HASLEMERE and Milford secondary school heads joined 3,500 schools across England on Tuesday in an unprecedented mass protest against a new national funding formula that could force the introduction of a four-day week.

Surrey schools say they face budget cuts of up to 10 per cent, due to the proposed imposition of a further £3 billion of “efficiency savings” by 2020.

They warn over the next few years, it will result in staffing cuts, increased class sizes, reduced numbers of teaching and support staff, cuts to essential support services and restrictions to the depth and breadth of the curriculum offer.

The “dire financial situation may even result in some schools being forced to contemplate a reduced school week, including the very real possibility of Surrey schools moving to a four day week,” they stated.

In a hard-hitting letter to South West Surrey MP Jeremy Hunt, Haslemere’s Woolmer Hill head Clare Talbot and Milford’s Rodborough School head Matthew Armstrong-Harris voiced “mounting fears” about the effects on services.

They have joined 13 other Surrey secondary school heads – together with thousands more state schools across the country – to “speak with one voice”.

Campaign supporters say they have been left with no choice but to take action because, in spite of the “increasingly damaging financial situation”, the Department of Education has provided no adequate response to concerns about its spending proposals.

Urging Mr Hunt to back their concerns “for the sake of children in Surrey”, headteachers wrote separately from across his constituency, stating: “School leaders simply want a reasonable settlement that sees every child in every school adequately funded.

“As a collective group representing over 3,500 schools and I.5million pupils we do not wish to be ignored any longer.

“We need, therefore, for our political representatives to stand up for every school in their constituency and make clear that considerable changes to funding arrangements/proposals must be put in place. Any permanent new funding formula will require parliamentary approval and this makes your role even more crucial.”

Surrey County Council is also pushing for an urgent rethink of the new national funding formula proposals. Linda Kemeny, cabinet member for schools, said: “Growing demand for school places means Surrey needs to create an extra 11,000 over the next five years at a time when our finances are also under huge pressure from rising demand for other services such as adult social care so we need to be properly funded to provide the additional school places that are required across the county.”

A Department for Education spokesman said the Government was going to end the historic post code lottery in school funding with more than half of England’s schools set to receive a cash boost. Surrey schools would see an increase in funding of 3.1 per cent, – an additional £18 million – the spokesman said.