Graham has written to the Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson MP, to raise his concerns about the growing funding pressures facing schools in rural communities like Beverley and Holderness due to falling pupil numbers.
With birth rates hitting a record low of 1.44 children per woman, Graham believes that school funding needs to change to ensure the continued survival of small rural schools in particular.
In conversations with schools across Beverley and Holderness, it’s clear that funding is becoming an ever-greater problem for schools given that 92% of their funding is based on the number of children on the roll while overheads, such as staffing and energy, remain the same year over year.
A decline of 7 pupils from one year to the next could result in one staff member being too expensive for the school, meaning rural schools could go from surplus to deficit from one year to the next.
Graham is a great advocate of education having chaired the Education Select Committee in the House of Commons from 2010 to 2015. He regularly visits schools, including recent visits to Wawne Primary, Easington Primary, Swinemoor Primary, Beverley Joint Sixth Form, Withernsea High School, Inmans Primary School and Patrington Primary School.
Graham has also welcomed school groups to Parliament, and recently wrote to all head teachers to offer them the opportunity to visit Westminster.
The long-standing MP is also working with neighbouring MP Charlie Dewhirst and East Riding Education Cabinet Member Cllr Victoria Aitken to highlight the fact that the East Riding gets the lowest funding for special educational needs pupils in England.
Graham Stuart, Member of Parliament for Beverley and Holderness, said, “Rural schools are what make rural communities tick and I want to do all I can to protect them.
“When I look at our small rural schools, I see fantastic education with small class sizes and fantastic facilities, with engaged children supported by dedicated teachers.
“That’s why I want to keep these schools open so rural communities don’t die out and we need to look at how schools are funded to achieve that.
“I want head teachers to know that as pupil numbers fall, their schools still have a viable future, with security built in to the business plans of rural schools.”
