Efficiency savings
B
ack in January this year the Public Accounts Committee reported what it called ‘a growing sense of crisis for schools in England struggling to retain
and develop the teaching workforce’. To anyone working in education, this was hardly news. Stats released in June last year showed vacancies
up by more than a quarter, empty places on teacher training courses, up to a third of those going into the profession quitting within five years, and schools in deprived areas being unable to fill posts. Meanwhile, in the classroom, teachers and support staff are struggling to cope. And the situation looks set to get worse, with rising pupil numbers, EU staff leaving because of Brexit, and real-term budget cuts. There are many reasons for teaching becoming
less attractive, but long working hours (reportedly 48.2 hours a week on average), together with the one per cent pay cap, have not helped.
Retaining staff Holding on to valued staff is obviously preferable to recruiting, so with budgets restricted it’s vital that schools understand why their teachers may want to leave, and what they can do to prevent it. Aside from personal reasons, the main motivations given by those leaving the classroom tend to be
workload, financial pressure and work-life balance. Other problems cited include a lack of career development, perceived lack of support from the SLT, feeling undervalued generally, and poor pupil behaviour. Support staff are similarly struggling, citing being regularly used to cover teacher absence, having multiple roles, and dealing with the most challenging students without enough training. According to a YouGov survey by Education
Support Partnership, 75% of teachers said they had experienced psychological, physical or behavioural symptoms because of work. This includes 56% who have trouble sleeping, 19% having panic attacks and over 25% who had been forced to take time off work. Crucially, 64% of those surveyed stated that they
would not feel confident in disclosing mental health problems or unmanageable stress to their employer. Coping with massive stress alone can lead to real problems, both for the teacher and pupils. Julian Stanley, Education Support Partnership’s
Chief Executive says, ‘Every day we support education professionals who are suffering the consequences of factors causing severe pressure. We are now seeing the impact of this perfect storm on teachers’ mental health and wellbeing.’ So what can be done? Teacher workload surveys are often used to allow a school’s leadership team
ROLE UP, ROLE UP!
With a significant proportion of your budget spent on staffing, what efficiencies can be achieved in how you attract, recruit and
retain your most valuable resource? By Nicolette Sheehan
FundEd SUMMER 2018 17
IMAGES: MICROVONE; SHOWVECTORSTUDIO/
ISTOCKPHOTO.COM
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