Schools do not have the resources to offer these kinds of experiences themselves. Primary school children in particular are being left behind. In spite of the National Theatre’s cuts being branded as a “sad loss”, “unfair”, a “slap in the face”, and “depressing” by union and sector leaders, the organisation has so far refused to listen. The National Theatre has stated that increased costs and cuts to Arts Council England funding are among the reasons for these decisions. And yet its total annual income recently increased from £89 million to £121.4 million, while the primary school touring represented a tiny fraction of the organisation’s expenditure. The National Theatre already receives more Arts Council England funding than any other theatre organisation. This is not simply an issue of needing a more transformative and equitable approach to public arts funding. It is a question of priorities and responsibility for one of our largest theatre organisations.  Austerity is a choice.

Sheffield Hallam University has deferred workers' pay increase for 11 months and will NOT backdate pay. This decision will cost many University workers over £1,000. In effect, the University Executive Board (UEB) is pinching from the pockets of the workers to pay for their financial mismanagement. We call this wage theft. Sign our petition to support workers at Sheffield Hallam University and send a clear message to the University Executive Board to pay workers what they are owed and to include trade union voices in setting the University’s budgets. Trade Unions have suggested alternatives to the financial difficulties faced by the University, but these have been dismissed by UEB, who are more determined to push on with vanity projects like their proposed “London Campus”, which is estimated to cost millions. Earlier this year, we submitted statements of “no confidence” in UEB over their mishandling of University finances and their ramshackle restructure of the service. Now all the trade unions are demanding that the University implement and backdate the national pay award and sit down with them to agree a budget in the long-term interests of the workers, the University and the Sheffield community.  Sign our petition if you agree with us and show solidarity with workers at Sheffield Hallam. While the Vice Chancellor sits on circa £250,000+ per annum, workers are having their pockets pinched. GMB, UCU and UNISON have formally registered their dispute with the University. Workers should not be asked to pay the price for senior managers' financial mismanagement. Agree with us? Sign our petition.

These cuts will go right through the heart of Corringham & Stanford Le Hope. The schools have been an integral part of these towns for years. These cuts will damage the education children in Thurrock will be able to receive by overloading teachers and cutting the job roles that provide the pastoral support that teenagers especially need! Not to mention the inadequate provision for children with SEND. We are saying no to the cuts, and that our children deserve better! Support our staff by signing this petition and joining us at this time of the Gable Hall & Hassenbrook crisis! SOS! If you are a support staff member in Thurrock, join GMB union today at www.GMB.org.uk/join-GMB

Our research has found performing arts students are struggling to pay audition fees and course costs, pushing working-class students out of the industry. Two-thirds of students receiving maintenance loans say they do not cover their living costs, with three-quarters having to work alongside intense training schedules and 15% going into debt. 96% have been told to spend their own money on expenses such as headshots, costumes, and events as a requirement of their course. While 94% of us had to audition to gain a place on a course, 57% had to pay audition fees to do so. Audition fees and hidden costs put two-thirds of working-class students off from applying for training, with many students spending hundreds of pounds, and some thousands, on auditions and applications. We also know the solutions: 71% say that removing audition fees would be the most effective way to break down barriers to the performing arts.

Ron Todd House stands as a symbol of the relentless fight for workers' rights, social justice, and the power of collective action. This building has served as a beacon for those dedicated to championing the rights of the working class. But now, Ron Todd House is at risk. Without urgent funds, we could lose this vital piece of our social history—an irreplaceable reminder of the sacrifices and victories that shaped the labour and trade union movement in the UK. Losing this house would mean erasing a part of our history—a place where important decisions are made, and where the voices of workers fighting for equality and for the prevention of poverty are amplified.

Thie last government has shown not one shred of care or concern for the teaching profession and presided over 14 years of neglect and decline. We know the scale of the challenge the new government faces. We’re not asking for quick fixes. Our members want lasting solutions that will repair our broken schools and colleges. We want to work with the Government to secure good industrial relations through dialogue and consensus building, including: • social partnership with workforce trades unions and employers and strengthen collective bargaining rights; • restoring confidence in the independent teachers’ pay review process; • requiring all school and college employers to recognise trade unions for the purpose of collective bargaining. 

