Do you work in a school? Are you a parent of a school-age child in West Sussex? We want YOUR views.
UNISON West Sussex is re-launching our Schools Survey in support of our campaign for better funding for our county schools.
Last year we launched our survey to better understand the impact of the school funding crisis on you and on the children whose education you provide and support.
The results were stark. The key findings were:
- There is an increasing rate of staffing restructures in West Sussex schools.
- Staffing restructures leave the most vulnerable children with reduced provision.
- Educational outcomes for all children are negatively affected by staffing restructures. These are reflected in the attainment results for West Sussex schools.
- There is an increased risk to the safeguarding of children as a result of restructuring in schools.
- Staffing restructures are often poorly managed.
- These processes result in significant loss of staff, which in turn has an impact on stress levels and morale of our members, and on the health and safety of all.
- Other non-staffing cut backs include equipment and adequate heating and ventilation.
None of this is good for you or West Sussex children. All of this is caused by the failure of government to address the schools’ funding crisis.
UNISON West Sussex campaigned on these results with our members, complimenting the work of WorthLess, with an appearance on BBC South Today as well as extended local press and radio coverage.
The campaign is having an impact: West Sussex MPs know that school funding is a top local priority. The government has made some movement on the issue: but it is nowhere near enough! We need to keep pushing!
The last survey was specifically designed to measure the impact of school restructure, on our members, on other staff, on parents, and, most importantly, on the children.
Now we want to understand if this situation is deteriorating. We want your views and experiences of what has happened in West Sussex schools since the survey. What additional capacity has been lost? What was the impact on the school community?
This time we have partnered with West Sussex Save our Schools and designed a set of questions specifically aimed at parents. The survey will take you to the appropriate section, and we will report on this separately. Save Our Schools organised fantastic rallies and campaign events last term.
Please take a few minutes to complete our survey, and share it with colleagues. Please also share the survey with non-members – and encourage them to join UNISON!
We will campaign on the back of these results to bring this funding scandal to the attention of all residents of West Sussex, and force a change for the better.