South Gloucestershire schools are among the lowest funded per pupil in the country. Also, while the funding from Government to help pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) has remained static, spending has increased.

The Conservatives running the council have proposed three options to cut £3m from the schools budget next year – to transfer £3m from general school funding to SEND (their preferred option), reduce SEND funding by £3m or a combination of the two.

We are deeply concerned about the impact any of these options will have on local children and think the administration should be pushing their colleagues in Government to better fund our schools. Standards in our secondary schools have been a long-running concern and those pupils with SEND are already not doing as well as they would be expected to do.

The consultation runs until 25^th November and there are two events for parent/carers only and three public events:

• YATE: 15th October 18.00 – 19.30,  Yate Outdoor Sports Complex, Broad Lane, Yate, BS37 7LB
• FILTON: 8th November 10.30 – 12:00 BAWA, Southmead Road, Bristol, BS34 7RG
• MANGOTSFIELD: 19th November 18:00 – 19:30 Cleve rugby club, The Hayfields, Cossham Street, Mangotsfield, Bristol, BS16 9EN

More details, including how to book the events, are on the South Glos consultation website.

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