Watch as Angmering pupils dance in Floss4Funding video to support Save Our Schools West Sussex

A very unusual assembly took place at St Wilfrid's Catholic Primary, as more than 100 pupils, parents and teachers spent the morning recording themselves doing a dance move called flossing.
Younger siblings got involved with the campaignYounger siblings got involved with the campaign
Younger siblings got involved with the campaign

This was part of a national campaign run by Save Our Schools to draw attention to the eight per cent cuts in funding being experienced by state schools since 2010 by posting a video of a school group flossing on social media with #Floss4Funding.

Parent Vicki Franks came up with the idea for the school, in Arundel Road in Angmering, and asked other parents to get involved with the campaign.

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Vicki said: “It is really important to show the teachers we are supporting them. Education is one of the most important things for the future of our country so they need to increase funding.

Younger siblings got involved with the campaignYounger siblings got involved with the campaign
Younger siblings got involved with the campaign

“Our children are learning amazingly because of the hard work teachers put in.”

The event came after more than 500 postcards written by parents and school children in West Sussex were delivered to the Secretary of State for Education to demand fairer funding.

The dancing activists were encouraged to tag and attract the attention of education secretary Damian Hinds, chancellor of the exchequer Philip Hammond and Littlehampton MP Nick Gibb in their social media posts.

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Toni Lambert is a teaching assistant and parent to two children at St Wilfrid’s, which has around 170 pupils.

Parents teamed up with teachers and pupils to #Floss4Funding last weekParents teamed up with teachers and pupils to #Floss4Funding last week
Parents teamed up with teachers and pupils to #Floss4Funding last week

Toni co-ordinated the Floss4Funding at the school, as she said she experienced first hand how lack of funding could be stressful for staffing and equipment.

Toni said: “If we all join in, it will get the message out there. As a school we are a school family so we do everything together and flossing was a fun way to get the message across.

“I saw one school asking for dictionaries, which is a basic need. Just because we have less pupils does not mean we are struggling any less. Things are getting more expensive but we are getting less money.”

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Also joining in with the flossing video were the pupils’ younger siblings, who held up signs saying ‘Floss for my future’. Parents are hoping the funding situation begins to improve by the time their younger children start attending school.

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