Friday, for many, marked the start of the summer holidays. Young people on leaving on Friday would have said thank you to their teachers and I would like to also say a big thank you teachers, headteachers and all the support staff who all work incredibly hard.
This year we saw confirmation of how well schools in England are performing internationally. This is especially in children’s ability to read but the same is true in other core areas. After years of losing ground globally British children are again outperforming international peers in vital areas.
Just before the schools broke up, the Department for Education announced that schools in England are set to receive their highest ever funding in real terms; totalling almost £60 billion for 2024-25.
The total funding for all schools in the Horsham constituency in 2024-25 will be £84,524,065 representing a significant increase compared to funding in 2023-24..
The Government has also accepted the Independent Pay Review Body’s recommendations of 6.5% pay increase for teachers and raising the minimum starting salary for teachers to £30,000 from September. This pay offer is funded and I hope ensures that we continue to recruit into our classrooms highly motivated teachers who had provide students with the skills they need in an increasingly competitive world.
Looking ahead to the new term, I know this year’s local secondary school allocations did not work for some families as they had hoped. Locally, we do have enough primary and secondary school places but I want all parents to know that despite the current “bulge” in students going into secondary education that their children will always be able to attend one of the many good local schools.
This has been the focus for recent meetings with County, as has our local SEN provision.
QEII is an excellent local SEN school with amazing specialist provision. I am delighted we have secured the go ahead for them to expand into Arun House on Hurst Road. This represents a very significant investment in SEN education by County and I am very keen that the extensive programme of works which is needed to transform Arun House into the modern setting which is needed is executed as well and swiftly as possible.
