Educational cutbacks following latest govt announcement

[paulkerton]

On 01/04/2025 at 14:36, Koldov said:

Or the classic...

 

Print 30 worksheets from Twinkl, get the kids to fill it in...

 

Then stick it in their workbook...

Oh no, even better (though I haven't seen Twinkl in a while so I don't know if this is still true)
Print 30 worksheets from Twinkl, but don't set Adobe Reader to not print the first page - so 30 worksheets, and 30 "do not print this page" sheets from Twinkl next to the printer. 10 times a day.

[Chris_Cook]

In general, visualising costs is key, and make sure that SLT and middle leaders know what they are spending on overall. Especially hi-lighting areas that are above normal. There's a comparison site for school spending, but what it doesn't seem to factor in is Exam results and Ofsted grades.

 

Slow PCs really don't help and increase stress levels. I'm not convinced that cutting spending on IT is necessarily a good thing. IT done right should multiply what staff are capable of.

 

Investing in things that save staff time, or allow them to automate stuff. I'm sure there are lots of wasted man-hours in schools.

 

Heating, lighting and electricity for PCs are really high in our schools. Loft + cavity wall insulation is poor/missing. Even putting in double glazing made a big improvement to the heating system, so I dread to think how much heat was just escaping the building.  I went in some of our primaries last holiday and the heating was left on all week. One of the rooms was almost dangerously hot, and very few staff were in. Its probably worth getting people in to look at the energy usage in schools. I calculated the cost of all our fluorescent lights and that was quite a bit. There ought to be funding for all schools to replace their lighting with LED.

 

We've done quite a bit in the last few years with CCTV to help with behavior issues and false fire alarms which should save staff some time.

 

I also think its time for leaders/managers in the public sector to get some proper training around budgeting and financial planning.

[Chuckster]

The biggest cost to any school, academy and trust is going to be the staff wage bill. At least 85% of a schools budget is eaten up by staff alone. 

 

If you want to see real efficiencies, then schools need to look at their staffing structure. This is how it's done in the private sector - and unfortunately, the same needs to happen in the public sector. 

 

I understand making improvements to systems, re-visiting contracts etc all helps. But the short-term savings are immediately eroded the following year when things such as NMW goes up, salary spinal points adjusted to account for inflation etc, with little to no extra funding from central government.

 

When I used to work in schools, business managers would glance at IT as their first immediate target for achieving savings. The constant fear of losing your job, especially when you're the only person, was enough to seek opportunities elsewhere.

[mthomas08]

15 hours ago, Chris_Cook said:

Slow PCs really don't help and increase stress levels. I'm not convinced that cutting spending on IT is necessarily a good thing. IT done right should multiply what staff are capable of.

Ah yes.. the slow PCs...  I once tried to explain to a HT how slow PCs could be a real problem for classes.

 

I showed her a recording me turning on PCs and logging on. It took a total 15 minutes - yes actually 15 minutes. The bio screen was slow, then Windows was slow.. then getting to the logon was slow.. and finally.. loading the profile. I said, this is what kids face every day and every lesson. Even if the PCs are booted by the teacher, it still takes like 8 minutes to logon.

 

Considering how students get told off for being late.. how can we ignore IT..

 

This was one tiny segment of data I showed the HT, we had a slow network 100MB, our broadband capped on 50MB daily, WiFi areas were unreliable.

 

So course.. you add a slow PC.. slow network.. slow internet..  unreliable servers.. (let alone a terrible device scheme alongside messy bad projector/sound/PCs in classrooms) and the excuse I got was "why replace IT for it just to fail again". Lets just say we fixed all that over the years.

 

The sheer productivity loss would have been disgusting.

[mavhc]

Cost of teacher per hour * hours wasted per year > cost of new PC

[msi_school]

On 01/04/2025 at 07:34, C3PO said:

On top of this I know some schools who are also facing major challenges with Windows 10 becoming End of Life as well - and having devices that are non- compatible - so another financial challenge on top of everything else.

A SLT who get themselves into this position should have there compidance questioned by the trust/LEA or OFSTED. Microsoft, Google and most other manafactures publish OS requirements and EOL many years in advance, Apple are a bit more secretive but their trends are quite clear.

 

The equimpent should be on a replacement cycle which is hand in hand with its depreciation in the finace processes. 

 

This is no different from any other on going expence, what would be the response to a school which did not MOT a minibus because it came with one and they did not plan to have it done after three years.

 

I know it is expensive and I would expect some replacements to be pushed back but they should have been aware of this for at least five years and planned accordingly.

[msi_school]

On 01/04/2025 at 08:53, PotNoodleTech said:

Maybe time to thnk outside the box - moving lock stock and two smoking barrels to chrome o/s has nevver looked so appealing (or so..possible..)

 

On 01/04/2025 at 08:55, speakercon said:

This, but most establishments won't even consider such a terrifying change is imaginable.

 

I have heard this argument for users my whole career followed by we dont hwant to move to a new version of Windows or Office with a ribbon becasue its is equally confusing. 

 

I would be tempted to move the school to Chrome and just tell them its Windows 11 🙂

[NegativeKillDeath]

23 hours ago, machy said:

 

I Wonder if we started going "Full time staff equivalent" rather that price per page if it would make a difference. 

