BY HANNAH GRAHAM

A “disaster.” That’s how the headteacher at my school described the funding for secondary schools.

He has told parents that our school will have a ‘budget shortfall’ of nearly £300,000 for the next academic year.

This won’t come as a big shock to some, as many schools across the country are facing extreme budget cuts for the first time in more than 20 years.

He has been encouraging parents to help raise money for the school in a bid to make the £286,000 shortfall next year slightly less disastrous.

He has stated that Dorset is one of the “worst-funded authorities in the whole country” and that costs have gone up by 12.5 per cent yet income is stable -meaning that the school hasn’t got enough money to carry out events and projects that have happened in the past.

Why haven’t the Department for Education planned to ditch the postcode lottery-style system sooner and evaluate what method would work best for the young people in the schools that are suffering from a lack of funding.

The Department for Education said that the proposed change for the distribution method would mean “more than half of England’s schools will receive a cash boost”.

However, my headteacher has said that my school’s funding will only increase by 1.1 per cent, again leaving us with a lack of funding for things such as educational school trips and programmes that help young people with important life skills, for example the apprenticeship levy next year that will cost the school £20,000.

It is so sad to see such an amazing school restricted by a lack of funding and this will not only affect the staff, but the pupils, too, as they will not be able to receive some things that would really aid their education