England is running out of teachers

[noblegiraffe]

Or, to be clear, people who are willing to teach in schools. It has plenty of ex teachers who have vowed never to set foot in a school again.

While everyone seems to understand that you can't expect to see a doctor or dentist anymore, the message about not being able to expect your child to have a teacher anymore doesn't seem to have filtered through in the same way.

The number of cover lessons that kids are having is going through the roof. Some people think that if a kid has an adult in front of them then they are learning something, where kids know if they have a 'supply' timetabled that afternoon they are in for a doss lesson. Some people think that if a kid has a teacher for their subject that the teacher actually knows the subject being taught, which is increasingly not the case. Some people think that if lessons are being planned for those teachers and the teacher just has to 'deliver' them then that will be good enough, which is often not the case.

Exam classes at least used to be protected and given the 'good teachers', which is increasingly no longer the case, with Y11s reporting that they have a variety of supply teachers, even in core subjects.

There was a thread recently where an A-level student hadn't had a teacher for a year, wondering why the school hadn't done anything about it. We cannot magic up teachers! A-level students at my school are increasingly in the position of not having a teacher and having to teach themselves, and schools are now encouraged to put 'no teacher' on UCAS applications as relevant information for universities.

Recent threads about suggesting teachers need to be paid more to boost recruitment, or given a day off a fortnight to boost recruitment have attracted replies about teachers thinking they are special, or lazy, paid well enough already and having enough time off already.

But the education system is in crisis and something needs to drastically change as it's only getting worse.

The DfE's solution is to hire from abroad, at a time when the rest of government is seeking to reduce immigration.
https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/dfe-mulls-boost-international-recruitment

This is appalling.

I assume you are talking about the criticism of Neil Fergusons data modelling during COVID?

Oh and yes I have left.... happily employed elsewhere. Technically I have less holidays but certainly doesn't feel like it! I feel like I have twice as much because I don't crash into them unwell and exhausted. I would go back under the right circumstances, but mainly I spend my time trying to support those still in it (including my children's teachers).

I'm leaving the teaching profession (and in fact education) after 20 years.
Why anybody wants to do the job these days I do not know.

Thinking back to my own childhood in my own secondary tutor we had kids battling severe poverty, parental substance misuse, domestic violence, mental health and self harm, and numerous kids with undiagnosed learning issues. Some kids were bloody awfully behaved!
is it more the case that government targets, ofsted and league tables have made a job that was always demanding, feel overwhelming?

The Home Educated students have jumped a sinking ship and are leading the way.

Not the ones I encountered in FE whose education had been sporadic at best, non-existent at worst.

The trouble is it doesn't get much higher.

Most jobs are stressful but people stay for the money. Most people wouldn't want to stay in law or finance for example if those weren't very well-paid careers. Of course money will attract and retain more teachers.

Universities teach older humans, obviously.

This is true.

So many SEN parents feel pushed into 'elective' home education because secondary schools are not set up to meet the needs of their children. The impact on a young person's mental health in a system which sidelines them -remember, systemic and perverse outcome of cynical government education policy- is incredibly damaging.

@Winter42 I'll be impressed if you still love it in about 5 years' time tbh...
And as somebody said, the problem is the pay doesn't get much higher. So for people that have families, a teaching salary (especially if the sole breadwinner) often simply isn't enough.

Interested in insights into the independent sector. DC is at a C London independent secondary. Two teachers have just left - didn’t even see the year through. One was the most outstanding and passionate about her subject. School hasn’t managed to recruit to replace the other one , which means classes within the year will merge. There has been a high turnover at the school and the backgrounds of
those currently there aren’t stelar considering we pay 26k.

My OH is a primary school teacher and is reaching the point where he's going to chuck it in. Combination of workload, the assessment pressure and entitled parents thinking he works for them alone and should be at their beck and call day and night. We're very grateful our DC is nearing the end of their school education - if we had kids just starting primary we'd be seriously worried at the teaching recruitment crisis.