School days were the best days of your life but for these kids it has been stop, start and then move school. They need and education they deserve. They need to enjoy school and be around there peers. This can only be possible if mobile building are on site allowing them to be in their own school grounds The Department for Education must foot the bill for the repairs. Council receives approx £3million for school budgets, to rebuild a school like Churchill Community College will cost approx £25million plus another 3 schools in the borough also need repairing. This will almost inevitably impact on our children in the future as Council and school budgets are all at breaking point.

🢜 Ensure an equal, non-selective environment with a focus on the whole child, an approach that doesn't achieve academic excellence or good behaviour by excluding children or making them scared to be in school 🢜 Give a say to those that it will impact most - the staff, the families, the local community 🢜 Stop the privatisation of our children's education HOW ELSE CAN YOU HELP?  Write to your local councillors: https://bit.ly/BrentCounc Write to Barry Gardiner MP: [email protected] Follow us: https://twitter.com/savebyroncourt Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/savebyroncourt Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/savebyroncourt Donate to our Campaign fundraising page: https://gofund.me/c696a920

High-quality, affordable childcare is critical to children’s development, especially the most vulnerable, and 0-3 years is where the biggest impact can be made on outcomes for children. Disadvantaged children benefit significantly from good quality preschool experiences, especially when they are educated with a mixture of children from different social and economic backgrounds - research has shown that this helps close the gap between them and their peers. This is particularly significant in Hackney, where there is a 43% child poverty rate, 10% higher than the London average. These cuts will hurt these children most and disadvantage minority groups. Closing these Children's Centre nurseries will result in the loss of 200 full-time, all-year, affordable childcare places to Hackney families. This is a 33% cut of subsidised nursery places in Hackney. The closures will disproportionately affect vulnerable children, lower-income families, women, single parents, and people of the Global Majority. Childcare costs are a driver of poverty and access to affordable childcare is essential for the wellbeing of working families. We want to protect the jobs of dedicated staff, many of whom also live in Hackney. We’re looking at over 40 staff (including support staff) over the two centres proposed for closure alone. Almost all staff are women and many are people of the Global Majority. We believe that more Children's Centre closures will follow as budgets are squeezed further and Hackney Council continue to make cuts to vital services. Children’s Centres provide vital support and services to local families and we must fight to keep them open! No Children’s Centre nursery closures! No cuts to affordable childcare!

Cutting £8.2m from schools will cause great harm to teaching, learning and wellbeing at a time when our teachers and support staff are, struggling to meet the needs of an ever growing number of pupils with Additional Support Needs, bearing the brunt on a daily basis of dysregulated pupil behaviour and suffering enormously from workload stress and low morale. Pupils that have an ASN need more to be invested in education, not less. But the same is also true of other pupils in their classes whose learning is also affected because teachers are so over-stretched as they struggle to attend to those with the greatest needs. Further cuts to Devolved School Management budgets will erode all kinds of provision. Some Head Teachers may be forced to cut numbers of Pupil Support Assistants, again affecting pupils who most need the support of these vital school workers. Others will cut per capita department budgets affecting which courses will be able to run or that basic essentials such as paper, pens, textbooks and vital resources will be increasingly unavailable. Schools cannot run on iPads alone. Already In some schools the amount of money available to spend per head is less than a pound a week and a great many teachers are buying pens, pencils and other resources for their pupils. The cost of these cuts to Edinburgh schools will be devastating, leading to increased stress and a decline in morale and wellbeing of teachers, support staff and senior leaders. Schools are constantly asked to look at how to raise attainment, how is it possible to do more with less.

Pay for teachers in Northern Ireland has fallen by 38% in real terms since 2010. In Scotland, a new teacher will be paid £8000 more a year than their equivalent in Northern Ireland. A teacher in England will be paid £5000 a year more. Teachers in Northern Ireland are not worth less than teachers in other countries in the UK. They should get the same pay for the same job as other teachers across the UK. Please support our petition for a Better Deal for teachers and FE lecturers in Northern Ireland.

Abbey Wood Nursery is a key benefit for working in DE&S and SDA and its closure will negatively impact every team in Abbey Wood. Withdrawal of nursery provision at Abbey Wood: * Undermines future recruitment, making us less attractive to new talent. * Undermines staff who have families now or may in future, as well as those who work with such people - which is nearly everyone. * Reduces productivity of DE&S and SDA staff. * Disproportionately impacts women. Staff Engagement Networks and Trades Unions report that their members are opposed to closure of the Abbey Wood nursery which is a backward step for Abbey Wood and Defence.