School cuts: Wales head teachers facing budget deficits warning

Maes y Morfa Community School in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, has almost 200 pupils and has already had to cut two teaching staff, while other employees have reduced their hours.

Despite these steps, head teacher Louise Jones expects the budget to be in deficit by about £110,000 next year. But the needs at the schools are increasing.

“We’ve got so many more children that need high levels of support now that we don’t have the funding to be able to accommodate and it’s very, very worrying,” she said.

“We’ve got issues with utility payments that are astronomical and the costs of those are getting higher and higher as we go into the winter,” she said.

With everyone stretched, staff wellbeing is suffering and that can have an impact on pupils’ experience.

“I’m finding that less staff want to do extra-curricular activities and clubs and things after school because they’re much more tired.

“The whole system really is starting to unravel,” Ms Jones added.