Up to a thousand school staff at risk of redundancy in Norfolk
Schools must stop ‘picking the pockets’ of the lowest paid staff, says GMB Union
GMB, a union representing more than 100,000 school support staff, estimates that as many as 1,000 jobs are currently at risk in Norfolk’s schools.
This would affect school support staff including teaching assistants, mealtime supervisors, and caretakers.
GMB is calling on schools not to cut support staff roles, warning that doing so will disproportionately affect the lowest paid staff.
Job losses among teaching assistants would also have a significant impact on children with special educational needs (SEN) at a time when the number of children requiring additional support is rising.
It has pointed to the staff and funding cuts already undertaken by schools and Norfolk County Council as evidence of how desperate the situation has become.
The union has learned of a primary school in the county proposing to close early to save on staffing costs and charging parents to keep their children on site.
Ashley Foster, GMB Regional Organiser said:
“Schools have difficult choices to make when it comes to their budgets, but they cannot keep picking the pockets of the lowest paid.
“Caretakers, mealtime supervisors, and teaching assistants all have a profound and positive impact on the day-to-day experience of children at school.
“Cuts to these roles would result in heavier workloads for already overworked staff and jeopardise the education and safety of children.”
