The panel at this week’s meeting held at Rhyl Primary School

STATE schools in Camden have been hit harder than any other borough in the country by funding cuts, education chiefs told a meeting as they urged parents to back a “welfare not warfare” campaign.

Headteachers, school staff, parents and pupils packed into Rhyl Primary School for a rally on Tuesday evening.

The meeting heard warnings about an emerging two-tier school system in Camden and a “crisis” supporting children with complex special education needs and disabilities.

National Education Union and Unison chiefs – including the leader of the national NEU Daniel Kebede – said the government was failing to make good on manifesto pledges.

Don McGibbon, headteacher at Fleet and Rhyl, said: “If you are not lucky enough to be in a school where there are enough parents to fill the gaps, the school will not be able to subsidise it. We end up with two levels of provision. There are schools that are managing to just barely keep those things in the curriculum, and those that aren’t. We have been trying to close that gap but this gap is making them wider.”

He spoke about how schools were relying on “external funders” and charities for playground equipment, residential school trips and support staff, adding: “We shouldn’t be relying on charities for people who are ensuring that children are coming into school fed, clothed and ready to get an education.”

“We are relying on parent-teacher associations to go out and find money for Christmas fairs and playground equipment.”

The New Journal has reported on rising numbers of schools setting deficit budgets for September –essentially planning for a year they cannot afford.

Brecknock head of school Lisa Hyland, also a Camden parent, spoke about concerns of special education needs and disabilities (SEND) across Camden.

She said: “Children with SEND have increasingly complex needs.

“Mental health concerns are increasing. Referrals to child and adolescents mental health services are at an all time high. The waiting list is stretching to over a year.

“Schools are often the first to spot when a child needs this kind of support. Our schools are working hard but cannot continue without the resources they need.

“The issue is not just about money: with the right staff and training, many crises could be prevented before they reach the NHS.

“You may feel like your voice doesn’t count, but it does. Change comes from action. Speak up, stand together.”

Setting the context for the cuts, Andrew Baisley, a former Haverstock School teacher turned national NEU chief, said: “Up until 20 years ago, Camden was responsible for all its school funding. Camden was at that time putting much more into education than the government suggested. It was then nationalised and the secretary of state became in sole charge. And now we’ve had this policy for over a decade where they are evening out the imbalances.

“It means that Camden schools have been much harder hit than any other borough in the country.”

Unexpectedly, he praised Boris Johnson as “my favourite recent Prime Minister” saying he had ploughed funds into schools before Covid.

Daniel Kebede, the leader of the NEU, told the meeting: “In the last five years, London has lost 76 schools. The entire north-east region in the same period lost 16. It is an absolute crisis in London. We have to campaign for more affordable housing and universal childcare – because people are not having families for those reasons.

“There is certainly enough wealth in this society to ensure that can happen and that schools are properly funded. We do need welfare not warfare.”

Campaigners have been boosted by recent U-turns on free school meals and winter fuel allowances.

Camden NEU branch secretary Megan Quinn, a Gospel Oak school teacher who organised the meeting, said: “Funding cuts can become normalised. Things can become seen as an added extra, a luxury.

“I remember there was a time when we had ‘release time’ as teachers to sit down with every single child in the class and talk to them about their writing, and how they felt about it. In a properly-funded education system, this is the sort of thing that should be happening. But school leaders are finding themselves an impossible situation.”

Camden UNISON branch secretary Liz Wheatley said: “Instead of funding schools and public services, our politicians are spending money else where. Military spending is going up again. We believe public money should not be spent on waging war. It should be spent on our homes, schools and hospitals.

“It’s a case of political will. We can campaign, and we can win.”

A letter to education secretary of state Bridget Phillipson was signed by everyone at the meeting including the New Journal.