to think we're heading for another teacher recruitment crisis?

[KeepCalmAndLOLKittens]

I don't deny that I'm speaking from purely personal experience here, but after a brief increase in the number of teachers joining the profession during the recession, I am seeing evidence of another shortage.

I thought I'd have difficulty getting back into FT work at the top of the upper pay scale, but not only was I offered a post with protected pay; shortly afterwards I was asked to fill another by a local school.

My current post is proving difficult to appoint. Only one candidate came to interview and had previously been unsuccessful. It has been readvertised with very little interest. This is a good school; a pleasant working environment in a large town, accessible from a major city.

Angered by the latest bullshit plans to bring retired engineers and mathematicians into the profession I'm considering leaving altogether. I just searched my local newspaper's job site and found that I could earn nearly as much working a HGV driver. Not to dismiss the responsibility and skill that driving a HGV demands, it does make me wonder why I kill myself to try to achieve targets I know to be impossible while managing behaviour of the more challenging kids and having to be constantly prepared for Ofsted scrutiny.

What is to be done to address this when teachers are vilified for their holidays, for enforcing dress code, for being seen to impose fines for term time holidays and for just not being superhuman enough? Where will the teachers come from?

monkeymama eleven didn't say teaching was awful; she only made a list of what she'd done. And who is the "all of you" saying teaching's awful? Not on this thread.

This wasn't really intended as a whinge about the job. I just feel that misgovernment of education, coupled with economic 'recovery', is leading to another trough in recruitment. Ironically if we can't retain well qualified, experienced and successful teachers and replace them with unqualified staff, those already unachieveable targets will retreat a damn sight further away.

Teaching's great, I still love it.
But I love being on supply best of all, all the good bits and none of the bad.

Thanks for the link, choose. Good to see some actual figures. The shortfall is estimated at 1,520 which I wouldn't call a crisis. What the article mainly reveals is that there is a shortage in certain subjects ie maths and physics etc (as there has been for some time), while other subjects are actually over-recruited (according to the article)... Which indicates more that we are short of people trained in these areas/they are less popular choices for undergraduates (and this shortage is reflected in non-teaching industries too, as far as I know we are short of physicists and mathematicians across the board).

From my own experience I'm talking about English.

sorry if I misinterpreted you monkey And yes the hours are private school specific. But private schools aren't uncommon - I guess if 8%is of pupils are privately educated then maybe 10-15% of teachers are in privates (guesstimate based on the smaller classes)

How does that cover the shortage in primary teachers?
www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/9508821/Primary-schools-in-crisis-over-looming-teacher-shortage.html

Perhaps pressgangs are the answer?
Storm the local barracks/pensioners' Daycare centre or the local pub and nab likely candidates.

That link from chosenone, and those figures, cover recruitment to training places, not teaching positions.

I graduated a few years ago and thought about becoming a teacher (history). Every teacher I spoke to was so negative about it that I gave up on the idea and became a solicitor instead. It just sounded like the worst job ever tbh, from what everyone was saying about it.

Maths is a real problem, a core subject. Many schools have issues with retainment/long term sick in Maths dept. There certainly seems to be an emerging issue in humanities. The concern for me is that very under qualified cover supervisors/ non qualified staff are filling in roles and being 'overseen' by teachers, are parents aware of this ? Is this honestly acceptable for our children? The academisation of state education is a scandal that many people don't seem to aware of. I know of non teaching senior management in academies 'monitoring' lessons without any teaching experience ! Ludicrous. So much of teaching has always relied on good will and a love of the job. With current changes and bullying from the top down actively encouraged that stops, morale becomes low. Teachers do their job like everyone else....but the extra 'fun stuff ' school fayres, discos, carnivals, extra curricular trips and activities go by the wayside and children miss out.

It doesn't surprise me- people want a work life balance. Now they all have degrees they can change career.

Currently it seems to me that there are lots of teachers looking for jobs in primary and non core secondary roles.
Worst secondary school in the county and we have many high quality applicants for non core jobs. 5-10 years ago this was not the case, we would have one applicant, two at a push.
Core subjects are a different matter: Maths, English & Science are particularly difficult to recruit for and I believe there is a serious recruitment crisis. Typically no applicants or those NQTs that can not get a job elsewhere and are therefore useless.
I have worked in private industry and I have taught. Stress and workload in teaching (core subject therefore reported results) are both considerably higher. In private industry no one told me to fuck off eight times, call me a fucking bitch and stomped down the corridor shouting I wish she'd fucking kill herself!!! Why, because I asked him to sit down!
I am experience and relatively respected by the students: I don't take an incident like this personally but many teachers do and therefore leave teaching generally. I teach out of choice having a family. Yes, I get the holidays with my children, that's why I do it. I could work in industry and earn double my wages but I choose not to as it would involve travel and paying some-one else to look after my children while I am away from home and in the school holidays. It's a choice either way.

