SCHOOLS claiming they miss out on thousands of pounds a year due to the unfair nature of school funding are hoping a local influence at Westminster could make all the difference.

Chippenham MP, Michelle Donelan, has been appointed as patron of the campaign for Fair School Funding this week, which is being run together with the f40 Group.

Hardenhuish School headteacher Jan Hatherell believes there is a £1.9m gap in funding between the highest and lowest funded schools in the country and that schools in Bristol are getting an extra £1m compared to those in Wiltshire.

She said: “When we spoke to Michelle Donelan before the election I said this was the single most important issue in education. We need to be on a fair, level playing field to give every child the opportunity to succeed.

“It’s an area of great concern; the average funding per pupil in Wiltshire is one of the lowest in the UK. Clearly there’s an imbalance because if we were in Bristol we would have an extra £1m to spend.

“Every single child needs quality education, which we totally support, but some of us are doing that with hands tied behind our backs. We don’t have the finances to help the teachers and the young people.”

Prior to the General Election, Education Secretary Nicky Morgan met with the headteachers of Sheldon and Hardenhuish schools in Chippenham.

Sheldon School headteacher, Neil Spurdell, said: “It’s a massive issue that Wiltshire schools are poorly funded compared to other schools, it’s something that does need to be addressed.

“They need to move more quickly, a big school like ours, if nothing was to change, we would need to find in the region of £400,000 each year which we don’t have.

“Within a couple of years things could be very dire and that will affect education outcomes here.”

Now an MP, Miss Donelan has launched a petition across her Chippenham constituency in support of a new national funding formula and aims to get 10,000 signatures before presenting it to Parliament later this year.

Research highlighted during a Parliamentary briefing on Tuesday showed that the ten best funded areas on average received grants of £6,300 per pupil this year, compared with just £4,200 per pupil in Wiltshire.

She said: “The unfair funding system for schools has seen children from Wiltshire lose out for far too long.

“At the moment schools around the country that are similar can get very different budgets and children with the same needs can receive very different levels of financial support depending on where they go to school.

“We need to bring home to ministers that parents in Wiltshire want a fair deal for their children, based on need rather than where they happen to live.”

Sign the petition for fairer funding at michelledonelan.co.uk/fairschoolfunding/