SAVAGE cuts to school budgets could lead to courses being cut and the loss of teachers' jobs, according to a respected head teacher.

Terry Fish, who has been at the helm of Twynham School for 17 years, said his school has lost more than £1.4 million since 2012 due to changes in funding arrangements.

Now he has demanded a meeting with Tory Christchurch MP Christopher Chope to ask him to push for more money for education.

Dr Fish said: "The government is telling people that more money is being spent on education, which is strictly true.

"What people are not being told is that there are so many more children in schools in this country that the funding per pupil has been going down for the last five years."

Twynham is a popular secondary school in Christchurch which is full every year.

It received £8.14 million in 2012/13 but only £7.35 million this year despite having more students.

Dr Fish said the reduction has come about because of cuts to some parts of the budget, such as sixth form funding, and increased costs to the school in many areas such as higher national insurance and pension costs.

He said he has been unable to replace a number of staff who have left, such as teaching assistants and office staff.

And he added: "We have nowhere else to go now. We don't want to cut the range of subjects we offer but we will have to think about it if things don't change.

"From September this year, the only teaching assistants we will have will be for students with an Education Health and Care Plan. What about all the other students?

"It has got to the point where I don't know how we are going to run the school if this carries on. I want Mr Chope to push for the cuts to be reversed because what the government has been saying is total misrepresentation. If we want to be a prosperous country we must invest in our young people because they are our future."

Dr Fish said he has seen many schools cut arts subjects such as dance, drama and music but added: "I don't want to do that. Having the arts in a school is not only beneficial to those who are good at it but it's good for the whole school."