I'm a maths graduate. About three years ago I decided I fancied training as a teacher. But I wasn't sure about the subject. I liked the idea of being in a lab and some variety.

I've now finished my degree in physics. But have not and probably will now apply for teacher training. Yet I initially loved the idea of being able to teach the two subjects. It seemed ideal.

The hours.
The stress.
The not being able to see my own kids in plays.
The holidays that aren't holidays.
The pay.

These all seemed things I could live with. But the more blogs I read, the more I hear about Gove. Things that just tell me no.

I work in FE. we've had NO applicants for the last 3 jobs we've advertised.

Changebags - in all seriousness, you could train as a teacher and teach in an independent.

The hours - much longer than state but you get much longer holidays to (more than!) make up for it.
The stress - no more than any other job and much less that in state.
The not being able to see kids in plays - you might be able to have them in the school you work at. You might also have a flexible employer. If not then it's a small price and a problem many other jobs have too.
The holidays that aren't holidays - they would be holidays! I will get 8 weeks in the Summer. I seriously doubt I will spend more than 3 of them at work.
The pay - is pretty great, though it does depend on which school you go to.
And best of all ... NO GOVE!!!!

I work for a primary supply agency and there are so many schools looking for full time teachers. The school where I am currently working has two unfilled vacancies for September! No applicants from advertisements, no NQTs and so far not even the agencies can fill the posts. It's a lovely school too. The schools could probably fill the posts with part-time teachers but the heads only want full timers.

There is a belief amongst head teachers in our area that applicants are preferring to apply for jobs in academy chains so that if they want to move, it's easier to move to another school within the academy chain.

Tough on those of us who have resisted converting to an academy.

Soimpressed, that is a good point. I am a part time teacher at a small and fantastic small primary school and I absolutely love it, however, I would not do it full time unless I really had to. Come September all of the teaching staff at my school (that's 6 teachers) will be part time. Only the head is full time.

I would say it's a brilliant job in the right school, if your health is good, if you are fairly young and if you do it part time!

There are a lot of young people going into teaching though. My DDs group of uni mates has a good number gone into teaching from a range of degree subjects.

I think teaching will always be attractive. It's not as cushy as some ppl think. But it's not as arduous as some would have us believe IMHO.

If we are struggling, surely tough inner city schools are struggling.

Actually, I think that the opposite is true. London schools have improved dramatically in the last ten years and teaching in urban schools is a fairly desirable career choice for a lot of graduates. Programmes like Teach First are prestigious, they can live near their uni friends who have gone into different sectors, and the pay is attractive. I would be fascinated to see a comparison of unfilled vacancies in urban schools compared to elsewhere. The problem now is in rural and coastal areas and I suspect that these schools are finding it hardest to recruit.

I considered a career change and had a PCGE place for this year that I turned down.

I have two teachers in the family and I must admit I'm envious if their holidays ... But they do quite long hours in the term time (although I'd say their average day is considerably shorter than mine still).

The main reason I decided not to take the place is that teaching seems to be all paperwork and box ticking; there wasn't as much actual teaching as I expected. Planning looked horrendous.

Plus I earn the same working 2.5 days as I would working full time as an NQT. The pay just didn't seem appealing until you get into management, especially when you look at the amount of work NQTs have to do.

I'm just the sort of person the government has tried to attract into teaching with two good degrees and relevant experience. The profession just didn't have the appeal once I scratched the surface though.

It depends where you live and what you want to teach. In my area primary teachers mostly don't leave until they retire and there are over a hundred applicants for any jobs that do come up. Then it is usually NQTs that are taken on because the school already has more expensive staff. Even for secondary I only see advertisements for science or maths teachers or maternity leaves. I'm sure there is a high turnover of staff in big cities but there isn't a recruitment crisis everywhere.

It depends where you live and what you want to teach. In my area primary teachers mostly don't leave until they retire and there are over a hundred applicants for any jobs that do come up. Then it is usually NQTs that are taken on because the school already has more expensive staff. Even for secondary I only see advertisements for science or maths teachers or maternity leaves. I'm sure there is a high turnover of staff in big cities but there isn't a recruitment crisis everywhere.

halamadrid, I live in a rural area. The school I am leaving isn't in a city. I'm talking anecdotally about jobs in desirable areas with few major behavioural issues. By 'desirable' I don't mean affluent (in fact teaching is one of the best paid careers, apart from the HGV driving obvs) but the quality of life is good, housing is reasonably priced and links to more urban areas are there if you want them.