The school year has ended on a sour note for school support staff at Ysgol Greenhill School, Tenby.

The school has been wrestling with a substantial budget reduction and has been under increasing pressure to reduce costs, the result being a mixture of voluntary and compulsory redundancies and most remaining support staff facing cuts in pay.

Following confirmation from the school that this is their final position, support staff met with UNISON, the public service trade union. The support staff have growing concerns that parents and the wider community aren't aware of what is happening at the school. They also want to know why the governors recently saw fit to raise pay levels for senior members of staff as well as providing additional funding for the music service, but have implemented cuts in pay for support staff.

In addition, the teaching assistants are concerned about the level of support that pupils will receive in the coming year and are worried that this is going to affect the most vulnerable young people in the community.

The support staff work intensively with pupils, helping to raise standards of literacy and numeracy which enables pupils to join mainstream education. With this support, pupils increase their communication skills and confidence which then allows them to integrate not only in school, but also in the community.

Teaching assistants have consistently trained and striven to improve through extensive and specialist training to deliver quality support.

Access and support through the library is also being reduced which will impact on the resources available for the sixth form students for private study.

Staff are annoyed that Welsh Assembly Government funding has been reduced and that Pembrokeshire County Council has not given further support for the school.

UNISON Pembrokeshire county branch secretary, Vic Dennis, said: "I am very angry that these funding cuts can be traced back to the greedy bankers who were still arguing to pick up their bonuses whilst UNISON members performing vital tasks in public service are being sacked for the privilege.

"It is also difficult for me to explain the difference in treatment for the support staff and the teachers. It is no wonder they often feel like second class citizens. In fairness, the teachers have been extremely supportive of the assistants in this case, but it has highlighted major differences in their terms and conditions other than the pay."

Other support staff are anxious that safety will be compromised due to the decrease in lunch-time supervision and a reduction in cleaning.

The whole support staff will have their ability to perform their jobs curtailed by the increased capacity that the cuts impose.

A spokesperson for Pembrokeshire County Council said: "Earlier this year, the general budget for secondary education in Pembrokeshire was increased by three per cent and, in the case of Greenhill, the resource increase based on pupils value was 4.8 per cent.

"The Welsh Assembly also increased funding to Pembrokeshire sixth forms by an extra £395,904 after fears were expressed over a possible reduction in funding of 7.43 per cent.

"So while the school is sufficiently resourced, it is the responsibility of the headteacher to manage those resources in the way they see fit.