A SOUTHAMPTON head teacher says her school is so short of fund she has sent a Christmas wish list to parents asking for help with basic equipment.

Valentine Primary School head Liz Filer said "it's embarrassing" - but she has been forced to ask parents to stump up the cash for pencils and rulers.

The desperate shopping list includes items like crayons, chalk, pritt stick and tracing paper, which Ms Filer says teachers have asked parents to provide.

It comes just weeks after union leaders launched a campaign against funding cuts at the school.

Ms Filer says the Sholing school - one of the city's biggest - is being asked to make "impossible" savings of £400,000 this year, and she has "no budget" for resources.

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But MPs say "more money" is going into education - and that a £6.2million cash injection into improving the school buildings is proof.

Ms Filer - who is a long-standing education campaigner - said the move is not political.

She said: "We have the budget for essentials, but at the campaign launch meeting parents asked how they could help, and this is what teachers said they need.

"I haven't got a budget for extra resources, just the essentials. We are having to limit how many pencils we can buy."

Ms Filer also says teaching assistants and resources will have to be axed if the funding gap can't be filled and that staffing costs this year mean she can't replace staff who leave.

She added: "We are getting more money - but it's not enough. Our staffing costs have gone up by quarter of a million this financial year - but the school budget has only gone up £58,000."

The wish list has also got the backing of parents.

What's on the wish list? (story continues below)

Pritt sticks
Art supplies such as watercolours
Crayons – art
Pastels
Scissors
Dictionaries
Post-It Notes
Staple removers
Play-Doh
Lolly sticks
Cheap microphones
SATS resources – pencils, rulers, mirrors,
protractors, erasers
Whiteboard pens
Paint brushes (large and small)
Felt-tip pens
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Black handwriting pens
Pencil sharpeners
Thesaurus
Card
Collage materials
Glue spreaders
Sellotape (and
ideally dispensers)
DC adaptor plugs
for keyboards
Permanent markers
Chalks – art
Colouring pencils
Blu-tak
Pencil cases –
class set
Masking tape
Split pins
Tracing paper
Glitter
Clarinet reeds
Second-hand instruments, eg keyboards

One told the Daily Echo: "The school is outstanding and so inclusive to all children.

"The cuts have destroyed their budget and its now got to this.

"As a community if we get behind our schools we can help our children grow"

James Ellis from National Education Union - who launched the Hands Off Valentine campaign - said the school has a higher number than usual of children with additional needs - but the school doesn't get enough funding to cover the costs.

Speaking to the Echo he said: "There are specific issues at Valentine.

"They have produced a deficit but the amount that they are now being asked to cut isn't sustainable.

"They won't be able to provide the basic level of education.

"It's the most vulnerable children who will suffer. The school has 4.2 per cent of EHCP pupils compared to a national average of 1.8 per cent.

"It has a knock-on effect on the whole class if there aren't support workers there."

He added: "There is no fat left to trim."

City education boss Councillor Darren Paffey said: "I will keep lobbying the education secretary, and will keep knocking on Damian Hinds' door until I get the message through.

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"Council budgets for education have been slashed so I don't have money to just give out to schools, but I will be fighting for education to receive more money."

MP for Southampton Itchen Royston Smith said: "The unions have been saying there have been cuts for years and each time they say it it is disproved.

"More money is going into our schools than ever before and school funding is at a record high."

As reported a new three-storey block at the school is set for construction and will include a hall, kitchen and 16 classrooms.

A city council spokesperson said: "The scheme at Valentine Primary School is being delivered by the Education and Skills Funding Agency, as part of their Priority Schools Building Programme round two. Southampton City Council are contributing £1.2m toward the £6.2m ESFA scheme, which will be completed for October 2019."

The school currently has around 740 pupils and was rated as ‘requires improvement’ after its last Ofsted report in 2016.

And following a monitoring visit by Ofsted, inspector Phil Minns in September this year in a report: “The school is not on track to be good at the time of the next inspection.

"This is because outcomes for pupils have not improved quickly enough.

"The delayed actions of leaders meant that the outcomes for pupils in year six in 2017 were no better than in previous years.

"Consequently, results in reading, writing and mathematics remained in the bottom 20% of all schools.”