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

I'm SLT in a PRU. Had a mum screaming at me on the phone last week because her child hit a member of staff and broke their nose. She is demanding that we show where it's written down in law that we had the right to restrain her child when they attacked one of our members of staff (the child wasn't hurt, just kept from hurting anyone else). The mum called me a cunt when I offered to email her over the policies from the DfE and our school with the highlighted passages. Oh, and the LEA want us to take this child back because, by their own admission, "there's nowhere else that will take them". All of this is why no one wants to teach.

I need to go back and read the comments but I’m so glad this is maybe finally now seeing the light of day and the penny might start to drop that there could be a reason NO ONE wants to do it anymore.

I come from a long line of teachers and there's not enough money in the world to persuade me to teach. It's an absolutely horrible job and tbh most of this thread is reminding me of how much people despise teachers.

In the meantime, my daughter has an SEN that affects one subject disproportionately. She needs to pass this subject well to get into her desired 6th form despite flying in the other subjects, and she's capable of it with the right support from a good teacher. She's had a line of substitutes since the beginning of the academic year. The latest one didn't know who she was or what her SEN was at parents' evening and her report for that subject was blank. I don't blame the school or any of the teachers. I blame the Tory government and frankly I blame the horrible British public's attitude to teachers.

@TheCatOnMorrisseysHead exactly this. The anxiety I used to get when I got a phone call in because I just knew it would be a parent gunning for me over something I hadn’t done

Of course they are all individual people and not all suited for the job, I'm sorry your daughter has been unlucky.

I agree. Used to be you introduce one sound a week in reception. Now it's a sound per day.
Introduce fractions Monday. Find one part Tuesday. Find more than one part Weds. And on it goes. No time for consolidation and practice. When I was still teaching, I dared to digress from the scheme to teach a one off lesson addressing the gaps and misconceptions my class had about fractions. A case of they couldn't move forward until they had a solid understanding of the basic concepts. I got criticised for it. Not long after I left. I wasn't showing absolute fidelity to the scheme. What would Ofsted think?Teacher autonomy gone.

On the curriculum - the problem us not that anything in particular is ‘too advanced’. It is simply that there is too much - in all subjects - and no time for consolidation, revisiting, doing again in a different and mire memorable way etc.

Add that to high stakes testing in only some subjects (Maths, Reading, Grammar, Spelling, Writing) and a very wide range of ability, and it’s a recipe for stressed teachers, stressed learners and uncreative educational approaches just to ‘get through the content’.

As a child, we did Maths at primary (lots of it, much of it practical); reading; writing; art; singing. We did some lessons of Science, but certainly not the 2 hours a week that are needed for the current KS2 curriculum. Some PE, but again not always 2 hours a week. Some history / geography, but often for ‘topics’ that went on for a few weeks, not 1-2 hours per week (with writing outcomes for the writing portfolio). I did no MFL until secondary; now there is a lesson per week. RE was Bible readings in assembly and festivals from different religions, not an hour per week plus assemblies that must also tick ‘Citizenship’. There was just more TIME because there was less prescribed content.

(And for the record, 11 O-levels, 4 A levels, an Oxbridge degree and PhD later, it did me no harm, despite missing out Year 7 and going straight from primary into Year 8. Introducing things earlier doesn’t necessarily mean we learn them better)

No you wouldn't. You wouldn't know the precise age or a levels of a teacher. There's not necessarily a correlation between those and how good a teacher is.

And of course all the best teachers aren't going to private or grammar. Lots of teachers won't work there because some pay less, most don't offer teachers pension, many have high demands. I know, I've been teaching a long time and my career has included private, state and international.

I've seen some awful teaching in private schools. One guy who trained with me, failed the course and then got a job in a private school anyway. The parents would have no idea he didn't have the teaching qualification.

Some teachers within the system ARE poor. Some are made poorer by the system. Some great teachers are broken by the system. Very few have become great teachers as a direct result of the current system - more often despite it or because they are experienced and refuse to change.

TLR or working in a trust that pays beyond pay scale?

Totally agree about the grammar. The whole fronted adverbial scandal could have been avoided so easily. You don't need to give children lessons on fronted adverbials, you need to read them, and have them read, quality books (at home and at school) so they hear good grammar and vocabulary and then they will use those as part of their natural language.

Or maybe SEN points. Also they said 6 years here - maybe taught elsewhere first?

I took my first teaching job clear across the country (back in 1988). 30 miles is really limiting. Get the first job wherever then move back. There are local conditions which may affect her, but nationwide there’s a shortage. Mind you, I was a secondary English teacher for over 30 years, loved most of it but wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy now…

Well, I would know, and that's part of the problem. The quality of teachers.The top ones will look for positions at private schools, independent schools, high-attaining grade grammar schools

Quality of teachers my backside. I teach in an independent, a good, well-thought of independent with excellent results and waiting lists to get in. I got the job on supply - one of a long line who had been unsatisfactory. I was asked to stay cos I was deemed good enough. And that's all I am. Good enough. I was good enough instate schools as well. I didn't morph into outstanding when I walked through the doors of the independent. I have been in situ for 8 years now. Recruitment has got harder and harder. Withdrawn from TPS a massive issue. Don't kid yourself that so-called top teachers are in the top schools. Some of the best I have worked with hold their own in PRUs and other such schools. Some refuse to work in anything other than tough schools.in tough areas. Not all sell out to the independents and grammars *holds hand up).

