Teacher shortage crisis to get even worse

[noblegiraffe]

The current data for teacher training applications for September 2022 has just come out and it is not only down 24% on last year, when more people decided to train as teachers in an uncertain economy, it is also 8% down on the same time in 2019 well before covid. The government have missed recruitment targets for years so there's already a critical shortage, particularly in subjects like maths, physics and computer science, and especially in the disadvantaged areas of the country that the government is supposed to be 'levelling up'.

The government had banked on lots of people wanting to train as teachers in a recession and cut the training bursaries massively. This has clearly had an impact and we are now facing an emergency unless something happens that turns this around.

Omg you are so.right. toxic and underpaid. The level of shit teachers take in my school is shocking!

I've had enough. Nothing is ever good enough. My 'to do' list gets longer and I have no time for anything as I'm fighting fire all day every day. Oh and the stress of Ofsted is horrific.

I still love my job.
But the ECF is bobbins which will drive people out. I am also heartily sick of being asked to train any warm blooded human who turns up on a PGCE with no conception of what they're getting into, or the commitment involved.

MrsHamlet
Abolutely agree.
I am also apalled at the work ethic of the new trainees and ECTs in the last 2 years.
If I'm not angry at management asking me to do c**p admin tasks I am angry at new teachers for asking me for things they should be doing themselves.

I loved being in the classroom but I can’t ever see me going back. The pastoral load did nearly finish me off (because I was ‘good’) I ended up with a challenging tutor group who needed a lot of support - vertical so new crop of year 7s each year. (Not necessarily behaviour but emotional support and vulnerable) and that was prepandemic. The situation now I’m fairly sure is 10 times we worse with even less resources. I found it bizarre at first changing jobs - I’m trusted to do my job - no one keeps checking up on me and I’m no longer an unpaid social worker.

We have several out on maternity, a few have given their notice in and more off long term sick, not all with covid.
Its getting increasingly harder to get external cover.

And this doesn't even cover the associate staff that are also leaving

Its got so bad that SLT are actually taking on extra classes.
We have been seen by ofsted and SLT have brought back full observations. not to mention the performance management targets which are fucking mental.

I'm desperately trying to get out of education, it has broken me. I wouldn't advise my worst enemy to go into teaching at the moment. I've never felt so demoralised and am on anti depressants just to get through each day. The government has no idea about the day to day reality of education outside private schools and they're utter fools for putting people I'm charge of education with no teaching experience. It's infuriating.

People IN charge, I'm very tired!

I took a PGCE course many years ago but never went further because, tbh, the job looked awful and I wasn't interested in the level of crap I witnessed teachers being subjected to. I'm genuinely impressed by anyone who teaches for any length of time - it's so under-paid and under-appreciated and the last two years have been an absolute shitstorm. I don't think anything could induce me to go back now - as far as I can tell it was only getting worse pre-Covid. I'm not surprised that there's a shortage.

My friends daughter is doing a PGCE... so far 10 out of the original 25 in her group have dropped out.

@Appuskidu

I actually don’t know a single teacher in real life who isn’t looking at an exit plan within the next few years. Loads of my ex colleagues have left already in the last 5. Schools near to me are propping up classes with TAs and part time supply teachers.

Me too. People are actually doing the figures and realising hourly rates outside teaching are totally doable. Once you’ve got older kids, then the (unpaid) holidays aren’t any benefit in terms of childcare cost…I’m dreaming of four years when both of mine have left uni….

@CafeConLechePorFavor

Couldn't pay me enough to go back to teaching.

Ditto. I went back to uni 3.5 years ago to retrain, but thought I'd do some supply teaching during uni holidays but I haven't done a single day so far this academic year. It's not worth the anxiety, stress or worry.

The pay does not match the conditions. Not even close.

Graduates are looking for work life balance, in particular the ability to work from home some days.

Not surprising at all.

Always looking for a way out, but with a young DC it's tricky at the moment.