I wasn’t a teacher but worked in what was considered a good school. I’ve huge respect for anyone who wants to teach especially secondary but friends tell me infant and juniors are quite badly behaved now too.

it concerns me greatly how students will be in the workplace over the forthcoming years. A severe illness and an opportunity to leave came my way and I jumped at it.

at some point there’s going to be an almighty crash on suitable employees to do the jobs, to pay their taxes, to pay the benefits. I hope I’m gone by then.

I think you have quoted the wrong poster. But I agree with you. I have been teaching 18 years and am lucky to be in a school I love. I genuinely enjoy my job. But the pay is not enough.

We live in a small cheap house, in a cheap town and I drive a 12 year old c3. I am worried about how I will be able to support my children through university. There is no money left at the end of each month. I'm unsure if we can afford a holiday this year.

I used to think the pay was ok, when the the perks like.holidays and pensions were taken into account, but it just hasn't kept pace.

I have a first class astrophysics degree. my friends earn multiples of what I do and are less academically qualified. I do regret my career choice. But I shouldn't. Teaching SHOULD be appealing to top class graduates. We should want the best (I am not saying I am the best!) people educating our children. The truth is, we just won't have them. In my school we already have multiple cover teachers and so many non specialists teaching in order to fill the timetable.

This is what I find so mystifying. If teaching is just by nature a shit job, then don’t do it. If you have to be bribed into it there can’t be many committed teachers.

I do not believe that it’s inherently a shit job, rather an intellectually and emotionally rewarding one which many people would do for present wages, pension and holidays if they weren’t confronted by classrooms with many disruptive anti-learners. And, outside the classroom, confronted by god awful parents.

No government is going to pay teachers more and more on the basis that too many people expect the state to do everything for us, including bringing up and instilling self-control into children.

If there is money for education it should go into reforming the system to remove badly behaved pupils.

Why the barbed comment to a fellow teacher, someone at the start of their career who seems to be enjoying their job? The comment re university seems particularly mean spirited.

I think you missed the comment before where the poster mentions their own 'mediocre' A Levels. This gives the context for the OP's comment.

It’s a vicious circle of ineptitude.

the government is spending £££££ on trying to recruit students into teaching courses.

nobody wants to to the teaching courses because teaching in the uk is not a good career choice (severe burnout).

imagine that they used that energy to improve teaching conditions (more pay, less paperwork, fewer inspections), then teaching would become an attractive career again.

it’s not rocket science!

A lot of private schools have also withdrawn form the much vaunted Teachers' Pension Scheme.

I teach upper ks2 and have been teaching for over 30 years. It has never been this bad. This year I have no TA - trying to get the Year 6 to the expected levels whilst juggling lots of SEN kids, children with no English (half of my class are EAL) and parents that constantly complain about any sanctions imposed on their children is a thankless task. Weekly staff meetings suggest new approaches and things to try, but always on top of everything we already do. I'm tired and feel burnt out.I'm at the top of the payscale but the pay does not compensate me for the daily stress. I will retire the moment I can afford to.

It's pretty shit at the moment.
I'm primary but the job is getting harder every year.
Because our school is so short of money I'm expected to teach three year groups together in one class next year, with a huge amount of SEN and behavioural issues.

I'm glad I'm only two days a week and can afford to do so, otherwise I'd have jacked it in a long time ago.

On top of this non portable pay makes a mockery of years of experience. Recruitment and retention will continue to be a real concern. Additionally, as the trend is showing, teachers are not afraid to walk away. Even those on the leadership scale will only tolerate so much!

We've had one teacher off sick since the beginning of the year. All her lessons are being planned by qualified teachers, but they aren't getting through much of the work as the cover we've had especially since Christmas has been awful.

@Lonelyplanet I know how you feel. It's soul destroying. How anyone does the job full time I don't know.
Having no TA makes a huge difference, yet they're the first things to go when budgets are cut. It makes no sense at all. TAs are CRUCIAL, not just to support SEN but also to help support teachers' mental health. It's worth that alone.