A RAFT of jobs are at risk at a respected Oxford secondary school as it scrambles to save money.

Cheney School in Headington, which teaches almost 1,500 pupils, could axe posts in up to a dozen teams as it projects a hefty financial deficit.

A leaked email seen by the Oxford Mail informed staff of 'considerable financial pressures', and revealed proposals for a 'reduction in non-teaching administrative and student-facing support roles'.

No teaching positions are affected and staff facing job losses will be offered voluntary redundancy.

An anonymous employee told this paper: "Staff morale is very low.

"Looking at the teams that will be affected by the proposed redundancies, it is clear that this will have a serious negative impact on the learning of some of Oxford's most vulnerable learners."

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Jobs are at risk in the areas of: school counselling, pupil premium, looked-after children, external tutors, English as an additional language, cover, pastoral support, special educational needs, site team, creative arts (non-teaching), cleaning and communications.

Cheney is run by the Community Schools Alliance Trust (CSAT), which also oversees Bayards Hill Primary School in Barton and the new Barton Park Primary School, due to open in September.

The Oxford Mail understands that the trust's projected deficit for the 2019-20 financial year is £900,000, unless cuts are made.

Liz Tyler-Bell, chair of trustees at CSAT, said: "Cheney School, as so many other schools up and down the country, is facing financial pressures with a deficit projected for the end of the financial year.

"The current financial position is not sustainable in the absence of improved government funding, therefore has to be addressed proactively.

"The school has looked to reduce costs by placing restrictions on all non-essential expenditures and recruitment, but this has not resulted in sufficient savings in order to meet the shortfall."

ALSO READ: Ofsted rates Cheney School in Oxford 'good' after inspection

She said the trust has had 'no alternative' but to consider reducing the workforce.

Oxford Mail:

The opening of the Brighouse Building at Cheney School in 2016

Ms Tyler-Bell stressed that no class teacher roles are affected, adding: "We have worked hard in preparing the proposal to look to minimise the impact it would have on students and teaching, by focusing largely on administrative and co-coordinator roles."

She said there are also plans to reduce the number of roles in the wider trust, 'in line with legal obligations to those involved'.

The exact number of jobs up for redundancy has not been made public.

It is understood that the role of chief executive at CSAT, currently held by Jolie Kirby, is among those at risk.

She was formerly head of Cheney before stepping up to lead the trust, after the school converted into an academy.

Rupert Moreton has been headteacher of the school since September 2017.

An Ofsted report in 2018 rated the school 'good' and described the atmosphere as 'organised, calm and positive'.

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CSAT's latest financial accounts, for the year ending August 2019, discussed ambitions for Cheney to gain the top 'outstanding' rating at the next inspection.

Unions including the National Education Union (NEU) are supporting members at the school through the redundancy consultation.

Ms Tyler-Bell said: "Collective consultation with the trade union officials have been very productive.

"We have received very helpful and constructive feedback on the proposal from both union representatives and [school] staff."

Although the government has pledged more cash for schools, many say it is not enough to counter rising staff costs and inflation.

The money CSAT received from the General Annual Grant - the main lump sum academies are funded by - was recorded at £8.76m in 2019 compared to £8.57m in 2018.

Costs for Cheney School alone rose from £8.6m in 2018 to £9.4m in 2019.

ALSO READ: New stats reveal extent of schools' teacher recruitment crisis

The academy is not the only Oxfordshire school taking action to ease financial pressures.

Accounts published in January noted how Wallingford School could consider cutting subjects due to the 'challenging' situation.

GLF Schools, which runs six Oxfordshire schools, also noted in its accounts that funding was 'beginning to impact the breadth of the education offer'.

Lord Williams's School in Thame launched an £85,000 fundraising drive last year, claiming that its funding had been cut in real terms by eight per cent in the past couple of years.

It told parents that it was 'struggling to fund the basics'.

Meanwhile Theresa May's old school, Wheatley Park, introduced an early finish on Fridays.

This allowed it to reduce its staffing requirements, after parents were informed of 'enormous pressure' on the budget.

READ AGAIN: Wheatley Park School to finish early on Fridays

The Government will introduce minimum funding of £5,000 per pupil for secondary schools this year, and £3,750 for primaries.

In a statement in January, school standards minister Nick Gibb said: "The change will level up the lowest funded schools across the country so that all schools are able to provide an excellent education for their pupils.

"It forms one part of the Government’s increases to school funding, which will see an extra £14 billion in total invested over the next three years.

"Compared to 2019-20, every school is attracting at least a per-pupil increase in line with inflation."