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Fair deal schools battle reaches new phase

Publication date: Friday 5 March 2010

The latest phase of the Fair Deal for Haringey Children campaign is now underway, as educators fight for more money for local schools.

At present Haringey schools get £1,100 per pupil less than neighbouring inner-London boroughs. This causes a difficulty for schools, which often have to deal with inner-London issues and pay teachers inner-London wages, but without inner-London funding.

The formula used by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) to allocate funds is currently under review, and the DCSF will soon be consulting on its future. So Haringey Council and the Schools Forum held a conference for teachers, governors and others involved in education, to help them understand how their responses could help get a fairer settlement for Haringey.

To help achieve the best result for the borough, Haringey Council and the Schools Forum commissioned research into the different funding options. The packed public meeting - which was held at the Haringey Professional Development Centre in Tottenham on Thursday 25 February - gave an opportunity to share the results of that research and explain how by using that evidence, schools can contribute to the consultation and help the campaign.

Cllr Lorna Reith, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said:

“Our schools are doing a good job, and we have seen an impressive improvement in recent years. However if we can get the funding formula changed, our schools would be able to achieve even more.

“We have cross-party political support, have been in talks with the government and will be producing our own response to the consultation. However teachers, parents and governors can help too. We hope that our conference inspired people to act.”

Speakers included Cllr Lorna Reith, Tony Brockman, chair of the Schools Forum and secretary of Haringey NUT, and both local MPs, Lynne Featherstone and David Lammy. Those attending the meeting also had an opportunity to ask questions and express views.

The fair funding event was held during Fairtrade Fortnight, so all refreshments were Fairtrade and an exhibition stand provided information on Fairtrade products.

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