Fears grow over shortage of qualified teachers

[noblegiraffe]

The Times is a bit behind the times in reporting on the teacher shortage crisis, however new figures show that after a brief respite for recruitment issues due to covid, the situation in schools for September is now looking dire.

"Job adverts for secondary school teachers are up 47 per cent on last year and 14 per cent on 2019, prior to the pandemic, according to SchoolDash, an education data company."

Oh, but we can just recruit fresh, enthusiastic trainees to replace the old, busted teachers who are quitting in droves, some on here would claim. Bad news there too:

"Government figures show fewer than 9,000 of the 20,945 new teachers it hoped to start training from September have been offered a training place.

In physics just 25 have been firmly recruited while a further 283 have a conditional offer to start training — just 12 per cent of the 2,600 target.

In design and technology, only 15 per cent of the required teachers have been recruited, while in maths and English the figure is a little over half."

While I can see the govt is gearing up to once again slate the profession, the question parents need to be asking is "who exactly is left to teach my child?"

And the answer isn't necessarily something you'll want to hear.

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/cc94af68-eff3-11ec-9bea-abc2bc5953e5?shareToken=9852fc3a725ac809e13b4f5ea234ec8d

As a parent, this is something that really worries me. The teachers at our little school are amazing, the school community as a whole is thriving because of them. But I can see they’re all exhausted, and if I’m honest I know deep down that they’re working harder than me for less money (and less respect from some of the morons who think they’re lazy, bang on about 6 weeks holiday in the summer, etc). I would be looking to escape in their shoes but I desperately, desperately hope they won’t for the sake of DC.

Also re the recent Ta thread.

Many tas are ex teachers or highly qualified and yet the school doesn't respect or utilise them.

Serious struggle to recruit staff at the NE secondary I work at. Only getting 1 or 2 responses per job advert.

We are a tough school to work at but it's never ever been this bad.....

I work in a large inner city academy in a deprived area and our staff are leaving in droves. Mainly due to the very poor behaviour e.g. being sworn at regularly, sexualised comments, fighting alongside the oblivious management who appear to think we work in a public school. We are lucky if we get one or two (pretty poor) applicants, even for TLR posts. A lot of staff have left to do supply, work in schools located in more affluent areas or tutoring. I am on a mission this academic year to get out too.

My dc had 6 main teachers for year 7. 2 of them are leaving teaching. 1 is switching to administration . Only 3 will be teaching next year.

Just emailed my DC form tutor about a non urgent issue, expecting a reply tomorrow morning. She replied straight away I assume she was working and my email popped up. It’s 10.15 😩 no wonder teachers have had enough.

Like most of the other qualified primary teachers working with children in charitable sector, I’ll go back as soon as they stop testing, being back play, re-think ofsted and get back to caring about children!

Lots of experienced teachers retiring this year. The thing is there's no one to replace them. And there's no supply teachers either! The trainees we've had recently have been dire. I can't see them lasting very long in the career already. My DH is also planning a career change despite having to take a massive pay cut. I'm only staying for now due to being in a nice school and part time. But for how long I'm not sure.

Head Teachers around here are talking about 'the great resignation'. I think people have sat tight through covid and are changing on mass now

This. I escaped after 20 years. No one I trained with is still teaching and we are all 10 years away from the state pension retirement age. Just couldn't stand it any more. Life is so much nicer . I worked for some nice headteachers but so many were cunts at best and psychopaths at worst.

One thing that definitely doesn’t help is parents griping about their DCs having job share teachers. FT primary teaching is almost impossible to manage with any kind of life with young children of your own. Most job shares are doing 30-50% more than they are paid for and will be doing their damnedest to make sure things are seamless for their pupils, but still parents think they are getting a raw deal.

Yes, teaching is nuts.
I'm working an hour before the DC get up, then after they've gone to bed, sometimes until 2am, this term; planning the regular week's lessons, organising the school production and writing reports.
Term 6 can do one.
Few professions have no limit on expected extra hours outside directed time, and such a ridiculous workload problem.

I work in a small ‘good’ school. Almost every department has at least one member of staff leaving and in most cases, they have struggled to replace them. The only full time member of my department next year will be the ECT and several members of my core subject are non specialists. It’s a tragedy and it’s being ignored in favour of insulting us and implying that we are worthless.

I worked for some nice headteachers but so many were cunts at best and psychopaths at worst.

Yep!

Yep. I'm planning my exit strategy over summer. I am in a role where I deal with a lot of student and parent issues; my life isn't my own and I'm tired of it.

Wow, just looked at vacancies near me and there are over 100 in a 10 mile radius.

Same here. 108. SE "naice" area.

Articles like this pop up each year....I am early retired but contacted about 12 agencies....for supply cover work....guess what...not one call or email to offer anything at all remotely close to my home....E London.. specified 40 mins travel zone from home....zilch...nothing.... so are schools not using agencies or is the shortage fabricated...??

I laughed at this.....my last 2 female deputies were nasty vile vicious cunts....no other words....i outlasted them....both moved on....if ever saw them crossing a road i would run them over and reverse back over them...!!!

The shortage is not fabricated, however it is more acute in some subjects/phases than others. You’re probably not a maths teacher offering long term cover?

There are also funding issues where schools used their supply budget at the start of the year covering covid absence.

I worked as a teacher in busy secondary school for 25 years. My health was not great but not bad enough for leaving under Ill heath. I decided to retire early at 56. I have been home for 4 years and I still get emails and the odd phone call trying to persuade me to return. Same with examining A level scrips. Every year they email me to ask me to examine. I feel like I have done my bit but I used to see newly qualified recruits leave after 2 or 3 years. If you have a Maths or Science degree there are better paid jobs out there with so much less time commitments required. After the pandemic I can only assume less recruits will want to go into teaching.

I’m returning to work after maternity leave for the minimum amount of time required to get three payslips to renew my mortgage then quit. I would rather do ANYTHING else. After 15 months of freedom, the idea of not being allowed to go to the toilet is so alien to me now. As others have said on here, you’re fighting a losing battle with iPad children bouncing off the walls, parents can’t control them but will complain about you for even looking at them the wrong way because they couldn’t possibly have done anything wrong. My head teacher takes the side of the parents at every opportunity and we are repeatedly thrown under the bus. I take the children out at home time and have to constantly lie to cover her back, pretending things are in place when they aren’t.

You aren’t physically able to do the job well no matter how hard you try, it’s a trick. You’re then made to feel guilty every time you’re ‘caught out’ for something you haven’t done (because it was physically impossible to do). This has led to me going from a fun, outgoing person to someone I don’t recognise, I am so serious and anxious about everything. I can’t stay a second longer for my mental health but will return to get the payslips I need then run for the hills

My ds2 primary school is losing 5 teachers this summer, only 1 is staying in teaching.
It’s a great one form intake school with an amazing head teacher.
DD is in year 10 and she’s had loads of substitute teachers since Christmas, it’s a nightmare, loads of inconsistencies and she’s obviously only a year away from her GCSEs.
I wouldn’t be a teacher for all the money in the world.

I think all my teacher friends have left now!

There's a lot of this that has gone hidden behind allowing hltas to cover classes.so many many kids are taught 80% by qualified teacher and 20% hlta/ta...

When i started teaching children had tk have a qhalified teacher in the room - so this was a way to hide around up to 20% missing. Add to this where TAs are covering for absences/teacher lesving mid term.

Im in a couple of life after teaching tyoe groups and the stories are awful . People really can't take it anymore.

Why on earth has the govt waited til its broken/given it extra kick and then blamed it for not functioning!?