Would you feel the same if 2/3 of each class was on the SEN register? No TA. Primary. Frequent behaviour issues because it is not physically possible to keep 20 children with different SEN and/or trauma regulated whilst simultaneously teaching your class of 30 whose ability stretches from y1 to (potentially) y8/y9?

Of course, it's not how it used to be, but neither's anything.

The facts that teaching as a career and the classroom environment are both vastly different from how you remember them to be from your golden days doesn't in any way suggest "crisis", or that things are getting "worse".

Just like everything around us, it's changing, and you clearly don't like it.

Perhaps when you were younger you weren't so averse to change ?

As I too am getting older, I generally find in such situations one has three choices ...

1. Adapt and embrace the change (the most difficult due to irrational fear of being outside one's comfort zone).
2. Quit (The second most difficult as it generally involves planning or at least a short-term contingency plan).
3. Stay just as you are, ageing, complaining and being miserable ... but in the end, all dinosaurs became extinct.

My son is a teaching assistant in a SEND school. He comes home stressed and exhausted every single day and earns just above the national minimum wage.
Recently, one of his kids learned to say 'Dog'. It was their first word ever.
Good teachers are worth their weight in gold.

I’m a TA in a primary school. We cover nearly all PPA and staff absences, this has increased significantly in the last few years. All the teachers/TAs are exhausted because of the pressure from SLT to achieve good results. SEND provision is at an all time low and behaviour is worse than ever.
It drives me mad that if we complain non teachers say but you get such long holidays 😡

some of whom are my former pupils, who were supported to manage well in primary school.

It's pretty widely acknowledged that secondary schools cannot offer the same level of support as primary because they are different by their very nature. Having 5 different teachers and rooms in one day is hard enough for some students.
Please don't pitch secondary and primary against each other like this. We try just as hard as you, unfortunately for some students the transition is too much and we don't have the resources to adequately support.

Education is fucked enough without us turning on each other.

Vote Labour!!

There were definitely problems before Covid, but Covid has exacerbated matters.

Since returning to teaching, I've had to - for want of a better expression - 'dumb down' my teaching, because children are so far behind compared with 6 yrs ago (when I gave up my permanent post).

We did have problems with children's behaviour before - and yes, children meeting up in the loos, etc - but now they're 'packing up'.

I've twice been accosted by the same group of 14/15 yr old girls who hang about the corridors of my place of work. Yes, I've reported it.

They've also been stalking young male teachers at the school. Nothing seems to be done about it.

Last week, they were going about with actual labels on their foreheads: "Number 1 bitch". Tried to con me into using my electronic key to let them into someone else's room and became aggressive when I refused.

A couple of times the same girls tried to bluff their way into my room to bully a pupil who was in class. I had to block the door with my substantial bulk.

People have no idea of what is going on.

The facts that teaching as a career and the classroom environment are both vastly different from how you remember them to be from your golden days doesn't in any way suggest "crisis", or that things are getting "worse".

😂 Seriously.

It's not the fact that teaching and the classroom environment are different that suggests crisis, it's the fact that thousands of kids and climbing currently don't have a teacher that suggests crisis.

I'm not sure how you missed the entire point of this thread, given that it's pretty clearly stated in the title.

A few weeks ago, the only way that I could stop an assault was by getting the attacker in a bear hug. I fully expected to get the sack. (I'm only on supply.)

Nothing came of it. I was surprised.

I've mentioned elsewhere that - some years back - a male colleague was suspended by the LEA after a parental complaint. My colleague had been punched by a 15 yr old boy who was bigger than him. He stretched out a hand to block the second punch.

The police told the parents that there was no case for the teacher to answer, so they went to the LEA and a redtop. My colleague was doorstepped and had his picture plastered all over the front page of a Sunday tabloid.

He was reinstated, but told that he 'should have run away'.

Horrendous 🤦🏼‍♀️ It feels like you’re walking on eggshells with everything you say or do as a teacher, in case something like this happens.

I’m on a pregnant teacher’s page and it’s just post after post at the moment of teachers not wanting to go off sick before their maternity leave but it’s literally the only way to keep their unborn child safe as they’re being assaulted all day every day and nothing is being done about it. Each one says they feel too guilty to go off sick and leave the children. Having to put your own child in harm’s way because you feel such guilt if you don’t. The system is run off of fear, guilt and goodwill it seems. My friend was telling me in her school, there was a heavily pregnant teacher who wasn’t even teaching this particular child but he ran into her classroom, punched her in the stomach and ran back out. She fell to the floor and ended up having to go to hospital. It has gone way too far now and is only going to get worse sadly

I miscarried a day after being punched in the stomach. I was in my late 40s at the time, so I suspect I'd have lost it anyway, but I do wonder.

I wasn't 'officially' pregnant. Had got a very faint line, so was waiting a week to re-test. Thought it might be menopause.

I was interviewed the same day I was punched and didn't mention the possibility of pregnancy - it sounds bonkers, but I felt foolish. Two men who came to my assistance were also punched and also made statements.

Police 'lost' the statements.

Afterwards, I took the decision not to tell about the pregnancy. Stupidly, I didn't want to traumatise the boy. (Aye. I was nuts.) Also, I thought that no one would believe me. It was so early that there was hardly anything to see. Just a blob, really. I'd miscarried in the staff toilet and had just flushed and gone back to my classroom.

A few years later, as an adult, the boy was boasting about the assault in the community.

A couple of weeks ago, a pregnant TA was punched at work. She's okay, thank God. A pregnant teacher at the school had earlier left the school because she didn't want to risk her unborn child.

Teaching is not safe for young women.

A local secondary school is advertising a day off a fortnight to attract applicants.