Speed Reading — Head Teachers - Level 3 — 300 wpm 

Now do this put-the-text-back-together activity.

This is the text (if you need help).

Times are hard for schools in England because they have so little money to spend. They have to cut back on many things. There is austerity in the UK so the government has cut school budgets. One head teacher at a school in London does not have enough money to pay for cleaners or canteen staff. This means she has to help to clean the toilets and serve students in the school cafeteria. Ms Siobhan Lowe is head of Tolworth Girls' School in south London. She recently told reporters that she was embarrassed because her school did not have enough money to support students. Ms Lowe said she has sold school land, cut subjects and fired her deputy-head teacher to keep her school open.

The south London school is typical of many schools in the UK. Thousands of head teachers have to make difficult decisions about how to spend their school's money. More than 7,000 head teachers recently wrote to 3.5 million parents to explain why the schools have no money. Many parents have become volunteers at schools to help the children. Some schools have asked parents to provide toilet paper and other basics for the school toilets and classrooms. One school only has enough money to give students one sheet of A4 paper a month. Head teachers want to meet the UK's education secretary, but he refused to meet them. The UK's Department for Education said funding for education was a government priority.

Comprehension questions
  1. What did the article say about times for schools in England?
  2. What did the article say schools have to cut back on?
  3. Where does the head teacher have to serve food?
  4. How did the teacher feel about not being able to support her students?
  5. What did a head teacher sell to keep her school open?
  6. What is the south London school typical of?
  7. How many parents did head teachers write to?
  8. What kind of paper did schools ask parents to provide?
  9. Who did head teachers want to meet?
  10. What did the Education Department say was a government priority?

Back to the head teacher lesson.

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