Triumph in Adversity: school funding Tom Middlehurst Head of Policy - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Triumph in Adversity: school funding

Tom Middlehurst Head of Policy and Public Affairs

Policy context

Priorities

• New Government and DfE team
• Schools that work for everyone (selection and faith

schools)

• Academisation and growth of MATs
• New assessment at KS2, KS4 and KS5
• New performance measures at KS2, KS4 and KS4
• The Education and Adoption Act (March 2016)
• Educational Excellence Everywhere
• Education for All Bill
• Teacher recruitment and retention
• Other duties including PPG, Prevent, safeguarding,

etc

• Financial restraints and national funding formula

Flat cash per pupil

2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 £’000s £’000s £’000s £’000s £’000s £’000s DFE Income 6,000 6,000 6,000 6,000 6,000 6,000 Teachers 3,900 4,081 4,272 4,325 4,373 4,419 Other Staff 1,100 1,111 1,157 1,169 1,181 1,192 Other Costs 1,000 1,020 1,040 1,061 1,082 1,104 Total Costs 6,000 6,212 6,470 6,555 6,636 6,716

• ‘Protected’ school funding until 2020
• Employer pension contributions, NI increase, inflation
• Shortfall of c. 10%

Delayed funding formula

The new national funding formula will now apply from 2018 to 2019 and not 2017-

• 2018. The DfE will also set out

its full plans for a national funding formula for early years shortly.

At least £35k per year

From 1st April 2016, workers from non-EU countries must earn at least £35k pa to settle in the UK for more than 6 years. Maths, Physics and Chemistry teachers are exempt. Impact of Brexit on EU staff?

Teachers’ pay and conditions

Maintained schools have a statutory duty to update their Teachers’ Pay and Appraisal Policy, in line with the revised STPC document. Your policy must include details of how you:

• Use performance-related progression
• Use the policy to recruit and retain teachers
• 1% uplift to the maxima and minima

(Sept 2016)

Pay progression

The main changes (introduced in 2013) from the previous system are:

• removing pay progression based on length of service and linking all

pay progression to performance

• giving schools the option of increasing individual teachers’ pay at

different rates based on their performance

• replacing the threshold test for progression from the main to the

upper pay range with new simpler criteria

• creating a new pay range for leading practitioners whose primary

purpose is to model and lead the improvement of teaching skills

• giving schools more freedom to determine starting salaries of

teachers new to the school

• removing the obligation on schools when recruiting to match a

teacher’s existing salary.

Budget announcements, March 2016

• All schools to become academies by 2020 (2022).
• Longer school days for c.25% of all secondary schools.
• National funding formula
• Maths for all to 18 (?)
• £20m for schools in the North

The Apprenticeship Levy

• From April 2017, all employers with staff costs of over £3m, will

have to pay 0.5% of wage bill towards the levy

• Offset by a £15k bursary
• E.g. for an academy with staff costs of £5m, they will pay £25k

into the levy, receive £15k, leaving them £10k short

• Target of 2.3% of workforce apprentices
• Can reclaim the levy to pay for training – but not salary costs

Gender pay gap

All employers with 250+ staff must report on gender pay differences in April 2017. Smaller employers may choose to do so in the interest of transparency.

Year 7 catch-up funding

In the past, secondary schools were given £500 "catch-up" funding for each pupil who was below the expected standard in either reading or maths. The numbers of pupils falling below the expected standard has more than doubled in maths and tripled in reading this year, but the government has said the "catch-up" money schools get will not rise to match this. Number of pupils below expected standard in maths has now risen to 30% (13% in 2015). Number below the expected standard in reading has risen to 34% (11% in 2015).

Discussion

What are your biggest priorities and how do national and local policy and budget challenges impact on these?

Triumph in Adversity?

How financial constraints are driving schools to do things differently

• Survey responses
• 3 Rs to improve outcomes

in times of austerity

• Leadership and

governance

• Best practice from schools

Survey responses

• restructuring,

particularly within the senior leadership team

• reducing the number of

teaching assistants and

• ther non-teaching staff
• asking teachers to

teach outside their subject specialism

• reducing teachers’ non-

contact time

• limiting participation in

external training

• reducing the amount of

time spent collaborating with or supporting other schools to minimise the amount of time staff are

• ut of the classroom.

Survey responses

3 Rs of improving educational outcomes in times

• f austerity (Louise Robinson, Arcadis)
• Realise benefits of scale
• MATs, federations and umbrella trusts
• Career progression, training
• Core services should anticipate a 3-8% savings
• Reset the status quo
• Teaching, learning and curriculum
• Buildings – invest to save
• Support / central services
• Renegotiate and retender
• Benchmark
• Procure with others, for 3-5% savings
• Regularly review

Leadership & governance (Gillian Allcroft, NGA)

• Ensure the SBM is part of leadership team and has relevant training
• Does the budget match up with CPD and school vision?
• If over 80% on staffing, governors need to ask why
• What’s the pupil-teacher ratio? What’s the rationale for this?
• What’s the teacher contact ratio? (ASCL suggest 0.78)
• Cost of leadership?
• Cost of support staff?
• Governors should decide what information they want from the

executive

• For spending outside the budget:
• Can we afford it?
• What impact will it have on children’s outcomes?

Blue Coat CoE School – reducing a £1.4m deficit

• using the main hall, theatre and our new conference suite for weddings and

conferences

• inviting primary schools and a local science club to use the facilities
• letting out facilities to private tutoring companies for adult and older

students to enable them to take examinations

• letting out the car park to support local events• marketing our theatre facilities

– we wrote to dance clubs and theatre groups and offered them ‘six for five’ deals

• increasing the number of our performances, especially musically, as we have

very talented musicians who perform at the Methodist Central Hall annually

• maximising the use of the MUGA pitches

Open till 10pm Mon – Fri and 8pm at weekends. Generates £100,000 pa

Heathfield – doing things differently

• Cutting costs and raising income
• KS4 changes – reducing options from 5 to 4. Combining courses

and dropping five subjects. Increased class sizes and therefore reduced staffing costs

• Community use
• Restructured senior and middle leadership teams – new middle

leadership model with greater equality and PM resulted in £130,000 pa savings

• Asking staff to identify second subject
• Protecting collaborative PPA time, for better retention
• Being led by curriculum and pedagogy, not budgets!

Leigh Academies Trust – facing the challenge

• Think creatively / do things differently to ensure your published

admission number is met

• KS5 offer
• Academic and vocational routes
• No lessons on a Wednesday
• Taster sessions throughout KS4
• New linear A levels

Avoiding tax on income:

• Check your academy’s Objects – what’s a primary purpose?
• Lettings for land / space – no equipment
• First £50,000 is free

Lord Grey - Facing the funding challenge

• Limiting photocopying, setting B&W as default
• Full restructure of support staff including changing from a seven

to five point pay scale

• Use of apprentices for chefs, marcomms, IT support and sports

technicians

• Spent £40,000 converting the caretaker’s house into an onsite

AP unit – make savings and generate income

• Three way video
• Skype for Business and One Note

Comberton Village College – use of Skype

Conclusions

• Put together a premises plan
• Be proactive about leasing
• Invest to save
• Review all contracts
• Monitor staff and student behaviours
• Undertake a thorough review of staffing
• Particular issues for geographically isolated schools, varied staff

turnover and PFI

Discussion

What are you doing to a) Reduce spending? b) Generate income?

Thank you

Tom.Middlehurst@ssatuk.co.uk @Tom_Middlehurst 07737 461 781