I AM writing to express my deep concern at the financial disaster facing our schools and my disappointment at the way this is being handled by the Conservative Government.

My son attends one of the many rural village primary schools in Essex and it, like so many others, faces serious financial difficulty given the lack of appropriate funding.

I understand my son’s school faces a deficit of £30,500 within the next two-three years.

That’s roughly equivalent to one full-time teacher and means the school could be forced to close a class.

For a school with only 85 pupils on roll, that’s a massive hit and one I fear will seriously jeopardise its long-term future.

What’s even more worrying is that we are not alone.

Nearly every school faces similar issues, with plenty predicting losses running into several hundred thousand pounds by 2020.

Talk about dropping key services, laying off staff, and/or moving to four-day weeks is quickly getting closer to reality.

How on earth can this country expect to maintain its position as a leader of innovation and remain an “economic powerhouse” post-Brexit if our children can’t even get the support they need and schools can only afford to open four days a week?

It is an utter disgrace and the most short-sighted policy ever.

Yet, why is it that every time this issue is raised in the media, the same old answer is rolled out by the government: “We’re investing more in schools than ever before.”

That may be the case, but you have to and more must be done because in real terms, school budgets are falling.

The number of children being taught is increasing and costs are going up at the same time.

National Insurance, pension contributions, staffing costs, support services, even food all costs more.

Is it just coincidence that we never hear the Government talking about funding per pupil in real terms?

Please, please listen to what schools, parents and teachers are saying, before it is too late.

The Government must stop bur ying its head in the sand and admit that more has to be done. Funding has to increase in real terms.

That does not mean ploughing more money into grammar schools that cream off the brightest pupils, leaving everyone else stuck in poor ly funded schools that cannot even afford to open five days a week, let alone offer the support that pupils need.

I really fear that our schools, especially smaller ones in rural areas such as this, face a bleak future unless this government acts quickly.

Forcing schools to close and bussing children miles to large, urban schools will fundamentally ruin the fabric of rural communities, many of which are (were?) key Tory strongholds.

I am proud to be British and be- lieve our diverse mix of schools – urban and rural – is key to making this country what it is.

On behalf of my son, other children, parents and teachers, please do your part to protect their future.

By Paul Spackman, Braintree