• AT Hampstead School we are proud of the opportunities we offer our pupils both in and outside of the classroom.

As a fully comprehensive and inclusive school our commitment to the rights of children is reflected in our being the first secondary school in London to be awarded Level 2 Rights Respecting School by Unicef.

Currently Hampstead pupils take part in the Duke of Edinburgh Awards, Jack Petchy Speak-Out debates up and down the country with our highest achieving pupils making early links with top universities.

These programmes, alongside excellent teaching, drive real social mobility, with the Good Schools Guide recognising that our school “fizzes with activity”.

Even in the current climate, Hampstead School attracts high calibre teachers, Ofsted recognise it as “an exciting, dynamic place to work”. There is a real buzz among the teaching staff who continually strive for even better outcomes for our pupils.

Current and proposed levels of funding, however, threaten this excellence. We have already seen budget cuts and are having to plan tough decisions about what to cut in order to make savings, while minimising impact on our pupils. This includes difficult decisions about both class sizes, and the viability of some courses.

By 2019, we estimate that we will lose £1million from our annual budget. This figure is simply too large to continue offering all we do for our pupils. Hampstead is not alone, reflected in similar concerns, indeed crises, in almost all schools.

By 2019 Camden schools will lose £19million from school budgets. It is unrealistic to expect London schools to continue to deliver world class education for our children with cuts this deep.

We urge everyone to press candidates on their doorstep about how they will ensure schools are sufficiently funded.

ANNE CLARKE & SARAH MILNER
Joint Chairs of Governors
JACQUES SZEMALIKOWSKI
Head of Hampstead School