FEATURE FOCUS: RECRUITMENT
doubt be very different. Creating talent pools, increasing focus on employer branding and utilising technology to attract teachers will be the solutions of the very near future.
Teachers are human too And it’s not just about recruitment when it comes to education staffing levels. There needs to be a greater focus on retention across many schools. More consideration needs to be given to mental health and wellbeing as we come out of the pandemic. Schools will need to showcase how they support their teachers when it comes to mental health. Teachers will make their decisions on choosing a new school based on more factors that before and schools need to start making plans now. According to Cheryl Singleton, CEO at Advocet
Academy Trust, the impact of Covid has changed: “The potential for staff to feel isolated can adversely affect recruitment and retention in smaller schools. Our local primary schools in Suffolk forming the Avocet Academies Trust in 2014 has led to strong collaboration, teacher training and development schemes and the ability to offer career opportunities to staff who may have otherwise left us. “The positive impact was particularly clear in
schools. During the first lockdown, many education recruitment agencies took advantage of the help offered by the government to cover the costs of employees and this covered supply staff too. However, the same was not the case during
the second lockdown and many supply teachers now feel forgotten by the pandemic. Due to minimal government support many have completely missed out on furlough during the second and third lockdown and some are in a desperate financial situation. Some have moved into different careers to continue to support themselves and their families, but will they return when schools reopen again? Schools need to consider the impact that will
be felt across the majority of the supply teacher network. There is likely to be a shortage of supply teachers for next term and beyond. Attracting those teachers will become harder and the war for talent that so many other sectors have experienced in recent years will start to enter the education sector.
The impact on teachers from overseas We are fortunate, particularly in London and the South East, that we have historically been able to attract a large number of teachers from Australia and New Zealand, but what will happen now and how will this impact on our staffing levels? Firstly, there’s the problem of not being able to
travel to the UK simply. With no outbound flights from Australia and New Zealand at the moment, a move is off the cards. And with the news released recently that travel may not be an option until everyone has been vaccinated, this will be a concern to many. It’s hard to predict what will happen here - even our government doesn’t have all the answers on overseas travel just yet. And whilst there may be exemptions where
teachers from overseas would be allowed to come to the UK to teach if they secured a long- term role, this isn’t straightforward as permanent teaching roles are not the easiest to come by.
March 2021
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The impact of Covid on the near future Whilst a lot of schools didn’t feel the full impact of the resignation cut off in May 2020, the next date looming for resignations is 30th April 2021. That date is fast approaching, and schools are concerned about the spike in demand in May for teachers and education staff. Could this churn outstrip the available pool of teachers? The number of teachers with the confidence to move jobs is likely to increase as infection rates drop and the vaccine roll out continues, but what about the gaps we will then need to fill? Schools will need to re-think their post-Covid recruitment strategy as the landscape will no
the way we tackled the first lockdown - a united staff and leadership teams brilliantly meeting the challenges presented by the pandemic. “One year on though, the Covid-imposed
isolation style of working is starting to take its toll. What would have been team problems become individual ones and as such are magnified. “Alongside this pupil and staff successes are
shared less. Online meetings and newsletters are poor replacements for a leader being seen or for colleagues to exchange anecdotes over a coffee. “In the post Covid era catch up programmes
for our pupils are paramount but we will also need to work just as hard to rebuild the bonds between staff that empower our teams and our pupils to excel.”
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