Does your child have a teacher to go back to next week?

[fuckityfuckityfuckfuck]

My reception child doesn't.
There are 12 unfilled primary teacher vacancies within a 10mi radius of us. Only 1 of those I could perhaps be reluctant to work in due to reputation. There are also another 16 vacancies with later start dates.

Primary has historically been oversubscribed. I know this has been an ongoing issue for a while in secondary maths/science but now it's seeping into primary which has always been more desirable, I don't see how parents can continue to ignore the issue.

Gillian Keegan has warned the independent advisory board to "consider school budgets" when recommending a pay rise for 24-25 so I would imagine there will be even more classes without teachers next year!

As its AIBU... its time parents started complaining to their MPs to protect state education.

I think in primary what is not being talked about is the low birth rates. This is starting to effect primary now. It's not so much of an issue in the South where there are still teacher shortages. But it will eventually make it's way South and then into high schools. Although that will be some time yet and until then there is still staff shortages at high schools especially in certain specialist subjects.

Both my DC will have teachers when they return this week.
They go to a tiny village school with 2 combined classes; in Marvhu DDs teacher retired, they had over 10 applications for the position, shortlisted to 3 & new teacher was appointed in April. They started in September.
Both classes also have 2 TAs per class - but according to some on MN small schools are awful - go figure 🤷‍♀️

Despite what is said on here, I actually find teaching beneficial as a single parent with no family support.

I rarely ever have to work around the holidays, and on the odd occasion I do, a childminder can usually do the extra day or two my children are not in school while I am. But, when it comes to childcare, it's been ideal for me.

I am ridiculously organised, though, and I function on very little sleep. Oh, and I am good at my job, which has helped me slowly climb the ladder and therefore feel less of an effect of the stagnating salaries over the last 12 years. Now I've wiggled my way into leadership pay (without SLT responsibilities, but many of the good bits, including another salary ladder to climb) I'll be able to see out the last few years until my last child doesn't need wraparound childcare anymore.

So yes, given I was a very young single parent when I started university, this job has enabled me to raise my children, spend weekends and holidays with them, and have enough insight into education to help them when they needed guidance.

I am taking the stresses of the job as tradeoff while I'm still reasonably young (40s) before moving into something with less stress when I'm older and more able to manage my responsibilities without having to worry about my children.

@APurpleSquirrel are the TAs full time or for 1:1? How many pupils are there in total?

@crumblingschools DSs class (YrR, 1 & 2) have 18 pupils, 1 teacher & 2 TAs (one is a HLTA) all full-time, no 1:1s.
DDs class (Yr3-6) has 29 pupils, 1 teacher & 2 TAs (one is a HLTA) all full-time & no 1:1s.
We're very lucky & our head is incredibly good with the budget.
Each class has at least 1-2 school trips a term; at least 1 whole school trip a term, a full-week residential from Yr3 & swimming (off-site) each week from Yr3.

I’ve been teaching for 18 years and I’ve just started looking into other avenues for work.
I work in a well regarded school, have fabulous colleagues and on the whole, supportive parents. But I’ve had enough. The expectations are huge and the mental load is even bigger. It feels like everyone wants a piece of me and there are now not many pieces left for my own children and husband. I have only survived this long as my husband is so supportive.
Teachers have been saying for so long that something has to give. Unfortunately for some it’s been their welfare and mental health. I’m not willing to continue doing so.

Not sure the school budget will be sustainable for long @APurpleSquirrel. Also looks like your school is showing the impact of the falling birth rate with smaller number of pupils in KS1. How many pupils in YR compared to Y6?

@crumblingschools how so?
KS1 will always be smaller than KS2 as it's 3 years instead of 4.
Our school has on overall PAN of 60 but currently pupils numbers at around 48 have been the norm for the school for the past few years.
Yes our Yr6 cohort is larger than our YrR cohort but we also had an additional 6 in-year transfers in September which actually meant the overall school roll stayed unchanged.
A lowering birth rate is a concern true, but no more than for any other school, as whilst we have less pupils therefore less income, we also have much lower bills (no huge buildings etc to maintain). We're in a federation with another school & as i say our school seems to be doing well (I've checked the accounts) even in comparison with other local larger schools.
I've spoken with both the head & governors in the past but both seem not overly concerned about intake, I think because we seem to do very well with taking in in-year transfers & very rarely lose any pupils to other schools.
Unfortunately many parents are put off small schools for various reasons, many of which don't apply to our school, but those that do come, stay & love the school.

When I was 7 my class teacher who lived near me used to supervise a group of children on their way home to lunch and back again for the afternoon session. She left with us at 4 o’clock and saw us safely home except on the rare occasions when there was a staff meeting. She was a brilliant teacher and I have remembered her with affection for 60 years. Teaching nowadays is certainly not the same profession she was in and education is the worse for it. We must stop most of the paperwork, stop most of the testing and encourage teachers to bring out the best in their charges. This shouldn’t take all the hours God sends but should be able to fit into a well balanced life.

I agree that eventually low birth rates will be an issue for secondary schools soon, but at the moment, we are still working through the high-ish birth rates from about 2006 onwards- in my LA there is currently an issue with lack of Post-16 places, and that will get worse before it gets better!

It's obviously tricky because it's a short term problem, so schools and colleges don't want to invest in extra buildings etc that may not get used long term, but I think this year we were short of spaces by 6%- which is expected to rise over the next few years. Competition for places at the most popular sixth forms and colleges has got quite fierce, and we unfortunately had to turn some people away this summer (late applicants or missed grades) which we don't normally do!