It's madness.
I've worked really hard to become a teacher after having my kids and am now in my 3rd year of teaching, but honestly, it's almost like we are being driven out of our jobs!
It's just untenable and it's not just workload, ofsted expectations and Covid and the fall out from that, it's snotty parents, the way teachers are viewed generally, crap pay ( my 20 year old son with few qualifications earns only £1500 a year less than me for a 40 hour week!) and I could go on and on.
I LOVE the 8.45 - 3.15 of my job, truly I do, and before I did it I didn't understand why retention was so bad, but now I totally get it.
I want my children to have happy, enthusiastic teachers!

Interesting to read this! I found the college so snotty and unhelpful when I went to apply. Now I’m glad I didn’t!

@MrsHamlet

I agree, we had a student 2 years ago who suffered severely with OCD, but as a result every time I asked her to do something which was a normal teacher duty she would break down, not come in for a week and uni would call me, to discuss her OCD. After 3 months of this I mentioned to the course leader that there’s no way I could pass her so they moved her to a different school. She passed, got a job in a school and lasted 4 weeks.

This crisis goes back years, but has been exacerbated by the pandemic. I said quite a while ago, that we were close to the tipping point with regard to teacher recruitment and retention. The constant and unrelenting scrutiny, frequent changes, micro management, behaviour, expectation etc, etc we’re bad enough, but add in the last two years and it’s clear that the strain now is untenable and the system close to collapse.

The pandemic was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
You only have to look on MN to see everyone having a go at teachers for the government’s decision to close schools. Teachers were never recognised for everything they did during the pandemic - they went above and beyond.
The risk they faced in the early days of COVID was never recognised. Despite teachers pointing out how unsafe schools were, the government declared schools were safe, teachers weren’t at risk (and wouldn’t be prioritised for vaccines), children didn’t pass on COVID etc etc. All of which has of course been shown to be utter rubbish, just like teachers said.
Headteachers had lots of new regulations thrush upon them at 6pm Friday evenings with no guidance on how to implement them and no extra funding. Our head teacher was out delivering school meals to vulnerable children who hadn’t come in but hit nothing but complaints as though they were personally to blame for the pandemic.
I think a little thanks and praise is welcome in all jobs but teachers seem to get a lot more demands and moans. When teachers, like everyone, feel unvalued and over worked and stressed they are going to look for an easier, more rewarding job.

My sons school are short of maths teachers. They teachers that they do have are spread amongst all the classes on a rotation. This means some classes are babysat by non teaching staff and sit doing worksheets.

Excellent post @Meadowblossom

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Those of you that have left teaching, what have you gone on to do? I’m on mat leave with DC2 and 8 months away from going back. I had a text from my HoD after 6 weeks asking if I could do KIT days to cover classes because of sickness. Luckily (!) DC2 had been re hospitalised at that point so had an excuse (though she did ask if DH could do the hospital etc so I could do at least 2 KIT days to help them out)

I can’t face the thought of going back but can’t see a way out of it. I’ve got 8 months to go and I’m having panic attacks already.

Thirty years in the job and the last five of those were hell. I quit with nothing to go to.

I have applied for a PT non teaching job which will pay me a quarter of what I was on in teaching. I will get 6 weeks paid holiday a year.If I get it I will be floating on air - no constant scrutiny, no changing procedures on an annual basis, no working early mornings/ late evenings/ weekends, no being sworn at by teenagers, no angry parents shouting at me down the phone or sending demanding emails.

Bliss. The general public can stuff their 'teachers get paid too much, have a golden plated pension and a million days holiday a year' where the sun don't shine. Nothing, absolutely nothing, will get me back into a classroom.

@Meadowblossom agree. The pandemic made us reevaluate our lives.

I'm a L3 nursery Practitioner and would love to be a teacher but I dont have a degree.

Is there a pathway for me to train whilst still making money and working? Everything i have seen says you need to already have a degree.