflation it will ultimately result in cuts of £5.4m in real terms.

At an executive board meeting this week Leader of the Labour Group Cllr Dana Davies warned that the budget cuts could “decimate” local schools.

She added that a primary school she is involved in has a deficit of six figures in its indicative budget.

This week headteachers at both primary and secondary schools sent letters to parents/guardians issuing a warning of the impact the cuts will have on the services they provide.

In its letter the Wrexham Primary Headteachers’ Federation said it had “never known the situation to be so dreadful”.

The Wrexham Primary Headteachers’ Federation is an organisation representing all the headteachers in primary and special schools in Wrexham

It warns that the cuts could lead to redundancies, larger class sizes, less support for children with behavioural difficulties and the upkeep of school buildings could suffer.

The Federation also calls for support and patience from parents and guardians during the challenging times.

The letter states: “Having consulted with all our colleagues, we are writing to ensure that all parents and carers are fully informed of the significant consequences currently facing all our schools in relation to our budgets and the subsequent impact on the services we will be able to provide.

“You will no doubt be aware that the impending cuts across services in Wrexham County Borough Council will include education and specifically the amount of money that is available for schools.

“In this coming financial year beginning on April 1 there will be considerable financial constraints imposed on our schools.

“This will present significant challenges and place every school, primary, secondary and special in a very difficult budgetary position.

“Inflation, energy costs and increased staffing costs, have resulted in a considerable impact on local government spending.

“There has been a slight increase in the Welsh educational budget, but the extremely high rate of inflation has meant a considerable cut in real terms. Of greatest concern to headteachers and governing bodies is the impact this will have on learners across Wrexham.

“Increased energy costs have already placed an enormous burden on school budgets and primary schools are having to pick up the increased costs in relation to the “free school meals” initiative.

“These are unprecedented times as regards school finances and budgets, and headteachers have never known the situation to be so dreadful. We are worried about the likely impact:

• redundancies causing a reduction in staffing
• larger classes
• fewer trips and extra-curricular activities that are either subsidised by schools or require high levels of staffing
• support for pupils with additional needs will be seriously affected
• less support for children needing extra help with literacy and maths interventions
• less support for children who need wellbeing interventions
• less support for children with behavioural difficulties, leading to more disruption and exclusions
• less support for children with complex needs in mainstream schools
• fewer resources for the children to use
• the stifling of innovation at a time of great change and opportunity including
• the New Curriculum for Wales, new examination qualifications and important national initiatives

“As headteachers, we want to assure our families that we will always do our utmost to maintain the core provision in our schools, protecting teaching and learning by placing our learners and staff at the heart of everything we do.

“However, we believe headteachers and governors will have to make a choice between providing the current level of service or balancing the books.

“Therefore, it is inevitable that in many cases, schools will not be able to provide and sustain the same level of support and services due to the significant shortfall in our funding.”