Headteachers from a number of Furness schools have expressed ‘growing concern’ over the impact of funding cuts to education.

Matt Savidge, Chair of the Furness Education Consortium and headteacher at Millom School, has released a statement on behalf of the consortium, made up of headteachers from a number of schools across the region.

In the statement, he said that since 2010, school funding had been cut by eight per cent, and as a result, this had put additional pressures on all schools in managing their budgets.

He said there was growing concern among headteachers.

He went on to explain how cuts to schools were pushing headteachers into making difficult decisions over class sizes, recruitment and retention of staff, and the range of subjects and other activities available to students.

Mr Savidge said: “ The Association of School and College Leaders, which represents many headteachers and school leaders, has recently published a report which indicates that there is a £5.7 billion shortfall in school funding.

“In spite of this, schools in the Furness Education Consortium are working hard together to continue to improve the quality of education experienced by our young people.

“There is a joint commitment to ensuring that students leave our schools with the qualifications they need to progress to the next stage of their education and with the range of skills they need to be successful in life.

“Governors and headteachers in all of our schools are taking the utmost care with their budgets to ensure that all the funding is spent effectively on the children in our care.”

His comments come after a leading member of a teachers’ union also raised concerns over the impact of funding cuts. Chris Brooksbank, Cumbria’s regional secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said the cuts to school funding were having a ‘dramatic impact’ on schools.

He was joined by MPs John Woodcock and Tim Farron, who both praised headteachers in their constituencies for making the best of the situation.