Jobs axe threat at Robert Blair School

Published: 11 February, 2011
by TERRY MESSENGER

Education chief hopes redundancies can be averted but teachers’ union talks of strike action 

FEARS of widespread redundancies among teaching staff in Islington were raised this week as a primary school drew up plans to axe five jobs.

In a confidential report leaked to the Tribune, the headteacher of Robert Blair School in Holloway put forward a detailed list of econ­omies, including job losses among teachers and teaching assistants.

Head Mark Miller said in the report to his governors that he was acting on advice from Cambridge Education Authority, the body which runs schools in Islington, that he should plan for a five per cent cut in the annual budget from April.

He said in his report: “To take account of the likely changes to school budgets, Cambridge Educ­ation@Islington have recommended that we plan for a five per cent cut in the budget for 2011-12.”

Along with measures to eliminate borrowings, Mr Miller calculated that the school needed to save £160,000 in the year from April.

He said: “There is no possibility of achieving the saving without some staffing cuts.”

Mr Miller recommended axing a part-time teacher, three part-time teaching assistants, and an agency teacher. He hoped he could get rid of the posts through non-replacement of staff or voluntary redundancies.

“The timescales are tight, particularly to implement any of the proposals in time for the new financial year in April, 2011,” he warned. 

Ken Muller, assistant secretary of Islington National Union of Teachers, expressed concern that other schools would be drawing up similar plans.

He said: “We will be consulting our members across the borough in all schools about their willingness to take strike action against cuts and redundancies in any Islington school.”

But Islington Council’s Labour education chief Councillor Richard Watts said redundancies at Robert Blair and elsewhere might not have to go ahead.

Cambridge Education Authority had issued a warning about the five per cent cut last year but later advice predicted that budgets would be frozen, he explained.

Cllr Watts said: “Although it could turn out that schools budgets are only frozen, schools are well advised to prepare for some budget cuts.    

“How they do it is a matter for them. The five per cent figure isn’t something we think is definitely going to happen.”

He insisted that school budgets would be finalised in June, but added: “Staff who work in schools are rightly concerned about the prospect of budget cuts and so are we as councillors. That’s why we are campaigning against them.

“Schools have got to plan how they might deal with whatever funding settlement they receive in June and people would be well advised to be cautious about what’s going to happen then.”