Elliott School ' lurching into crisis'

Funding cuts could mean staff losses at local school

A letter from teachers at Elliott School which was leaked to the Wandsworth Guardian says that funding cuts are putting the school at risk.

Teachers at a Putney secondary school claim it is "lurching into crisis" after governors proposed making five staff redundant to reduce a £219,000 deficit.

The staff at the school have met the governors to demand that alternatives be found to reducing staffing. The jobs of a deputy head, two maths teachers and a design and technology teacher are reportedly also under threat. The school will have 19 fewer staff next term than it did 4 years ago.

The school has seen an increasing deficit in its budget which rose to £219,000. It was the only school in the borough to see a rise in their short-fall.

The meeting came after Elliott's teachers wrote to the governors claiming the redundancies would cause problems at the school.

The letter, which was leaked anonymously to the Guardian, said: "We are being put under more and more pressure with fewer and fewer resources and are certainly going to be unable to sustain the level of commitment which has been a tradition here."

June 4, 2004