West Bromwich head teacher reseeds school pitch to save funds

Claire Evans said she was filled with "dread" over the school's funding

A head teacher is reseeding her school's football pitch herself because she says the budget cannot pay for it to be done professionally.

Claire Evans, from Eaton Valley School in West Bromwich said, "this is just how it is because there is no cash".

The work would have cost £3,700, using up a large amount of the budget.

The government has previously said extra funding would take real-terms spending on schools to "its highest level in history".

"I love my school but I'm cross that I've been put in the position to do this," Ms Evans said.

She has enlisted the help of her mother and husband to reseed the pitch.

Claire Evans' mum is helping to improve the front of the school to save on costs

It comes as three teaching unions have rejected the government's latest pay offer for teachers.

The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), representing mainly primary heads, is considering balloting members again over strike action.

Teachers were offered a 4.3% rise next year, following on from a 5% rise in 2022, as well as a £1,000 one-off payment this year.

Starting salaries would also rise to £30,000 from September.

The government said it believed schools could afford to fund most of the pay rise from their budgets, and that extra money would have been provided to make up the rest.

Unions have been campaigning for a fully funded pay rise, arguing that taking the money from schools' existing budgets could mean they have to make cuts elsewhere.

Ms Evans said the pay offer from the government was "completely out of touch".

"The government clearly has no idea what it's like to work in schools, they are just in a different land," she said.

Claire Evans said she could not set a deficit budget and has to make the funding work

The school has already had to cut down on specialist coaches for PE, she added, and cannot revamp a playground, which she said would directly affect children.

"It fills me with dread as it's not going to get better it's only going to get worse," she said.

"If the government had offered 4.3% as funded, there may have been more debate from unions. But it's unfunded and it's not enough."

The government has described the prospect of further strikes as "extremely disappointing".

A Department for Education spokesperson said: "The offer was funded, including major new investment of over half a billion pounds, and helps tackle issues teachers are facing like workload."

Unions' rejection of the offer would "simply result in more disruption for children and less money for teachers today", they said.