School trips could be axed in bid to keep staff

Pupils could miss out on school trips and music lessons as schools face rising costs this year, head teachers have told BBC News.

Some school leaders in England say these are among the areas they would trim first, before reducing staff.

They are grappling with staffing costs and are being hit particularly hard by rising energy bills.

The government says it is increasing budgets for schools and helping them by recommending energy deals.

Colleges have written to Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng warning some are at risk of bankruptcy this year.

Usually in springtime, head teacher Jayne Bartlett runs a trip to Bletchley Park, so pupils at Shenley Academy, in Birmingham's Weoley Castle, can learn all about the code breakers in World War Two.

Rising coach costs mean she is unsure if it can go ahead this year, though she fears the poorest students would be hit hardest if it were cancelled.

"They are students whose parents cannot afford to take them to museums, to art galleries, to places like Bletchley Park or to travel abroad to different countries to experience the culture," she said.

They were also the students who benefited most from one-to-one music lessons funded by the school, Ms Bartlett said - another thing that may be unsustainable amid rising costs.

"These lessons... are invaluable. But they are incredibly expensive, as you can imagine. It's unaffordable for parents," she said.

Pay for most teachers in England is rising by 5% this year - an increase from the initial proposal of 3% - which has to be paid for by schools out of existing budget.

And the schools' rising energy bills are not covered by the price cap that applies to households.

In North Yorkshire, these pressures have prompted staff at East Whitby Primary Academy to discuss whether the Christmas carol service can go ahead, because of the cost of buses.

Head teacher Simon Smith said planned improvement works to one of the playgrounds was now up in the air and maintenance costs were a worry.

"Last summer we had a boiler pop. All those things don't sound a lot - but actually that's £3,000 to replace that. All you need is a couple of bits and suddenly any extra money that you've got is gone," he said.

Things such as the carol service were "part of the fabric of the school" and the aim was not to cut them.

But, noting his school had more children with special educational needs and disabilities than most - and more support staff to pay as a result - he added: "If it's a choice between doing that and staffing, then I'll have to [cut] all those other things first."

National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) union vice-president Simon Kidwell, who is head at Hartford Manor Primary School and Nursery, in Cheshire, estimated the school would be in £80,000 of debt after staff pay rises this year.

And last year, teacher absences because of Covid had led to a £30,000 rise in supply-teacher costs.

Now, he is considering reducing swimming lessons to half a term for most pupils and cutting back on school trips to London and the Lake District.

"We'll look at trimming all that extra fat from the budget but, ultimately, £80,000 can't be stripped out of the school budget, because things are very tight," Mr Kidwell said.

"So we may have to be looking at... reducing some of the support staff. We may be looking at restructuring some of the teaching staff as well, ultimately, if we can't get some help from the government with funding the pay rise."

A Department for Education spokeswoman said: "We are aware of the inflationary pressures facing schools and know that rising costs will impact schools differently."

The government was increasing "core funding" by £4bn this year and helping schools "get the best value for money from their resources" by, for example, recommending deals to manage energy costs.

Conservative MP for Harlow Robert Halfon, who chairs the Education Select Committee, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme last week some colleges were facing energy increases of 300% or more.

"This is clearly unsustainable because schools and colleges will be spending money on heating rather than on front-line teaching and support staff," he said.

And he called on the government to introduce an "essential public services tariff" for energy, which would include schools and colleges.

In an open letter to Mr Kwarteng, more than 180 college leaders have warned energy bills are set to quadruple in some cases and of "very serious risks to college solvency".

Rising costs would "hit our students disproportionately because many have limited resources", they added.

For Dan Morrow, the head of Dartmoor Multi-Academy Trust, which is made up of about 17 schools in Devon, the rising cost of living is affecting all parts of school life.

Some of his own cleaning and catering staff, as well as teaching assistants, were using foodbanks run by the trust and considering taking second jobs, he said.

And he is considering cutting school trips and reducing hours after-school clubs run - things he described as part of "the rich tapestry of education".

There would be a recruitment freeze, Mr Morrow said, and "the very, very, very last - and somewhat nuclear - option would be a round of redundancies".

In recent weeks, he said, he had received messages from parents and carers "who previously would never have reached out".

Some in rural areas were struggling to afford fuel, meaning school minibuses may have to be drafted in.

"It feels like we're letting people down, because they have nowhere else to turn," Mr Morrow said.

"And yet I don't want us to be in a position where what they hear is, 'No,' because if not us, who? And if not now, when?"