It's also worth bearing in mind that birth rates aren't the only thing that influences the need for schools- migration, both within the UK and from abroad, can bring more children to an area. Another of the issues in my LA is that some of the small village primaries don't have many students because the village is mainly filled with AirBnB/Second homes/Retired people, but in many of the towns there is a shortage of primary school places, because that's where everyone has moved to! So they are closing some primary schools, but also planning to open some new ones, or opening bulge classes. Across the LA, I think the amount of teachers needed is similar, but some teachers obviously only want to work in a specific type of school!

I think the holidays can work well for parents. I think the current trend towards twilight CPD etc can make things harder though in terms of picking up from childcare etc.

Evening commitments like open evenings/parents evenings can also sometimes be tricky to manage- I accept there are maybe max 10 of these a year, and not everyone has to do all of them, but it's an additional cost in terms of paying a babysitter, and a child who's able to let themselves in at 4pm may not be able to stay home alone until 7.30 etc.

I do think the options to go part time etc are still quite good in teaching.

However, I do think the rise in working from home since the pandemic has made it much easier to balance a lot of other jobs/careers with parenting. A lot of people I know who work from home can nip out to pick up primary aged children at 3pm- no need to pay for wrap around care etc. And a surprising number have their children at home with them whilst they are working for at least some of the holidays- obviously that's not ideal, but it does mean that teaching is less advantageous than it once was.

I think as other work gets more agile and flexible, the benefits of teaching for parents/single parents does decrease.

I do think the options to go part time etc are still quite good in teaching.

That really depends on your school.

Going part time means a poorer pension as well as earning less money each month. It makes me very cross that many teachers are working part time in order to have some work life balance because the job is so all encompassing when you are full time. It should be possible to teach in a normal amount of hours each week but at the moment it isn't. Going part time is a poor option because you end up working on your days off and obviously earning less. The system is utterly broken and it's harder to hide shortages in a small primary than in a large secondary school. Perhaps that's a good thing as it's finally being noticed.

Another pay issue often overlooked is that while a starting salary for a young teacher might look reasonably attractive, in a few years time I can almost guarantee that if the teacher is still in post, but that’s another issue, in comparison with other young graduates the teacher’s salary will be falling behind in real terms. Traditional perks of the job, like a good pension scheme, maternity agreements, sick pay arrangements etc are increasingly being whittled away. There comes a point when just looking at the flexibility of their friends working arrangements as well as financial reward and job satisfaction many young teachers are realising that they have made the wrong career choice, even before the pressures of the job are taken into account.

And for headteachers, held responsible for building maintenance, staffing, financial budgets as well as the education of the children in their school the salary level is derisory, especially in primary schools.

I do think the options to go part time etc are still quite good in teaching.

It totally hammers your pension though and you end up working most of your days off.

I want the option to work full time but with some sort of flexibility and not have to work 55 hour weeks-this is not currently possibly with teaching.

And for headteachers, held responsible for building maintenance, staffing, financial budgets as well as the education of the children in their school the salary level is derisory, especially in primary schools.

Absolutely-it’s a horribly stressful job. Even this morning, I’ve seen someone comment on Twitter about Ruth Perry that of course heads should be properly held to account and if they are having ‘suicidal thoughts’ they shouldn’t be anywhere near teaching or children anyway. People still don’t get that Ofsted itself are the cause of much of the stress.

FWIW, I do agree with the comments that going part time is obviously very school dependent (mine is very friendly to it, to the point where it often feels like full timers are picking up the slack for everyone, have to suck up very awkward timetables etc to make it work), and that there are downsides to it. I still feel, compared to some other careers, there are more pay/progression opportunities if you go part time.

But it does obviously depend hugely on the school.

I do still think there are advantages to teaching as a career, and I like my job, but I do equally see why so many people are leaving. And of course, once your school (and especially your department) becomes short staffed, it's often untenable.

I do feel very much like education is at a breaking point, and some major changes are needed.

I do agree that more flexibility for full time staff would be a huge plus- for example I have 2 PPAs at the end of the day- if I could take those at home, I'd get more done and probably feel less tired all the time. And equally being able to take a (very occasional) day off in term time would be very helpful!

I'm not saying they all have "suicidal thoughts" but if every teacher receiving mental health support of one kind or another was barred from teaching, my school would shut.

Someone mentioned perks such as maternity leave. My maternity leave was by far the least good of all my friends and family incidentally, both public and private sector.

I'm not saying they all have "suicidal thoughts" but if every teacher receiving mental health support of one kind or another was barred from teaching, my school would shut.

Me too. Staff are often talking about their poor mental health, anti-depressants, insomnia and palpitations in the staff room. That is sadly just ‘normal’ now-nobody raises an eyebrow.

I am very interested to know what the Ofsted mental health training will comprise. What if it’s like the crappy slide that somewhere shared before Xmas where they bullet pointed things like, sweating, going red in the face and talking quickly? What will they do if they spot these signs of stress? Write them down on their blasted clipboard and move on?!

I still feel, compared to some other careers, there are more pay/progression opportunities if you go part time.

My school doesn't allow you to apply for promoted posts if you are part time. I know people have had to give up positions as a requirement for going part time too.

This is ludicrous. Our HoF Humanities is PT, HoD English and HoD Science both have been.

I do think the options to go part time etc are still quite good in teaching.

Part-time primary jobs are still hard to come by, at least where I am. DH is secondary and the standard part-time contracts in his school are still 4 days.

Part time teachers in primary locally are increasingly having to share their class with HLTA/TAs or supply teachers on pretty crappy basic rates, as the schools can’t afford to pay for two jobshare teachers. The teacher is basically leading the class and planning for the whole week/doing all reports and displays and parents evening, but only paid for 2/3 days. It’s dreadful!

If the school goes by the burgundy book recommendations, and you time it right ( ! ) then it is a pretty good package. Unfortunately I think a lot of academies are making up their own employment regulations, which aren’t always as positive.