Cash-strapped Portsmouth school 'has 10 pencils left until July' says teacher

The claim was made at the National Education Union’s annual conference, amid anger over a government pay offer that has been described as ‘insulting’ by teachers who say schools are struggling to provide enough resources for children amid funding pressures.

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Charlotte Lawrence, a primary school teacher in Portsmouth, said: ‘I’ve had teachers inquire about whether there’s a hardship fund for strike action because they can’t afford to strike and buy resources for their classrooms and that’s what they’re trying to prioritise.’

Speaking to the PA news agency at the conference in Harrogate, Ms Lawrence said she knew of a school in the city that had ‘10 pencils to last until the end of the academic year’.

Teachers in England will strike on April 27 and May 2 after 98 per cent of NEU teacher members who responded in a consultative ballot voted to reject the government’s pay offer.

The Government offered a £1,000 one-off payment for the current school year (2022/23) and an average 4.5 per cent rise for staff next year (2023/24), but the NEU said the deal was not fully funded.

Ms Lawrence, a Year 4 teacher who has been in the profession for 14 years, said the offer was insulting and teachers were angry.

‘It is not good enough and something needs to be done,’ she said.

Asked if teachers in England could move to Scotland to get a better pay offer, Ms Lawrence said: ‘Yeah, especially if they live in the north of England, in that locality.’

She warned that it is ‘damaging’ for children that skilled teachers are leaving teaching for other professions due to low pay and high workload.

Laura Beckham, a teacher in an oversubscribed special needs school in Consett, County Durham, told PA: ‘The education system is in crisis. Schools need more funding.’

Speaking about the school she works in, Ms Beckham said: “You walk into the school and you can see wheelchairs and stand aids and all the equipment.

‘There isn’t enough room for them in the classroom, they have to go in the corridor. We are desperate for a new building but the Send (special educational needs and disabilities) funding is just atrocious.’

On the Government’s pay offer, Ms Beckham said: “When it comes to funding in schools, the fact that it wasn’t a funded increase was just insulting. Particularly to schools that are already struggling.

‘If it is an unfunded pay rise, I am going to lose teaching assistants. I can’t afford to lose teaching assistants.’

Ms Beckham, who has considered leaving the profession due to pay and workload pressures, said her son ‘gets upset’ when she has to work until 11pm.

The 32-year-old, who has moved in with her parents amid financial pressures, said: “When it came to getting on the housing ladder, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to do it.

‘So the best option I had was to stay with my parents. I couldn’t afford childcare so I do rely on my parents quite a lot for childcare.’