A £4BILLION increase in school funding will do nothing to halt redundancies and cuts to the curriculum, according to headteachers.

Last week, Theresa May launched the Conservative party manifesto - with a promise to increase school funding by £1billion a year over the next four years if they win the General Election.

The pledge followed an Echo campaign against the controversial new National Funding Formula, which would see schools lose hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Schools across the country have already begun redundancy talks with support staff and are cutting subjects such as art and music from their curriculums. Headteachers say the announcement of new funding will do nothing to halt or reverse this process.

On Friday, schools across the county sent a letter to parents which included a statement from the Association of Secondary Headteachers in Essex.

The association said: “We welcome any improvement to school funding, but unfortunately the Conservative pledge of a £4billion boost includes a large element of sleight of hand.

“The schools budget would have to increase by about £2.8 billion in any case because the pupil population will rise by 490,000 by 2022. So, the ‘extra’ money is in fact just over £1billion, which is not enough to counteract the rising costs which are hitting schools and will amount to £3billion a year by 2020.

“We calculate that the schools budget would need to increase by a total of between £6 billion and £7 billion to counter the impact of rising costs and implement the planned National Funding Formula in a way which is truly equitable.”

Chase High School, in Prittlewell Chase, Westcliff, is already facing the loss of 15 support staff. These include learning support assistants, counsellors and supervisors.

Headteacher Andrew James said these will still go ahead despite the increased funding.

In his letter, Mr James urged parents to lobby councillors and politicians in the run up to the General Election. He said: “We are asking for help in challenging local politicians about each party’s plans regarding the future of funding in schools when they visit constituents before the general election.”

Mr James said the announcement of extra funding was “helpful”, but he added: “In terms of our immediate position nothing has changed. “We still face a shortfall of £422,000 in the financial year 2017/18 and the strategies we have in place to accommodate that situation will have to be implemented.”

James Courtenay, Southend councillor responsible for children and learning, said: “I think there will always be pressure for more funding for education but unlike some of the promises made by the Labour Party, ours are fully costed and funded.

“Its important to take into account the general economy and how much money the government has got to spend. We are still living in times of austerity but the Conservatives have chosen to spend some of the money it has on school funding.”

Mr Courtenay added: “Southend has moved from a position where all 53 schools were to receive less funding under the National Funding Formula to a position were zero schools will receive less funding .

“This has been achieved by the pressure put the Government by the council, MPs and the Echo campaign. It is a victory for us in Southend.”