Nearly half of teachers plan to quit in the next 5 years

[freebritknee]

I saw this from a survey carried out by an education union.

Unmanageable workload is a significant factor.

This is madness how have the unions allowed the state of teachers employment to get this far where nearly half of them want out?!

[quote SonicBroom]@Stellamar offs… I’ve said it so many times. I left to pursue research because I loved the subject. It’s a totally different role where I’m producing work myself rather than teaching others to produce. I get paid less, I have far less holiday, and work lots more overtime. But in return I make a contribution to society in another way, and I have more flexibility.[/quote]
So you are a perfect example! Happy to take a pay cut and a holiday cut to get out of teaching.

Which is why there isn't any teacher saying that increasing salaries is the answer to the problem

I’d love an increase in salary. But it wouldn’t fix anything.

I think a lot of the issue is that teaching looks easy. The better the teacher is, the easier they make it look.

@Piggywaspushed

I didn’t articulate myself properly obviously. What I was saying was I can’t believe how bad the behaviour in schools has got compared to “my day”. When my day wasn’t so long ago.

Teachers are getting assaulted and humiliated on a daily basis. I am sad when my son tells me the goings on. It upsets him too to see teachers upset. He also mentions it is far worse behaviour for the female teachers.

Tulip your son sounds like a great kid. He’s right about female teachers getting targets more than make ones.

@WhenSheWasBad

Not once when I was young did I see anyone assault a teacher. Crazy really

When I was at school (decades ago). A kid told a teacher to “fuck off” Absolute scandal, parents involved, weeks worth of detentions. It didn’t happen again.
It’s a daily occurrence for teachers at most secondary schools (possibly primary schools too).

I’m late 30s, I’m secondary I heard that one of my primary school friends (who went to a different secondary), once threw a chair at a teacher. She was immediately suspended until the governors could get together and agree to expel her. She was then placed in an alternate provision (where she thrived tbh).

A couple of years ago a student at the school I worked in threw a chair at a teacher. They received a 1 day suspension then 5 days in an isolation room where they get to watch documentaries, and then return to normal lessons. He continued to threaten to throw chairs treating it as some kind of badge of honour. Kids can no longer be expelled for bad behaviour. Alternative provisions have few are far between (too many have shut down). They just get put on the equivalent of the naughty step and told don’t do that again, with no real consequences if they actually do. And teachers just have to suck it up as part of the job.

A current student in my school stabbed his TA in the hand with a pair of compasses in year 6. They couldn't permanently exclude him for that because there was nowhere for him to go. His behaviour has not got any less horrendous...

What are current stats for teacher assaults?

@SonicBroom why do you keep banging on about pay when no one is saying pay is not impacting their decision to leave. Fwiw though, my brother is on £100 per month more than me, his only qualification is an E is food tech at GCSE, he works from 7am-2pm with a lunch in between. He gets 3 days off a week. He does not work from home and if he's required to work or evenings he is paid time and a half and gets his meals and drinks paid for. I'm not saying I am badly paid, but my pay isn't reflective of the hours I put in and the responsibility that I take on. But this is besides the point because it's not the money I'm unhappy about, as per all the other replies you've had.

@Stellamar no stop twisting everything to suit yourself. I wanted another job more, I didn’t want to “get out of teaching”. I had no issues with teaching, I just like the other job better. I wasn’t pushed out, I was pulled.

This seems to depend on where and what you teach...I did FE for 27. BTEC / A Levels..good pay and holidays...no parents evenings etc and usually the same syllabus for years and years so little prep...i cant say i was stressed etc....!!...have no idea about primary etc so cant comment on that aspect.

@CheesecakeAddict I responded to a post which said In ordinary times there would probably be a general strike over pay and since then everyone has been banging on about what I said . Which is great, as we’ve all basically agreed that teaching is not low paid.

Well, BTecs are being scrapped so lots of planning ahead in FE and Sixth Forms...

@GooodMorning

Don't get me wrong, I think many teachers are great and do a good job. My son's teacher is good at her job, enthusiastic and doesn't moan about it constantly. Actually, most of the teachers at his school seem good.

But, I do hear a LOT of moaning from teachers (especially on Mumsnet). It's a good salary, child friendly holidays, and a secure job.

Most other professions don't moan as much and we all work hard. Many of us don't have the salary we want. That's life.

You know the salary, you know the workload involved. If you don't want that, don't join up or leave if already in it. I don't care if all the moany teachers leave. We'll get a new set of more enthusiastic ones fresh from uni and excited to start in the profession.

I'm so sick of the glorification of teachers ("they are all amazing, I couldn't do their job, they are incredible.. blah blah blah", the moaning of teachers, and their need for constant praise and recognition.

Just leave or get on with it like the rest of us.

What a lovely person you are. I bet you make the world a better place for others around you. Not.

Independent schools benefit from teachers in the state sector wanting to leave. And that works just fine for Tory ministers and the people they care about.

OK, got you tulip !

So according to the Guardian, one in four teachers have experienced “violence” but they define this as verbal or physical abuse.

In 1999, one teacher was physically attached every day.

Hard to make a direct comparison. It’s not acceptable anyway.

manysummers . This is from 2019

schoolsweek.co.uk/assaults-in-schools-soar-by-72-in-four-years/

Thanks @Piggywaspushed, I saw that but like the guardian article it includes verbal abuse, which makes it hard to draw exact comparisons.

Alternative provisions have few are far between (too many have shut down)

This is a whole other issue. I have links to an excellent AP school. The Local Authority rates them really highly but they have such low budgets they can't afford to place pupils there because either the schools themselves or the LA had to provide the funding. What happens is that the most challenging pupils are left in place (usually with minimal to no attendance) or subject to a series of "managed moves" from school to school until Year 11 when the schools don't want their exam data on their records. Then they eventually get an AP place but it's too late to provide enough of the help and support these pupils need.

The reason the definition of violence includes verbal abuse is because the police crime for malicious harassment , for example is 'violence without injury' so,if reported to police (must be pretty damned serious if they are!) this will be categorised under 'violence'. Women are manifold more likely to be victims of 'violence without injury' and many teachers are women.

Timeforausernamechange22

It was the same when I did my subject conversion course. Loads of people doing the training very few going in to actual teaching.

I’m not disputing that, but it does make statements like ‘teachers are assaulted more now’ difficult to substantiate.

SonicBroom

You are aware that London isn't the entirety of the south?
and that teachers in London get a salary boost (inner, outer and fringe)?

so you can't use those figures for "the south"