74% of school staff have considered leaving this year

[NorthernGirlie]

Almost three-quarters of school staff (74 per cent) say that they considered leaving education completely over the last 12 months, an annual Tes survey reveals.

Moat threads about schools have responses like "All of my immediate family are teachers and love it"

I've taught for 20+ years - always enjoyed but even I'd like to leave now.

Unless there's a huge wedge of money thrown at local authorities very soon so they can
*Improve staffing ratios
*Support SEN kids in appropriate settings
*Pay aupport staff the money they deserve

we're screwed.
https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/school-staff-views-wellbeing-revealed-survey?fbclid=IwAR0c2Ecyzx-iBjyCaaxDqAkod9Mml8TaWGEi8T4d-qGUB67uETPqraByBwM

I teach children (secondary) who would have been in specialist SEND provision 10 years ago. They have the reading age of a 3 year old, little capacity to relate to other children or adults, and they sit (or not) in class swearing and calling out. There is no place available for them at a specialist setting, so they are plonked in mainstream, and unable to cope.

I don’t think the general public is aware of how devastating austerity has been for children.

Absolutely, it’s the same in primary as well-the number of children we have across our local schools who are completely non-verbal, in nappies with no awareness of continence/soiling, EHCPs stating high level of need, inability to be in a room with more than 5 people etc etc it’s crazy. This would have been unheard of 5/10 years ago, now every school seems to have at last a couple-all professionals and parents agree that mainstream isn’t appropriate but there are no places in special (and no funding for full time 1:1). So, they wait and wait in the wrong setting, with inadequate support and no early intervention.

We’ve gone past the point where the LA could argue the toss about the evidence for children not to have a Velcro 1:1 as it doesn’t support independence skills. These are children where it’s often not actually safe to have them in school without a 1:1.

DS has done really well at state school - most GCSEs grade 8 or 9 - not ages ago but last summer - and often in subjects his parents couldn’t help with. Both my kids (year 8 and year 12) have had a good experience in two different secondary schools.

However, I do know from DS that he was in GCSE exams where a significant minority (c 25%) didn’t open their paper at all. Different kids seem to be having very different experiences of school, at the same school. From the outside it’s hard to know why.

Teachers are performance managed. I was earning about 43,000k for 4 days a week and would not have continued even if I was paid more money. it was far too stressful.

As your DS got 8s and 9s I am going to assume that he has no SEND and took his exams in the main exam area.

But in the cases that I know of were pupils didn't open the paper.
Some are EAL with little or no English that have just been 'placed' in to classes with no support but the child may have an interest or the SLT will say its just Art, DT, Cooking, Drama etc.
But in the main these will be pupils that don't want to be in that class, have no interest in the subject and have little interest in getting a grade in the subject as they were dumped in the class by SLT.

Another leaving this year. Won’t do it to myself anymore.

Totally agree with a pp saying despite retention levels and no time for anything we get meaningless work creating tasks dreamed up by excess (usually aah roles seen as stepping stones) slt trying to justify their existence.

Also agree with a pp who pointed out the disregard for and ignoring of employment law and how things such as disability are handled.

I qualified in 2001, had always done really well for my students and enjoyed the classroom but I’m leaving with no job to go to and not even 50.

What really bugs me about SEND provision is that schools might put forward a cogent argument for not taking on a particular child (e.g. insufficient staff to manage the disruptive behaviour, effect on others in the class, safeguarding issues, etc. etc.) but if it is decreed that you have the child then that is what happens. And even when a child has an EHCP, the full cost of that is not met and the school budget is clobbered yet again to the detriment of all.

If children with special needs are to be accommodated in mainstream schools, then the money to do that well has to follow these children.

I actually love teaching, and dealing with challenging learners doesn’t phase me too much either.

But the job is being made spectacularly difficult by local authorities, who seem to think that we should be teaching wildly mixed ability classes, with the most able, to the most vulnerable children with extreme SEN. And then a bunch of EAL learners, who actually don’t speak any English.

Im trying to not only differentiate my lessons across many ability levels. But also translating it to Turkish, Ukrainian and Pashto, none of which I speak, so I don’t even know if the translations are accurate. And that’s just one class.

It’s frankly impossible. I get five hours protected time a fortnight to plan for 45 hours just like the one above.

I get constantly sick, probably from the stress lowering my immune system. I really don’t understand what the people at the top making the decisions think is going to happen.

Accidentally posted. Old thread

So many middle managers and awful communication. I was support staff and hadn't realised I had signed up to be patronised, micromanaged and witness to the sort of cliques that even the kids couldn't orchestrate in the playground. It is a sad state of affairs. Sorry for all the teachers who have put themselves through training and then lost themselves in a broken system.

I'm leaving teaching next year even with no job to go to and already can't wait. I know I'm an excellent teacher and I teach a shortage subject. But I have to put my family and wellbeing first now. Nearly every teacher I know hates it but is plodding on until retirement or is too scared to leave because of losing the stable income.

I'm an experienced HT who will be leaving this year, Ive managed to keep ahead of things and support the staff and the kids until now but I just can't do it anymore .
It'll kill me literally if I don't leave .

I am wondering how many will actually leave.

Most of us consider leaving our current job at least once in a year. Then we weigh up the advantages of of our current job against what we could realistically get elsewhere. How many staff actually leave is a much more meaningful indicator in my opinion. Considering it tells us nothing.

15 from my school left at the end of last year.

Me too!

40,000 last year.

The school I just left on exiting teaching was haemorrhaging teachers and advertising posts three terms running sometimes without getting candidates.