A North Yorkshire primary school is asking local people to donate resources and help carry out maintenance work, saying it cannot afford to fund the essential works.
Leaders of Barlby Bridge Primary School in Selby say that, because North Yorkshire schools receive among the lowest funding per pupil in the country, “we are absolutely stuck when it comes to renovating our school”.
It added staff at the school, which last month was rated ‘good’ by Ofsted, were finding it increasingly difficult to “make things work”.
A post on the Save Our Selby Facebook page stated: “All the schools in our area are struggling with the same things and we have so many brilliant teachers trying to work hard for our Selby kids.”
The post called on residents to donate painting and decorating supplies, help with fencing, window cleaners to wash the schools’ windows, joiners and trades people to fit a kitchen and others to donate their time to weed and sweep the school grounds.
The appeal follows a Northern Powerhouse Partnership study last year concluding deprivation in Selby had led to poor educational outcomes for people schooled in the town.
Responding to the appeal, North Yorkshire Council’s assistant director for education, learning and skills, Amanda Newbold, said schools had delegated responsibilities for maintenance of their buildings and sites.
She said: “At times they may request and receive assistance from community members, recognising that any works in school have to be undertaken in accordance with the school’s responsibilities for health and safety and other statutory regulations.”
A spokesman for the Department for Education said North Yorkshire had been given almost £5.9 million in School Condition Allocations for 2024-25 to prioritise across its schools, including Barlby Bridge Community Primary.
He said: “It is the responsibility of councils and academy trusts to ensure their schools are safe, well-maintained and compliant with relevant regulations.
“We provide capital funding, rebuilding programmes, guidance and support to help schools and responsible bodies effectively manage their school buildings.”
‘A poor state of affairs’
The department also said Barlby Bridge School had also been given £5,900 in devolved formula capital this year and said its School Rebuilding Programme was transforming poor condition buildings at eight schools in North Yorkshire.
It said where it was alerted to significant safety issues with school buildings that cannot be managed independently, it provided additional support on case by case basis.
Selby councillor Steve Shaw Wright said while school finances were tight, school maintenance work could not be carried out by volunteers on an ad hoc basis.
He said: “The school must be really desperate, but I can’t understand how the council has not been involved. They need to be lobbying their MP and the council saying they do not have enough money to operate as a school.”
Councillor Barbara Brodigan, chair of the council’s children and families scrutiny committee, said the schools were under-funded because the council was being under-funded by the Government.
The Liberal Democrat councillor and former teacher said she had never known of a similar appeal issued by a school and questioned how schools in the county were meant to teach pupils in dilapidated surroundings.
She said: “The formula for funding schools is outdated and is focused on areas of deprivation while completely ignoring areas of disadvantage. Rural areas are totally disadvantaged.
“It results in an awful position where schools don’t have sufficient funds to have all the teachers or teaching assistants they need, so they certainly got no funds for the school infrastructure.
“It’s a poor state of affairs in the 21st century when we’re one of the world’s largest economies and we’ve got teachers having to beg the community not only to donate resources but to donate their time.”