A school is forced to turn off lights one day a week because of Tory cuts.

Campaigners said the head made the decision to provide cash elsewhere in the budget.

Other schools are closing at lunchtime on Fridays to save money while some heads are working shifts at other schools to raise funds.

There are also reports of heads cleaning toilets as well as acting as caretakers while support staff face the axe.

Sue McMahon, of West Yorkshire group Calderdale Against School Cuts, said the shocking accounts were from a survey of schools which showed senior staff in “an intolerable position”.

She added: “We recently told of a caretaker working with­out the lights on. It is the same with the primary school with no lights.” The school is not being named for fear of driving away parents.

Halifax, the largest town in Calderdale, has suffered a yearly cut of £359 per pupil.

Kevin Courtney, of the National Education Union, said the Tories were short-changing children by running schools “on a shoestring”.

The Department for Edu­­cation said money to English schools had gone up since 2017 and urged heads to use a price comparison service to get better energy deals.

A Department for Education spokesperson said:  “Since 2017 the government has given every local authority in England more money for every pupil in every school – allocating the biggest increases to the
schools that have been most underfunded – and in the last year we have also announced an extra £400m of capital funding for schools from the Treasury.

"Funding in Calderdale has increased by £9.5million compared to 2017-18, taking into account pupil numbers.

“While there is more money going into our schools than ever before, we know schools face budgeting challenges.

"This is why we have introduced a wide range of support to help schools reduce costs and get the best
value from their resources – from a free-to-use vacancy service to cut the costs of recruiting teachers, to advisors who are providing expert help and support to individual schools that need it.

“The Secretary of State has made clear that as we approach the next spending review, he will back head teachers to have the resources they need to deliver a world class education.”

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