There were no whistles or loud hailers and most certainly no arrests, nor even much of a police presence.  

Why would there be?

These were headteachers, highly respected pillars of the community, and the influencers and motivators in charge of the future generation of this country.

And about 2,000 of them formed an orderly queue, as they walked from Parliament Square to Downing Street.

There was clapping and cheering, yes, and they were smiling and happy. But there was deep concern about school funding, which they pointed out, has fallen, in real terms, by 8 per cent since 2010.

Most heads that Tes spoke to said they’d had to make redundancies of teachers and teaching assistants alike, while some said they’d had to cut back on the curriculum.

“I’d rather [currently] be in my school and I hope to goodness we never have to be here again,” said Stockport primary head Andy Mellor.

Mr Mellor, also national president of the National Association of Headteachers’ union, said: “We’re not going to just walk away! This is our children’s future. If they’re going to take away the education of our children, we are not going to stand by and let that happen.”

Some heads had travelled six hours from Cumbria, while others flew in from Northern Ireland for what was a non-unionised event that involved the handing over of a petition at Downing Street, along with a letter to chancellor Philip Hammond.

The letter highlighted the “rising costs, school budgets on the edge of viability and an inability to recruit and then afford adequate numbers of teaching and support staff.”

Headteacher of Romsley School in Hampshire, Jonathan de Sausmarez, said he had been able to implement measures to offset the cuts, but was now at the point where he “could no more” following rising costs, including to pensions, national insurance and special education.

Michael Ferry, headteacher of St Wilfrid’s Comprehensive School in Crawley, said: “We’ve had to cut back on staff and student opportunities and it’s not fair. We need funding to be fair for the education of this country.”

Clem Coady, a headteacher from Cumbria where, he is NAHT branch president, said: “When I hear MPs saying it’s not a bottomless pit, I understand that, but the economy of tomorrow will be built on this generation of children.”

Watch more interviews and footage on the march on the Tes Facebook page.