Two academies in Brighton and Hove consult on staff cuts

Aldridge Education, which runs the Brighton Aldridge Community Academy (BACA) and the Portslade Aldridge Community Academy (PACA), has announced to staff today (June 7) that there will be a consultation on staffing structures for the next school year.

BACA could see cuts to three support positions, and at PACA, four leadership and teaching roles are affected, together with 11 support and premises roles.

A number of new posts are proposed as part of the consultation, with plans at PACA for one new teaching post, six learning support assistant and three pastoral manager roles, and four support services jobs.

One new post will also be created at BACA.

Additionally, three of the roles proposed to be made redundant from the individual schools will be replaced by equivalent shared roles working across the Aldridge schools locally.

Rob Reed, executive principal for Aldridge schools in the region, said: “With media coverage of the financial pressures state schools are under and the recent announcements of similar consultations at other Brighton and Hove secondary and primary schools, parents are increasingly aware of the challenges schools are facing currently. Schools also need to adapt staffing to meet the needs of new curriculums being introduced nationally.

“Our aim through this consultation with staff and their representatives is to ensure that BACA and PACA both have balanced budgets, matching income from the government with the costs of staffing and running the school. These proposals will help bring about a balanced budget for both schools. The ability for the schools in our Trust to work together on creating some new shared non-teaching roles means we can do this whilst maximising the amount of our budget spent on teaching and learning. We very much hope that these roles will be filled by current staff from our schools.

“The consultation process will run until the end of term with any support staff redundancies not taking effect until August 31 and, for teaching posts affected, December 31. Our over-riding priority is always the welfare and success of our students and this process will not impact students sitting important exams this summer.”

Figures released by the GMB union said in the first year of the new funding cuts, BACA would lose £66,000 and PACA would lose £42,000.

It added that its members at 11 schools were considering what action to take in the face of cuts to support staff.