Alert 'Two-thirds of council schools to go into red'

ALMOST two-thirds of council-run schools in South Gloucestershire will go into the red next year, headteachers have warned.

- Adam POSTANS

It comes as a cross-party task-force launched last year to find ways of addressing an ever-deepening education funding crisis in the district reported its findings to the Lib Dem/Labour cabinet.

The group was set up after school leaders revealed the drastic ways they were having to save money, including avoiding turning the heating up in the winter, leaving pupils having to wear coats in classrooms and staff putting on extra layers.

School clubs, trips and activities have been axed, qualified teaching assistants replaced by cheaper apprentices, class sizes breached and staff shared across year groups or even several schools, which can disrupt learning and crush morale among teachers and colleagues.

South Gloucestershire is the second lowest-funded out of all 151 education authorities in England, and academies are also bearing the brunt and having to make cuts.