A state school in Greater Manchester is to close early on Fridays from September and charge parents who cannot pick their children up at lunchtime, in what teaching unions said was a sign that schools are at absolute breaking point.
Vale View primary in Reddish, Stockport, is believed to be one of at least 25 schools in England to take the drastic measure of shortening the school week in order to cut costs.
The chair of governors raised hackles among parents by trying to sell the half-day as a boon for families.
With such busy lives, we are sure many families will want to take advantage of their children finishing earlier one day a week; a great opportunity to catch up, tackle homework or just have some quality family time, wrote Dr Ricky van Deursen in a letter to parents earlier this month.
School budgets are at absolute breaking point. School leaders have made all the obvious savings – now they are faced with having to make major changes to the way they provide education, he said.
Kevin Courtney, the joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said the trend of early closures in England was connected to the funding cuts many schools were facing.
Headteachers are having to make decisions that no one working in schools and colleges ever thought they would have to make, he said.
The government said it did not know how many schools had introduced half-days because they are not required to notify the council, Ofsted or the Department for Education. But Hannah said she had liaised with headteachers in Calderdale, Bradford, Manchester, Birmingham and London who have all done similar or are doing so.
The school has saved a further £50,000 by cutting subsidies for school trips, £40,000 on support for pupils sitting their year 6 Sats exams, £100,000 on resources and £136,000 by not replacing teaching assistants when they left or retired.
One parent said he was troubled by the move: Not just because of the impact on the children, but on all the staff as well. This is a school that tries very hard for all of the children, so I believe them when they say that this is the least worst option.
The father criticised the chair of governors, who could have demonstrated better understanding of parents situations by not suggesting that they enjoy more leisure time with their children … Many families around here are scraping by and making do as it is, and this change absolutely will not help them or be welcomed.
Schools in Stockport, one of Greater Manchester’s wealthier boroughs, got a raw deal, said Hannah, the headteacher since 2017. Reddish is one of the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods, but pupils there receive £650 less than their counterparts a few streets away in Manchester, she said.