Parents' anger and distress following news that jobs and lessons are to be axed as schools bid to make up deficit of more than £1 million

By Nub News Reporter

22nd Nov 2024 2:30 pm | Local News

(Updated: 5 Hours, 5 minutes ago)

Peter Hughes.
Peter Hughes.

ANGRY families in Stanford-le-Hope and Corringham have expressed their shock and disappointment at news that dozens of jobs are to be axed at Hassenbrook and Gable Hall Schools.

On Wednesday (20 November) Thurrock Nub News published a report about the scale of cost-savings to be implemented at the two schools by the education trust that will take over in January.

Talks have begun with unions about the cuts that will see senior staff, including vice and assistant principals axed and many teachers lose their jobs.

The impact will be a significantly reduced choice for students – and changes to the career and education aspirations for students already part way through their courses.

In a letter to parents issued on the same day as Nub News broke the story, the interim CEO of the Ortu Trust that currently runs the two secondaries and Corringham Primary, Peter Hughes – also head of the incoming Mossbourne Federation – wrote to parents of current students.

He said: "It is with regret that I write today to advise that significant changes to the staffing structure at the Ortu Trust must be made if the schools are to remain financially viable and, indeed, open to the students of Thurrock.

"Following my recent appointment as Interim CEO of the Ortu Trust I became aware of the fragility of the Trust's financial position which is a position that developed over many years."

Nub News understands that examination by Mossbourne of the Ortu Trust's accounts has revealed a gaping hole in its reserve, reportedly substantially below what the Federation was told was 'in the bank'.

The figure is £1.2 million below expectations. Mossbourne says it is an issue that has to be tackled immediately.

In his message Mr Hughes says: "The proposed restructure of the staff body and changes to the curriculum has been shared with staff at our secondary schools.

"Between now and February half term 2025 we will work with stakeholders to finalise the future curriculum and develop transitional arrangements. I need to be clear that the decision to restructure staff roles and make changes to the curriculum are steps which are unavoidable due to the current financial position of the Ortu Trust.

"They are not because of the merger with The Mossbourne Federation. It was intended, when the decision to merge was first made, that the process of aligning the schools would be a much more gradual process, but the slower pace is not possible due because urgent action is needed to ensure the financial stability and future of the trust.

"Though this will mean new roles are created for teaching and support staff it will also mean that a number of staff roles are at risk. The restructure of staffing will only be made possible by a very significant change to the curriculum.

"This means that the range of subjects on offer must change. Please be assured that there will be no change for children in Years 11 and 13 as they have embarked on examination courses which we will continue to deliver to the highest standard.

"It will mean, however, that for students in Years 7, 8 and 9, the GCSE courses offered to your child will change. For students in Year 11 the selection of A Level courses on offer in the sixth form will be different to those previously available.

"It is intended that changes to the curriculum, the timings of the school day and the academic year will take place from September 2025 and details can be found at the end of this letter. However, I must emphasise that all proposals are under review."

Mr Hughes' full letter can be read here.

Talks with staff are taking place through a number of unions. Nub News has obtained full details of the proposals being put forward and the reasons behind them. Those reasons include the 'threat' that if savings are not enacted, Mossbourne will not be able to proceed with the takeover, initially set for March this year and delayed twice since that deadline was not met

They include:

  • Staffing spend is greater than 80% (DfE recommended maximum) and projected to rise.
  • The desire to set a balanced budget with significant staffing overspend has led to reduced curriculum resources, facilities and ICT spend.
  • Overspending on staffing has been at the expense of essential curriculum resources, ICT and facilities spend, which is impacting negatively on pupil outcomes.
  • We expect that an investment of over £10m will be required to bring facilities up to speed over several years, confirmed by conditions surveys verified by DfE. Mossbourne has been awarded £3.2m SSICB funding by DfE to support estates improvement, and there is a risk to timeout on these funds. • Financial challenges will be exacerbated in future years as Gable Hall funding will reduce by £1.4m in 2025/26.
  • Doing nothing means that we will return a £2.1m deficit by the end of 2025/26
  • This financial backdrop makes us a less attractive merger prospect and reduces our ability to invest in resources for our pupils' futures. Action is required to avoid further delays to the merger.

A sea of red in the Ortu balance sheet

In the message to staff Ortu adds:

  • Almost 81% of our expenditure is on staffing and it should be 75 - 80%
  • We have an oversupply of leaders, expensive allocation of allowances, and an expensive curriculum model. Gable Hall and Hassenbrook are both over budgeted on teaching staff this academic year.
  • Our teaching support numbers are higher than can be justified given our SEND budget and pupil needs.
  • We are underinvested in buildings, IT infrastructure and the back office. We need to remedy this so we our teachers can work smarter not harder and so that we create more time in teachers' days to focus on school improvement and on pupil outcomes.

Details of all the projections, restructuring and jobs at risk within the two secondary schools can be found in this document.

It shows that the operating budget for the three schools is planned to be cut by around £1.3 million next year.

As well as considerable expressions of anger in social media posts, several parents have contacted Nub News directly to express alarm and dissatisfaction.

One told us: "Students in year 10 who have already chosen their options are being told today that they can no longer take some subjects and being told that other subjects are now mandatory. This is disgraceful and heartbreaking for these children.

"Both my children are currently studying subjects that are being pulled. The school is making subjects such as Religious Studies & History now compulsory which is utterly ridiculous. How on earth is RE & history more important that subjects like business & finance? It makes no sense."

And we have been told parents have been advised not to contact the schools directly with concerns but been given a link that we can log into, which they will only be able to access till Monday 24th.

The parent added: "I really hope that you could make people aware of what is happening. Parents are at our wits' end, they should not be able to get away with ruining our children's education like this."

Thurrock Nub News has contacted Thurrock Council, which has little authority or means of control at local schools under the academy system any more.

At Tuesday's (19 November) meeting of the council's People Overview and Scrutiny committee, its chairman, Stanford West councillor Neil Speight raised the issue of the delay in the takeover and asked if Thurrock Council had any concerns.

Sheila Murphy had no concerns to report to Thurrock Council's People O&S committee

Director of Children's Services Sheila Murphy said the council had none and read out a brief statement from the Department of education (see it in our previous story) detailing its position.

In the hours that followed, news of the potential cuts and reductions in teaching broke.

In the wake of that Ms Murphy issued a brief statement which says: "The Council is in communication with both the Ortu Trust and the Regional Schools Director Office, regarding the transfer of Ortu Trust to Mossbourne Trust.

"If parents are not happy with school-based issues, they should contact Ortu Trust to raise their concerns directly with the Trust."

Both Mossbourne and Ortu Federations have not responded to requests by Thurrock Nub News for comment.

     

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