Parents have had their fight to stop a school closing early every Friday heard in Parliament.
We reported back in February how Vale View Primary School in Reddish, Stockport , plans to shut every Friday afternoon to cope with budget cuts.
Starting with the new academic year in September, the school will close at 12.45pm every Friday, but have longer school days the rest of the week, from 8.35am to 3.25pm.
Families mounted a campaign to stop the plan, which many say will create problems for working mums and dads.
Now, after more than 113,000 people signed a petition against the move, it was presented in Parliament by Labour’s Reddish MP Andrew Gwynne.
He told the House of Commons that Vale View is one of 26 schools across England planning to close early on a Friday to cut costs.
And he said that 'like every other school' in Stockport, it has seen 'a massive reduction in funding since 2015' - equating to a £446 drop for every pupil at Vale View - a figure he described as 'not on'.
The MP outlined the basis of the petition, explaining how the early finish will mean parents have to either leave work early, or be forced to pay for childcare at school, and how it will 'disrupt children's learning'.
He said: "Schools are being asked to make cuts to staffing, drop subjects and other activities and are asking parents to chip in to help run them.
"We think that it's ridiculous that in 2019 schools are being forced to shut their doors early, or cut entire subjects, because the government won't give them the money they need."
Giving his backing to the petition, he said: "I support the parents in their protest and take pride in presenting their mammoth petition and I hope the minister takes note of the strength of feeling on this issue and acts."
Megan Montgomery, one of the parents who launched the petition, said it was 'overwhelming' to finally have their fight heard.
She told the M.E.N: "I don't know if what we've done will make a difference but hopefully it's raised awareness that these things are happening.
"It's been hard work, we've all got busy lives and I work nights as well as going to university, but I don't want to have my son's childhood and opportunities taken away from him because he doesn't deserve that."
The 26-year-old, whose six-year-old son Max Carden is in Year 1 at the school, added: "He'll be going into Year 2 in September when they do their SATs so they'll be doing a lot of work for that.
"They won't just be losing out on a few hours because when they all go in on a Friday, knowing it's a half day, they just won't get the same amount done.
"Max himself has been really upset about it and every time he starts back after a break he asks me when it's going to start happening because he doesn't want it to."
Speaking to the M.E.N, Mr Gwynne said: "Education should be the number one priority of any government and it’s quite shameful that ministers have allowed a situation to develop where schools are closing early to cut costs, or are sending out begging letters to parents to cover basic costs for school equipment.
“I commend the parents at Vale View for taking such a strong stand on this issue and gathering such a massive petition.
"It really does show the strength of feeling on this issue, not just here in Stockport, but right across the country.
“When this petition lands on the desk of the Education Secretary, Damian Hinds, I hope he will think again about the damage his government’s cuts are doing to our schools, and to our children’s future.”
When parents were first told about the early closure plan, Vale View described its current costs as unsustainable and said despite making a number of redundancies, the timetable change - which will save £100k in staffing costs - is needed to keep those staff cuts to a minimum.
But parents were further angered when, in a letter outlining the plan, chair of governors, Ricky van Deursen, suggested they use the early finish to their advantage 'to catch-up, tackle homework or just have some quality family time' - while failing to recognise any financial consequences.
Following the presentation of the petition, a spokesperson for Vale View Primary School praised the parents for their support, saying: "We would like to applaud our parents and community for joining together to show the strength of feeling that there is against the financial pressures that schools are facing.
“The solutions that we have developed are necessary if we are going to be a viable school going forward. The measures have ensured that teaching hours will remain the same and class sizes will not significantly increase.
“We are working with staff and parents to implement the plan at the moment.”
The Department for Education says it recognises schools are facing 'budgeting challenges and we are asking them to do more', but says it has increased funding by an extra £1.3bn across this year and next - 'over and above previous spending plans'.
It said: "We are also distributing that funding more fairly, through the national funding formula which directs money to where it is most needed, based on schools’ and pupils’ needs and characteristics – not accidents of geography or past arrangements.
"Since 2017, the national funding formula has allocated every local authority more money for every pupil in every school, while allocating the largest increases to the schools that have been most underfunded."
