Dear Parents

I’m sure you will have seen reports in the local press about the cuts to the Education Budgets for all schools.

The proposed cut to the school budget, approximately 7%, will have a dramatic effect on the services schools will be able to provide children in all nursery, primary and post-primary schools.

Put simply, the cut in a school budget translates into a loss of teaching staff, a loss of classroom assistants and support staff, cuts to SEN provision in a system that has an increasing number of children who require much needed additional learning support, as well as a cut to the resources available to schools.

The effect of making teachers redundant from schools will see class sizes rising in all primary schools,meaning there will be less opportunities for one-to-one teaching, with the obvious detrimental effect on children’s educational attainment.

In the post-primary sector the effect will be on class size and the range of subjects that can be offered.

Cuts to SEN provision will have adverse effects not only for the children who require support, but also for the other pupils in class.

The amount of afterschool provision that can be offered will have to be scaled back, and this will put greater strain on parents.

Monies available to schools to pay for up to date resources, such as ICT equipment, interactive whiteboards, text books and reading materials will be drastically cut.

Much needed works to repair and update older school buildings will now not go ahead.

This can only have a negative effect on our children’s’ life chance in the future.

The Department of Education are currently asking for responses to the Draft Education Budget. This consultation closes on 29th December 2014, and it is important that as many responses as possible are returned, we would therefore ask that you sign the attached letter and return itto the school or reply directly to the consultation by email to:

The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation is holding a series of public meetings beginning on Monday 15th of December 2014:

Canal Court Hotel, Newry at 7pm, Monday 15th December

City Hotel, Derry at 7pm, Monday 15th December

Strule Arts Centre, Omagh (entrance via Bridge Street) at 7pm, Tuesday 16th December
The final public meeting will be held in the Holiday Inn, Ormeau Ave, Belfast at 7pm on Thursday 18th of December.