Notts. FACE Newsletter. March 1996
Notts County Council News, No to Nursery Vouchers, Around and About, National Notes and National Demo.
The County Council's claim to have led a victorious campaign against the cuts hides the reality of the situation facing council services as outlined in their announcement on 29 February of an estimated £19 million worth of cuts. Of course, there was great relief that the £55 million predicted cuts did not eventuate. however, this was the result of public campaigning by groups like FACE, family centre parents and staff, trade unionists and voluntary sector groups.
Whilst high-profile cuts like the closures of family centres and elderly persons homes are off the agenda, a number education support services, such as the Arts Support Service, are facing severe cuts. Eleventh session teachers plus seven Education School Liaison Officers have now received . redundancy notices. Library opening hours in deprived areas such as St Anns and Lenton are to be cut. And last but not least, the LEA estimates that a minimum of 236 teachers will be losing their jobs despite ever increasing numbers of pupils enrolling in Notts. schools each September.
But even this figure could prove an underestimate. As this newsletter is being written, and when budgets are barely in the hands of schools, many governing bodies have already announced high levels of redundancies. Several comprehensives intend to make 5 or more teachers redundant. One comprehensive in the Mansfield area intends to reduce its teaching staff by 12. If these figures prove accurate we could be looking at a total cut of over 400 teachers
The campaign against the cuts, involving both council staff and local communities, must be maintained. Notts. FACE calls on the County Council to:-
Nursery and infant children in Notts. schools currently get milk everyday for £2 per term (free if on income support). This service is of enormous benefit costing the council only £300,000 per annum - money well spent.
In a disgraceful attack, reminiscent of "Thatcher the Milk-Snatcher', the council announced plans to remove this subsidy as of April 1st, 1996 (NO APRIL'S FOOL JOKE). Following a massive outcry from parents, medical experts (including Professor Wallace, head of orthopaedic and accident surgery, QMC, and Dr Mitch Blair, Snr Lecturer in Child Health, University Hospital) the council have now postponed/cancelled these plans. However, it appears that fresh milk is to be cut out of all school dinners (used in custard, success, milk shakes and hot drinks) and replaced by powdered milk.
The council's "anti-poverty" strategy does not prevent them from attacking the poor. A recent education committee voted through £165,000 cuts in grants to low income families for school uniforms. This means that families on low incomes who are not in receipt of income support will no longer be eligible for their help.
In 1994 the Tories said they would provide a nursery place for every four year old. However, the real agenda quickly became apparent - a first step towards privatisation of education. They plan to issue parents of four year old children with a voucher worth £1,100 to put towards the cost of nursery provision.
Unfortunately, £1,100 is not even enough to buy a part-time place. A full-time place in any nursery costs around £4,000 a year.
The government is piloting this scheme in four local authorities - Kensington and Chelsea, Wandsworth, Westminster and Norfolk. >From April 1996, all parents of four year olds in these areas must apply for vouchers, even if their children already attend nursery. Therefore, to obtain or keep a part-time place, parents will have to find about £900 a year! The movement then plans to introduce the scheme nationwide from April 1997 onwards.
This scheme represents is a windfall of £1,100 per year for those who can currently afford private provision. For everyone else it's a step backwards using money taken away from LEA budgets. Private operators will be encouraged as laws on the quality of nursery provision are relaxed with regulations on staff qualifications, staffing ratios, pupil space requirements all changing for the worse.
Starting with nursery education, the Government want to do away with free state education. They want to return to the days when parents paid to send their children to school. The NUT (National Union of Teachers) has estimated that an extra £200 million on top of existing resources would provide A-LL three and four year olds with a nursery place.
THIS SCHEME CONSTITUTES A DISASTER FOR NURSERY PROVISION, AND THE GOVERNMENT HAVE ADMITTED THAT IF THIS SCHEME IS SUCCESSFUL THEN IT WILL BE INTRODUCED FOR ALL LEVELS OF SCHOOLING.
600 Beeston parents representing 17 schools wrote to the LEA demanding that everything possible be done to stop any more cuts in education. Beeston FACE organiser, Barbara Lynes, said, "the dual purpose of putting our demands on postcards is to ensure that, not only the council, but also parents are aware that cuts in funding are still planned and will affect their children's education. We will maintain the pressure on politicians and councillors by continuing the letter-writing campaign."
At Claremont Primary, writes Gary Freeman, there was anger at the threat of losing 3 teachers out of 13 and seeing class sizes rise to way over 30. The school building is 111 years old with its original roof and the inevitable leaks.
We established a regular FACE stall at the School and over 300 protest postcards were sent in the first month to John Major, Gillian Shephard, Kenneth Clarke and leading Labour Councillors.