"we could have had 2 full time TAs for the amount we have printed" 

 

You should always be careful using staff salaries in budget comparisons, especially with lower paid roles. My previous school recently told the whole staff body in an INSET meeting that they had overspent the yearly budget by the equivalent of a TAs salary. You can imagine just how the TAs were feeling during that meeting. This was at a time when they had just spent the same amount on lockable phone pouches for all students with no plan on how to implement them effectively. 

[DrBeaker]

On 02/04/2025 at 17:31, Chuckster said:

Quote

The biggest cost to any school, academy and trust is going to be the staff wage bill. At least 85% of a schools budget is eaten up by staff alone. 

 

 

 

So when (I guess we all have) come across have staff (teaching, non-teaching etc) who don't or refuse to listen to IT advice, IT training etc - are those staff not causing inefficiencies in operations? e.g. constantly logging the same issue when it's down to a user problem/user issue?

 

Those staff are costing us money in lost time, lost productivity etc 

 

Seeing IT as only a cost-centre is a fallacy, and very short-sighted thinking. Especially so when done by SLT and other school leadership staff such as SBM's who should know a lot better.

 

IT is a force-multiplier - VoIP phone systems, parent comms apps, email, scan-to-email, faster systems, redundant systems with RAID, failover, UPS etc that keeps the school going despite a failure.

 

I've yet to meet many people in education, even business who understand this - or that in 2025 if they have no IT they HAVE no (core) business functionality. 

 

 

 

[Edu-IT]

On 02/04/2025 at 17:21, Chris_Cook said:

There ought to be funding for all schools to replace their lighting with LED.

There was.

 

https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2022/12/how-we-are-supporting-schools-and-colleges-to-be-energy-efficient/

[theeggmaster]

On 03/04/2025 at 08:38, mthomas08 said:

Ah yes.. the slow PCs...  I once tried to explain to a HT how slow PCs could be a real problem for classes.

 

I showed her a recording me turning on PCs and logging on. It took a total 15 minutes - yes actually 15 minutes. The bio screen was slow, then Windows was slow.. then getting to the logon was slow.. and finally.. loading the profile. I said, this is what kids face every day and every lesson. Even if the PCs are booted by the teacher, it still takes like 8 minutes to logon.

 

Considering how students get told off for being late.. how can we ignore IT..

 

This was one tiny segment of data I showed the HT, we had a slow network 100MB, our broadband capped on 50MB daily, WiFi areas were unreliable.

 

So course.. you add a slow PC.. slow network.. slow internet..  unreliable servers.. (let alone a terrible device scheme alongside messy bad projector/sound/PCs in classrooms) and the excuse I got was "why replace IT for it just to fail again". Lets just say we fixed all that over the years.

 

The sheer productivity loss would have been disgusting.

The best way I found to address this is for everyone (staff, students, SLT, IT) to use the same spec of computer. That way any problems are really *felt* by people and they will be more motivated to act if things are slow or aren't working correctly.

 

Yes, there will be exceptions, but it's good from an awareness point of view.

[sigma]

When I first started at my current school and teaching staff ‘managed’ the RMCC3 network, device specification was allocated by seniority, not need, with even new devices purchased for pupils being grossly under spec’d.  I was allowed to little more than mouse ball cleaning back then even though I was the only one with any professional IT experience.

[Roberto]

We do that where I work. We do have 2 tiers of device and some people, those running complex mathematical models locally for example, are the few that have the top tier of device, but outside of that specific exception, the rest of us, CEO to cook and everyone in between globally is running the same device. Well maybe a localised keyboard…

[Alis_Klar]

On 01/04/2025 at 09:14, mikes said:

We were paying thousands and thousands for SIMS - so MIS would be a good way to cut costs - if only our Govt were competent enough to hire a few programmers to put together an SQL db and a frontend eh? it would save tens of millions

In Scotland they do just that with SEEMiS.  It is the only MIS in Scotland AFAIK.  Some Scottish Edugeekers could chime in here!

[mavhc]

Same with all software, just get together a group of schools to pay to have something written and make it open source, why is every school paying for another copy of the same code?

[DrCheese]

A nationalised SIMS gives me shivers. SIMS was already naff when it had the market sown up, imagine how awful it would be if there was zero competition.

 

Edited April 10, 2025 by DrCheese

[mthomas08]

On 10/04/2025 at 11:05, DrCheese said:

A nationalised SIMS gives me shivers. SIMS was already naff when it had the market sown up, imagine how awful it would be if there was zero competition.

 

Cloud version in 2035, why bother worrying about it when no other competition exists.

Keep using the old SIMs. Net for another 20 years at least. It cuts costs.

Sack half the support staff, why bother providing good support when we can't choose another MIS..     you have a problem? sure, we can add you to the list..  you're now customer 41 in line. Hell, don't even bother with people on other end and resort to an AI bot which companies have been using for years...   have you tried XYZ...  what about XYZ again.....  now try ABC..... Oooooo ddo XYZ again..... now do ABC AGAIN!  Ugh.

[mavhc]

That's why the users need to own the software