Six staff may have to go, a school warns

St Marylebone School, in central London, has been told it must make six of its 70 teachers redundant to reduce its budget deficit.

Head teacher Elizabeth Phillips wrote to parents, saying donations would "directly benefit" educational provision.

The news comes after the Conservative Party told BBC News Online that more than 100 schools had contacted it, complaining about a large shortfall in funding.

'Sense of anger'

The schools blamed changes in funding, an increase in National Insurance contributions and in employer contributions for teacher pensions.

Shadow education secretary Damian Green said: 'It is now clear from schools around the country that there is a widespread funding crisis.

"This is threatening redundancies among teachers and support staff, and has put in jeopardy hopes of reducing the workload of teachers.

"The government's fiddled local government settlement, the increase in National Insurance costs and the extra imposition on schools of higher contributions to the teachers' pension scheme have all contributed to a real sense of anger in thousands of schools.

"The last vestiges of Labour's reputation for caring about education have been swept away."

St Marylebone was praised three years ago as the most improved school in England for GCSE results.

Its budget rose by �235,000 this year but costs increased by almost �600,000, Ms Phillips added.

Education Secretary Charles Clarke has admitted some schools face problems as a result of the introduction of the local government funding formula.

Elsewhere, schools in the north London borough of Barnet are being offered loans to help avert a �12m funding shortfall in funding, which they claim could result in 240 redundancies.

The council said it might pay for school loans by diverting money set aside for council building and maintenance projects.