A LEARNING support assistant has written a letter to the Government claiming continued funding cuts to schools will hamper the help they can give to help children when it matters most.

Claire Heaton's letter to the Department for Education added her workplace at North Primary School and nursery, Colchester, has led to staffing cuts for its learning support assistants.

She wrote: "This will severely impede our ability to deliver this support which enables all children to thrive and grow to become caring and active members of their community.

"It is through increased budgets and increased support in these very early years of education that children will become emotionally stronger and well-rounded individuals, equipped to contribute to and make a difference in, the wider community."

She added in her letter that Prime Minister Theresa May has pledged to help families who are "just about managing" financially, stating: "Can I point out to you that many LSAs will be in this position and some of them will be single parents, fitting in working hours around the school day.

"Not only will you be severely curtailing the school’s ability to supply a nurturing educational environment, but you are at risk of achieving the very thing that Mrs May is supposedly trying to avoid. Please note that this will be your legacy."

The school's head teacher Alan Garnett has said next year’s school budget has a £100,000 shortfall - about eight per cent of its annual budget.

He was among head teachers to attend a march to Downing Street recently to voice their anger to the Government over cash cuts.

Mr Garnett added: "Schools provide a perfect setting for women, in particular, who have put their own careers on hold to raise a family, to return to the workplace.

"They perform an invaluable role. They are highly motivated. Many go on to get further qualifications. In this way they develop their career paths. These opportunities will be available to fewer and fewer. What a waste."

Will Quince, MP for Colchester, defended the Government.

He said: "More money is going into our schools than ever before and school funding is at a record high. The core schools budget has increased to £42.4 billion this year and is set to rise to £43.5 billion in 2019/20.

"Figures from the IFS (Institute for Fiscal Studies) show that real terms per-pupil funding in 2020 will be more than 50 per cent higher than it was in 2000. Also, recent figures from the OECD confirm that our schools get more funding per pupil than schools in international counterparts such as Germany, France and Japan.

"However, I do recognise that despite the protection of the overall schools budget, there have been cost pressures that have affected schools in Colchester over recent years and I have met with the Chancellor to lobby for more money for education in the forthcoming budget.

"I have met with local head teachers including Mr Garnett and offered to raise specific school budget concerns with the Department for Education, Mr Garnett has declined this offer."

However, Mr Garnett said in response: "Mr Quince is correct. He did perform his role as our constituency MP and lobby the DfE. "Did it make a difference? No. His response is to repeat the same lines that Ministers and even the Prime Minister have been trotting out.

"The Government’s distortion of the figures is on record and is being investigated for being in breach of the ministerial code. A very serious offence.

"I did not need Mr Quince to take my case to the DfE because my grievance is not that my school is getting less than other schools. My grievance is that schools are not getting sufficient funds to continue to maintain or improve provision and standards."