Welsh Government plans to pay for pupils to go on an outdoor residential trip is not good use of public money when heads are being forced to cut staff and fundraise for basics like paper, school leaders have told MSs. The National Association of Headteachers Cymru (NAHT) said schools don't have enough money for basic equipment or enough staff.
Responding to Welsh Government proposals that would require local education authorities to ensure all children experience residential outdoor education for a week or more during their time at school the NAHT said the money should be spent on "frontline" education needs instead. Giving evidence to the Senedd's Children, Young People, and Education committee NAHT director Laura Doel and Chris Parry, head teacher of Lewis School Pengam and NAHT Cymru president, said if there was new money it must go on what's needed most.
Although they agreed that outdoor residential trips were valuable they said budgets were now so squeezed this was a bad use of cash. The NAHT warned it cannot support the Welsh Government's Residential Outdoor Education Bill even if it requires that the government stumps up the funds to pay for the trips.
Ms Doel said if there is more cash to be had it needs to go on essentials. Budgets are so squeezed some schools don't have enough money for stationery, she said. “While all pupils deserve a well-rounded education and we support access to experiences outside the classroom this cannot come at the cost of frontline teaching and learning. The reality is that local authorities are looking at significant financial cuts and if they have to fund week-long residential trips for pupils that could place even more pressure on school budgets which are already stretched to the limit.
"We are already hearing from school leaders who are being forced to make teachers and teaching assistants redundant, operate with classes at full capacity, cover lessons to reduce spending on supply teachers, and whose PTAs are having to fundraise for stationery and basic equipment. This bill fails to recognise the funding crisis plaguing education and is not something we can support at this time. Recruiting and retaining great leaders and teachers, supporting learners with additional learning needs (ALN), helping bring down class sizes, repairing buildings, and delivering on the new curriculum and qualifications are priority issues for our members and should be the focus for all members of the Senedd. Even if additional funding was provided we would have practical concerns around implementation and staffing of such trips to name just a few issues.”
