Golden hellos on teacher training schemes

[CatWranglersAnonymous]

Just saw a link to this scheme advertised on my old uni's careers service page.

www.futuretraining.org/finance/

They're offering scholarships and bursaries to eligible graduates, yet they still haven't filled up their places.

I just can't even believe what kind of a mess we're in with teacher recruitment.

I should say - I had a shit experience with a similar teacher training scheme, and resigned, so I'm biased, but what is it with these fast-track teacher training schemes promising graduates the moon on a stick only for them to be chucked in at the deep end and expected to teach full lessons from their very first day on the scheme.

Been around for a good 5 years at higher levels like these (although it has risen Imqualified in one of these subject areas 4 years ago and would get £10k more today than then). There are more vacancies this year than previous years. I have resigned. Can't do it any more.

Ridiculous. The high bursaries mean they will take a pay cut when they get their first teaching job!

25k to get paid to train- im in

It's a backwards way round as well. They should be trying to keep the excellent teachers they have, rather than making the job too difficult to sustain long term, not to mention pay progression being a thing of the past.
I received a golden hello when I trained (2001), but not until i'd completed my nqt year and it was only £ 3000.

araiwa even £25k (tax-free!) isn't enough to tempt me back. A million pounds a year wouldn't be enough. The demands placed on trainee teachers (and established teachers) is absolutely ridiculous.

If your subject is the lower end or the bursaries, does that mean its not really worth training (as in, the subject is over subscribed?)

I completely agree Helbelle and Alive.

Jane I'm so sorry to hear about your situation I hope you feel better now.

araiwa you seem to write goady-sounding posts on a lot of threads, which isn't exactly helpful or kind, or in the best interests of posters asking for support or advice. Please rein it in?

Was offered 50k + paid for PGCE to work as a maths TA (then take a teaching role when completed) by a school. Teaching isn't what I want to do, but recruiters often have lists of people like me (city analysts/accountants etc) who might want a career change into maths/business teaching.

You'll need a first and to teach particular subjects araiwa.

I think it's ill thought through. There's no requirement to stay in teaching after the bursary is paid.

If your subject is the lower end or the bursaries, does that mean its not really worth training (as in, the subject is over subscribed?)

No, it just means there isn't a particular shortage of people applying. Loads of teachers are leaving. I don't think anyone will struggle to find a job.

Glad people are starting to realise how real and serious the recruitment and retention in teaching is.
Very sad for my profession though, it's in bits.

No-one wants to teach.
Insane workload and pretty much everyone seems to hate teachers and have an utter contempt for education.

• i'm sorry to say.

Do a lot of teachers simply qualify then go abroad?

No, they qualify, work for a year and leave the profession.

I just don't know what can be done to solve the recruitment and retention of trainee teachers and established teachers. We all know that it's a problem, but no specific steps have been taken (by the government) to solve it.

I just don't know what can be done to solve the recruitment and retention of trainee teachers and established teachers.

It's a tricky, isn't it? It's really become a challenge for the profession - my DP is a teacher, and was mentioning how tough it is for him and his colleagues at the moment.

The recruiters in my area are focussing their efforts fo people with high-stress careers already. So London commuters working in banking, ex-soldiers etc, hence the high salaries offered. I was told they prefer to take a chance on 'seasoned' people than graduates. So I wonder if in a few years the teaching sector will be dominated by career changers rather than new teaching graduates?

Out of the bursaries you have to pay tuition fees of around £9,000 and then you'll have living costs on top. Only a couple of the subjects offer a bursary of £25,000, most are £10,000-£15,000, so even with the latter, you would only have £6,000 to live for the year. You would also have rent etc to still pay. You can't get a part time job either due to long placement hours. It's no wonder there's a shortage.

It's a really difficult situation.

As well as being told that they will be paid a generous bursary during their training year, graduates are also told that they'll have a mentor to guide them through, when it is often the case that mentors are so busy and overworked that they just don't have the time to support the trainee teachers effectively.

The other thing is that the training year is so full-on that it is often extremely difficult (if not impossible) to find time to relax and do something enjoyable that is unrelated to teaching. I only worked as a trainee teacher for three months before resigning, but I literally didn't have a life in those three months. I barely had time to sleep or eat.

I got a bursary to train - more than my take-home pay for my first year. I stuck it out in a good state school for 4 years and now I'm leaving for the private sector. The bursaries are a good idea - I took a risk giving up a professional career, as did a lot if people on my pgce. It worked to get people in to teaching shortage subjects. However, retention is the big issue.

I completely agree about retention dinah.

I just wonder how we can work towards solving the retention crisis?

It's partly due to the retention crisis that schools are struggling to recruit headteachers as well, which is another big problem.

So I wonder if in a few years the teaching sector will be dominated by career changers rather than new teaching graduates?

I doubt it, it's a really shit job in the state sector in this country. Anyone doing it for 'fulfilment' (can't be for the money) would leave and go back to their old jobs when they realise that it's not about helping children learn it's about ticking boxes and providing piles of useless evidence and data.

The army thing didn't work, only 28 'Troops to Teachers' actually qualified over five years at a cost of 4.3 million.

I think they're still running Troops to Teachers at the moment. As you say, I don't think it's had a big impact.

I just wonder how we can work towards solving the retention crisis?

Talk to teachers about why they are leaving and do something about the reasons.

Treat teachers as professionals; stop micromanaging every aspect of the job and changing what is expected every couple of months for a start.

Encourage a school system built on mutual support rather than competition (league tables) so that teachers share their resources and expertise with neighbouring schools.

Recognise that being a good school is about more than good results in maths and English and that the depth of SPaG taught at KS2 is completely unnecessary and putting children off English completely.

Quit messing around wasting money on academies and free schools and talking about grammar schools.

I could go on....