A HEAD teacher from Trowbridge has angrily accused the Government of lying about extra money for schools.

Steve Wigley, of Studley Green Primary School, said parents were being misled by Gordon Brown's budget promise to give schools of its size an extra £55,000 a year.

Mr Wigley said he is fuming over what he sees as a well-orchestrated attempt to manipulate people into believing schools are in-line for more cash.

"I was happy to leave it until two of my governors asked me what I was going to do with the extra money," he said.

"It looks like I am mismanaging my funding. I wouldn't say the Chancellor has bent the truth, I would say he has lied and the general public is under the impression that schools have extra money this year when they have not."

The extra £55,000, promised to primary schools of between 200 and 300 pupils, is made up of a school standards grant and a devolved formula capital grant given to schools since the mid 1990s to improve buildings and learning resources.

Mr Wigley contacted the Department of Education and Skills to check where the extra money was coming from, but was left unsurprised by the response.

He said: "The impression in the budget was that we were getting an extra £55,000, but this is simply not true. This money was already in our budget and has been for a while.

"My argument surrounds the message the Chancellor was giving across. He was making it sound like new money.

"As a headteacher we have values to try and install in the children, like truth and honesty, but it is very difficult to do that when national role models are not following the same principles.

"They are not spinning the truth, they are spinning a deception."

The Department of Education and Skills confirmed the £55,000 due to primary schools of 250 pupils, through school standards grants and devolved formula capital, was announced before last month's budget.

Mr Wigley said the grants are in addition to his annual £660,000 budget, but insists many schools are still struggling to make ends meet.

"Schools are not well off. These little frustrations are building up," he said.

"The impression this government gives is that if you criticise the education system you don't care about the children.

"Anyone who visits my school would see this is not true."