Parents at Cambridge primary school give £19k to plug funding shortfall

Parents at a Cambridge primary school are making regular direct debit donations to plug the gap in school funds caused by budget cuts.

The move at St Matthew’s Primary School comes as the government announces long-awaited funding increases for schools, including an overall 5.07 per cent rise for Cambridgeshire.

But the increase is staggered over three years from 2020, meaning under-pressure schools like St Matthew’s face budget challenges this year.

Its ‘Fill the Funding Shortfall’ fundraising campaign was launched by parents fearful about the impact

of the £60,000 hole in the school’s annual finances.

So far, they have raised an astonishing £19,000 through a

Just Giving account.

Headteacher Tony Davies told the Cambridge Independent: “Our parents have been absolutely amazing in what they have done and it has meant that we have been able to keep certain things going like a counselling service for children, some extra support

for the most vulnerable children in our school.

“It has made a huge difference to those children and their lives and their futures so I am hugely grateful for it. It’s just amazing really. When they said what they wanted to do I wasn’t going to say ‘No, you can’t’.

“I genuinely felt quite emotional about it to be honest.

“They have worked so hard and it’s a measure of how much they value education and the school and its community that they would put all that effort in and generosity to keep things running for children. It was an incredible effort. I couldn’t be more grateful.

“We didn’t ask parents to do this because we firmly believe state education should be funded by the state. This is no way to fund a state education system because in areas where there isn’t the wealth in the community they can’t raise that level of funding.

“I can tell you now that there are very vulnerable children in St Matthew’s receiving the help that they need because of the funds raised so far. There’s quite a lot of schools fundraising like this now. But that’s not how this should be running, because there are schools in other parts of the country that are having to cut those things.”

One parent behind the fundraising campaign said in a newsletter: “We firmly believe that state schools should be fully funded by the state, but we do not feel the state is currently fulfilling its obligation to do this. St Matthew’s is an excellent school but this cannot be maintained without adequate funding.”

Historically, Cambridgeshire’s schools have been among the worst funded per pupil in the country. But the wait to access the full funds means St Matthew’s is still reliant on its parents’ help.

The campaigners explained: “The school still has to get through the current school year with £60,000 less funding than last year, and our mission is to fill that gap.”

The group’s Just Giving account is attracting regular donations from £5 to £100 per month. Some donors have been able to give more – one parent made a £2,500 donation over the summer. The regular donations add up to £2,500 a month.

The government this week confirmed how its £14billion school funding increase will be allocated. Every secondary will receive a minimum of £5,000 per pupil next year, and every primary will receive a minimum of £4,000 from 2021-22.

Jonathan Lewis, director of education for Cambridgeshire County Council, said although the increases were positive, funding for children special educational needs – up 8.3 per cent – was still “only about half” the amount needed.

“Now we have to go and think about how we balance our budgets because we are already overspending in that area. Most of the money for high needs gets spent in schools, so while there is positive news for schools it will still mean quite challenging conversations around how we support SEN in schools,” he said.

“We have one of the lowest funding increases nationally in funding for high needs yet we have one of the biggest overspends.”

Commenting on the situation at St Matthew’s, he said: “It is lucky that parents are able to make donations to the school but we would like to see our schools being properly funded. It’s likely we will still be in the bottom 10 to 15 per cent of schools funding.”

Russell Perrin of Cambridge City Conservatives welcomed the funding, saying: “Every child in Cambridgeshire deserves the best possible start in life - regardless of their background or where they live.”