King David Schools is founded on traditional Jewish values with a belief in respect, courtesy, self-discipline, diligence, and the pursuit of excellence.
Our mission is to encourage each and every child within the wider campus, from nursery through to the 6th form, to reach the highest levels of academic achievement, creativity and personal development. Equally, our aim is to create a generation who will be knowledgeable, committed to their faith and values and who will become outstanding citizens within the Jewish and wider community. The 1,200+ children we look after are the future of our community.
Government funding has been cut vastly over the last 10 years and is simply insufficient to deliver the high standard of education that King David aspires to deliver to all its students, never mind the strong Jewish ethos and education that is infused throughout the campus.
Aside from the general shortage in government funding, below are some further specific reasons why the school needs your support:
The Government agreed a 6.5% salary increase for teachers in July 2023 – they said 3.5% was expected to be funded by existing budgets (but for all the reasons noted below and above that is unrealistic) and that 3% would be fully funded – the school actually only received around 1.5% because of the national formula on which the calculations were based.
The primary school is not currently full and is losing a potential income of £177k as funding is done on a per pupil basis, whilst they cannot reduce the cost base as they still have the costs of operating a fully staffed classroom.
SEN provision – King David High School has the highest SEN rate of any mainstream school in Manchester – 210 pupils with SEN but only 19 benefit from any funding. Spending on SEN support across the Primary and High School is over £300,000 more than the SEN funding that the schools receive.
Pupil Premium – government funding is heavily weighted to schools with a high Pupil Premium rate as there is additional funding of £1,000 - £1,500 for each such pupil. Pupil Premium is 7.5% in the primary school (around 1/5th of the average in Manchester) and the high school has the lowest in Manchester, half that of the next lowest. This means the school is fundamentally under-funded and yet seeking to deliver a first class education from a less than average funding base.
Jewish education, both formal and informal, is at the heart of the school for which it receives only partial funding. Across the campus this represents an unfunded cost of several hundred thousand pounds.
The High School runs a first class 6th form offering with a breadth of academic and vocational subjects that rivals colleges / independent schools despite having a much lower number of students per year – without financial support to facilitate this it would be necessary to reduce the subjects that can be offered.
The costs of operating a kosher kitchen have increased significantly. The government provides free school meals up to Year 2 in the primary school and also for those entitled to Free School Meals in the high school. The funding doesn’t come close to meeting the cost of providing a kosher meal and the shortfall has to be made up through donations.
Utility costs have risen substantially (tripled in 2022/23 with the fuel crisis and haven’t returned to pre-crisis levels)
The financial situation is now critical and we need your urgent support to ensure that Manchester’s largest Jewish educational institution can continue to provide for the community and the next generation of Jewish children. It is so integral to Jewish continuity within Manchester and want to ensure it can continue to deliver at the very highest levels for the pupils of today and tomorrow.
Every donation will make a difference and thank you in advance for your incredible support.