At a meeting the parents voted for a half day protest strike, the morning after Clarke's budget. To build for the strike we organised 3 well attended meetings over a 24 hour period, including a meeting for Asian language speakers.
The strike was a brilliant success with only 7 children in the nursery (compared to 45 the previous day) and with over 200 pupils (65%) on strike at the school. One teacher remarked how good it was to have only 7 in a class and to be able to hear everyone read. We took a coach and a fleet of cars to County Hall and the 70 of us joined a UNISON Rally against council cuts. The pupils blocked the entrance to County Hall waving placards and chanting "No Cuts!".
The campaign had heard that Tory MP Rhodes Boyson had said "a good teacher can teach 60 children in a bus shelter but a bad teacher would have a riot with a dead chicken." So we organised class at the local bus shelter. 70 children attended and the event was broadcast live on national Radio 5. When the pupils were asked about Rhodes Boyson they replied "he's an idiot." When asked who should be sacked, the staff or John Major they shouted John Major, Now the pupils keep asking when the next march will be. When Boyson was asked by the Radio 5 reporters whether the broadcast proved it wasn't possible to teach 60 in a bus shelter he replied "it depends on the bus shelter!"
We invited governors to a FACE meeting and the 7 who turned up pledged to resist the cuts. We have asked the Head to prepare a budget based on reducing class sizes to 30. We are also preparing our campaign to get a new roof for the school.
The Claremont FACE campaign has had a really positive effect by helping to build unity between parents, teachers, governors and pupils.
After the Council's budget announcement on 29th February, all Notts. schools will now know their budgets for the next financial year. Notts. FACE believes that it is important to hold another public meeting following the successful Notts. FACE launch meeting of a year ago. We are inviting all parents, governors, teachers, non-teaching staff and students to join us at the Forest Comprehensive, Gregory Boulevard, on Wednesday 20th March, to discuss where we go from here and to plan for the next National FACE Demonstration which is taking place in Nottingham on Saturday 20th April.
WEDNESDAY 20th MARCH - 7.30pm, The Forest Comprehensive, Gregory Boulevard, Nottingham.
1996 Notts. FACE membership is due in April. We need members to renew as early as possible. We have a lot of expenses and limited fund raising opportunities. Apart from paying for meeting rooms, leaflets, posters, phone calls etc., mailings like this one to 350 members is very expensive. So please renew ASAP. Please send £2.00 waged, £1.00 unwaged, 50p students. to FACE Membership Secretary, 42 the Sycamores, Broadmeadows, South Normanton DE55 3AE
A year after the national FACE campaign was launched they held their 2nd national conference in Coventry. 150 delegates attended this successful day where "Needs Related Budgets" (NRBS) were dealt with in detail, debunking the myth that it is illegal for governors to refuse to implement cuts.
In Sheffield governors who held out got extra money while Warwickshire governors had their financial powers withdrawn, leaving an overstretched council to manage school budgets. If enough governing bodies set NRBS there is a real ability councils won't be able to cope with possibility 1 implementing cuts at school level.
In Oxfordshire, mass campaigning by FACE groups and the NUT led to the Labour and Liberal Democrat groups on the bung council setting a budget above the government car). The budget ]s now subject to "re-determination" - a process lasting months which allows time to anti:-cuts campaigners to build broader opposition to the cuts.
FACE identified May's local elections as a major focus for campaining.. Last year many Tory councillors lost their seats to the "educat'on vote". Once again "FACE pledges" are being, drawn up, calling on candidates to commit themselves to support governors setting(" NRBS.
We will have to make our demands for extra spending on education and class size limits irrespective of who wins the election. However, class size is only one aspect of the cuts. Comprehensive Education and the right of all children to equal treatment are under threat. Backing a resolution from Notts. FACE the Conference committed itself to the defence of comprehensive education, the restoration of student grants and an end to selection. During the General Election campaign FACE activists should fight to ensure that these are delivered by a future government.
NB. The Notts. FACE contact for information concerning Notts. schools setting Nrbs is Rolzer Tollervey, Headteacher, Hillocks Primary and Nursery School 'Phone: (01623) 555370/ fax: (01623) 442507.
NOTTINGHAM - Saturday 20th April, Assemble at County Hall, West Bridgford, 12 noon.
Prompt march off l pm. Rally in Old Market Square, including speakers, band and choir. Finishing about 4pm.
Everybody concerned with the future provision of free, high quality education should be there. Special arrangements will be made for disabled campaigners. Parking will be available along the north side of the Embankment, but local campaigners are encouraged to come by public transport freeing up parking space for out-of-county FACE campaigners.
Please send your news and your views to David Long.