Energy bills and the pressures of inflation are continuing to burden schools, with new research from Kura revealing that 78% of schools leaders are feeling the strain of running costs on finances.
Staff shortages and workload are also presenting challenges for schools. Of the 250 school leaders surveyed, 66% admit it’s harder to fill teaching positions and more than three quarters
(81%) expect staff workload to be an issue over the next year. Recruitment difficulties have also led to wage inflation for teachers, adding to the costs that schools must factor into their budgets.
In order to cover increased operating costs, schools have had to pull money from other areas such as transport provisions. Whilst 50% of schools have invested in classroom teaching, 39% in remote learning and 41% in school buildings, just 6% have invested in transport in the last 12 months.
This lack of investment means that 38% of schools are losing more than 11 hours each week to school run admin. In addition, outdated registration methods are posing a risk to student safety with 29% of schools still tracking usage via paper registers.
Despite only 28% of the schools surveyed providing a home to school service, 44% of school leaders believe school transport is vital for pupil wellbeing and academic results. The post-pandemic return to normality has resulted in difficulties across attainment, social skills and student behaviour and 66% of respondents feel that student wellbeing with pose a significant challenge over the next year.
Encouragingly, 43% of school leaders are planning to invest in transport for school trips, 19% will invest in new home-to-school booking technology and a third (33%) in new vehicle operators in the next 12 months. Nearly two thirds (62%) of respondents feel that greater investment in technology can help improve staff productivity and efficiency, something that is particularly important given current workloads and staff shortages.
Commenting on the findings, Godfrey Ryan, CEO of Kura said: “ Schools have faced a plethora of challenges in recent times and while energy bills and staffing costs remain high, it’s clear that the majority of school leaders are feeling the pressure to make budgets stretch further.
“Understandably, this means that in some areas, investment has fallen behind. Schools have had to make cuts to building maintenance, resources, trips, and transport, leaving budget black holes in their place. However, 72% of schools surveyed are not currently offering a home to school transport service, which plays a vital role in student safety, wellbeing and attracting students to meet admissions targets.
“Furthermore, transport technology is an often-overlooked area for investment, but it can help save stretched staff hours spent on admin and enable schools to enhance safeguarding and attendance processes by logging boarding and journey data. With our research showing that safeguarding and wellbeing of students, and workload and wellbeing of staff, are concerns for the year ahead, school leaders should recognise how investment in transport can help to tackle these issues, rather than pushing it down the priority list.”