PERSHORE High School could be more than £750,000 better off under revised Government funding plans which could see cash for the county’s schools raised by £500 per pupil.
The Station Road school’s outgoing headteacher Clive Corbett spoke to the Observer following the Government’s announcement on Monday that the minimum funding per secondary school pupil will be set at £4,800 from 2018/19.
Currently the average per pupil funding in Worcestershire is £4,300 and many secondary schools, including Pershore High will be boosted by the promised cash injection.
For decades schools in Worcestershire have been chronically underfunded and headteachers and county MPs have for years been lobbying the Government for more cash.
As Chairman of the Worcestershire Schools Forum, Mr Corbett has helped lead the charge for fairer funding in the county.
Back in March the outspoken headteacher sent a damning letter to all six of Worcestershire’s MP telling them it was becoming ‘impossible’ to run a school on the current level of funding.
The Department of Education has promised to introduce a fairer funding formula and ministers are expected to respond to a public consultation on the proposals in September.
Mr Corbett, who retires today, said he was yet to see more detail on Monday’s announcement, but told the Observer the £500 boost per pupil would add an estimated £750,000 to the school’s budget.
“On the face of it it is good news for all Worcestershire schools,” Mr Corbett said.
“It does offer some cause for optimism since Government appears to have grasped the argument that it costs the same to run a school anywhere in the country, except for London.
“However, without wishing to be negative, we need to see much more detail and it doesn’t address the 2017-18 situation which is dire for many of us.”
Town MP Harriett Baldwin welcomed Education Secretary Justine Greening’s announcement of the extra cash which has been found by savings within the Department for Education.
Cash has been taken from elsewhere in the education budget such as a cut of £280million from the free schools budget and £315million has been slashed from the ‘healthy pupils’ project.
“Nine out of ten of our Worcestershire schools are good or outstanding and many do so within extremely tight budgets.
“I hope that parents and teachers will join me in welcoming this important next step towards getting the best possible funding deal.
“This has been a matter where I have pressed both publicly and privately for a solution which offers financial security and stability to our high-performing local schools,” she added.
