Calderdale Against School Cuts - CASC

DfE estimates of schools’ costs ‘disingenuous’ Leaders say the government’s claim that schools can afford teacher pay rises ignores their growing costs, including the prospect of energy price hikes due to the Middle East conflict

Alternative headline :
there’s nothing left to cut!
www.tes.com/magazine/new...

Tes Wellbeing Report: Teachers warn of SEND and workload pressures Tes’ Teacher Wellbeing Report 2026 also reveals what teachers really think about pupil behaviour, career progression, flexible-working opportunities and more

Half of school staff experience major challenges supporting students who have special educational needs and disabilities, according to the Tes Teacher Wellbeing Report 2026. Full story here: www.tes.com/magazine/new...

MP pay rise ‘salt in wounds of schools’ say Calderdale campaigners News that MPs are getting a pay rise is “rubbing salt into the wounds” of schools expecting to have to cut staff or resources, says a Calderdale pressure group.

www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/education/mp...

Schools white paper: What is happening to EHCPs? DfE expects to move 1 in 8 pupils from EHCPs to new individual support plans by 2035

Pupils with only the “most complex needs” will require an education, health and care plan by 2035, the government has said as it outlines its large-scale reforms to the SEND system
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-white-paper-what-is-happening-to-ehcps-under-send-reforms/

Schools white paper: The key schools and academies policies Fair banding transparency, a crackdown on off-rolling and calls for all schools to be in trusts

‼️ A crackdown on off-rolling pupils, a call for standalone schools to join or form MATs and changes to the admissions code are among major plans unveiled in today's schools white paper
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-white-paper-the-key-schools-policies/

Any changes to #SEND will need huge and long term investment in teacher training, new buildings, and more support staff – changes will not come cheap.

Reeves urged to reassure MPs over public finances amid £6bn-a-year Send costs City analysts say financial market investors will be worried if cost is deducted from budget surplus

The Government apparently think they can refuse to say where the £6 billion for SEND reforms will come from until next year.

Financial market investors are unlikely to be so forgiving, as £6 billion could blow a massive hole in the government finances.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

English secondary schools must offer inclusion areas for neurodiverse and Send pupils Special spaces are a key part of government’s planned overhaul of special educational needs support

Schools also need funding for specialists and training.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Rising Send costs will ‘bankrupt’ four in five English local authorities, leaders say Councils call on ministers to write off special educational needs and disability deficits that are predicted to reach £14bn in 2028

Rising Send costs will ‘bankrupt’ four in five English local authorities, leaders say

Councils call on ministers to write off special educational needs and disability deficits that are predicted to reach £14bn in 2028

www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Government row breaks out over plan to cut spending for PE in England’s schools Proposed cuts by DHSC and DfE came despite concerns about inactivity among children contributing to obesity

www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

PLANS FOR TRINITY MERGER WITHDRAWN
My full statement

Teachers far more likely than students to say phone rules are followed Findings from the latest DfE behaviour survey also indicate that leaders, educators and pupils disagree about the extent to which their school is ‘calm and orderly’

New DfE survey data reveals striking differences in the opinions of leaders and students about whether pupils follow the rules on using mobile phones in school. www.tes.com/magazine/new...

Here's everything you need to know about this morning's inflation data 🧵⤵️

Migrants must learn English to A-level standard to work in Britain, Home Secretary announces | LBC These measures are seen as a way for Labour to combat Reform UK's rise in the polls

Seriously
www.lbc.co.uk/article/migr...

Travelling up to Labour Party conference, to take part in an NASUWT fringe entitled "Where has all the money gone?" Will talk about my Campaign for State Education research on multi academy trust vs LA school spending.

First week 'critical' to avoid children missing school later, parents told

t.co/n1PHdcf9dr

“child hunger is a real concern. There is only so long schools can keep swallowing the increases. For many, putting up the cost of meals is now the only option.”

Parents in England to pay more for school lunches as caterers blame rising costs As a new academic year begins providers say national insurance rises and food price inflation has forced up prices

www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Thanks for all the support, we are having a break.

There is one point that may yet bring clarity to the government’s thinking. Governing politicians habitually pretend they will win future elections. But there is now every chance that Reform UK might end up in power, possibly in partnership with whatever remains of the Conservatives. Judging by his recent pronouncements, Nigel Farage has very questionable views about special needs and disabilities. There is strong evidence that the same is true of Kemi Badenoch. The current fashion on the political right for nonsense about savagely cutting back the state would have deep implications for Send families. If Labour takes away so many children’s basic educational rights, it may well end up leaving them at the mercy of politicians who will then vandalise their lives. “No decision has been made,” say ministers. It is time they took the only morally and politically right one, and fast.

Reform U.K. targets "broken" special needs funding

What I wrote on Sunday, and in today's FT, here it is. If Labour takes SEND families' rights away, this may well be what we have to face, with no defences

The Knowledge: A map out of eduction's poly-crisis This report doesn't just call for a system based on professionalism - it models it, and shows us how to build it

I really think that this report and way forward is the game changer we have all been waiting for.
Please do have a look and share widely

schoolsweek.co.uk/mapping-the-... The Knowledge: Mapping the way out of education’s polycrisis

The Knowledge: A map out of eduction's poly-crisis This report doesn't just call for a system based on professionalism - it models it, and shows us how to build it

Great piece from @moremorrow.bsky.social on FED futures report mapping a way forward for our fragmented education system. Moving past an outdated compliance model & building a system based on the principles of inclusion, workforce & partnership.

schoolsweek.co.uk/mapping-the-...

“you can’t spend smarter if you’ve nothing left to spend!”

We find investing in education pays the best interest, wouldn’t you agree @joshfg.bsky.social @katedeardenmp.bsky.social

#SpendingReview

Staff cuts warning from Calderdale campaign group over four per cent teacher pay rise Schools have been told to fund a pay increase to teachers from their existing budgets – and it could lead to staffing cuts, claims a Calderdale campaign group.

www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/education/te...

Budgets are already very tight. Finding the 1% on top of the shortfall to NI, & other inflationary pressures will inevitably see schools making further cuts.

halifaxcourier.co.uk/education/teac…

“If education is to thrive, we must stop viewing its people as expendable. Protecting the frontline workforce is not a luxury; it is a necessity for building a strong, fair and sustainable education system.”
t.co/lmEwMXR5qO