Apparently there is NOT a recruitment crisis!

[rollonthesummer]

I'll start off by getting the thread title right!

I have just received a reply from my local Tory MP who I had written to regarding various issues within teaching. I quote...

'Regarding your concern that a lot of teachers are leaving the profession, he (David Laws, minister of state for schools) assures me that this is not reflected in the official statistics that were published this January. He states that what the statistics show is that vacancy rates are declining with the majority of new teachers still teaching after 5 years. Further to this, he states that teacher retention remains stable with 91% of teachers who began teaching in maintained schools in 2008 still teaching one year later and 76% still teaching five years later and in November 2013 there were just 750 vacancies across the country, a rate of 0.2%.'

Bullshit? Statistics? Not a problem!?

I have just been offered a job at the school where I am training, so NQT year is sorted. On my course a few have jobs, but a few keep getting knocked back at interview, mainly in favour of more experienced teachers. I have to say that I am mightily relieved that I am sorted. Nothing much was coming up in my area/subject and the interview process sounds fairly brutal!

Encouraging news, Lizzy - congrats on your first job! Us more experienceds hear tales of all jobs going to NQTs because they're cheaper. Good to know I'm not locked out quite yet!

I teach in Scotland and we had letters from the council this week apologising for the current recruitment crisis and asking part time teachers to consider taking on extra hours to help cover the staff shortage. Our council has a constant rolling advert for LAs, teachers and supply which never seems to come to anything. Our HT, DHT and support for learning teacher have all been in class more or less full time since august and most days the supply office dont even answer the phone to schools because there is just no one available. Situation is desperate here.

Is this crisis more pronounced in primary than secondary? If so, as those kids become older, this situation could only get worse?

The government can't be for real! Withing 20 miles of my postcode there are 78 vacancies for maths teachers alone. How is that not a crisis. The majority of them are re advertisements.

Also Google Moray council teaching crisis if you want to see the situation in Scotland.

Aw Moray Council. I attended Elgin Academy in the 90s. Live near London now - on TES I have a choice of 7 I can apply for within 45 mins of the house.

I know of schools who have given up advertising and get in boatloads of NQTs from abroad. Does that then reduce the figures and make it look like those schools are fine? Because that's not an ideal solution, those teachers usually teach here for a year or two then go home.

I know one school in E London with a very chequered history that imports boatloads of Canadians, a country with a huge teacher surplus. They do their year or two and leave.

A friend of mine is a deputy in an Outstanding secondary. His in-box is jammed with invitations to apply for Headships. He's absolutely not interested, as he doesn't fancy dropping down dead with a stress-induced heart attack.

I know of another Head who had a run-in with some County bods, who tartly suggested he might want to think about resigning if he didn't do what they wanted. He said, "You got a queue of people lining up for my job? No? Come back when you have!"

They retreated!

Good for him.

I'm in Scotland ,we have a huge recruitment crisis in my area. My school(primary) is very understaffed(worryingly so).They just can't seem to recruit. It is at a real crisis point, If 2 teachers rang in sick I don't know, what the school would do !

How come Scotland has such a recruitment problem when posters are always saying how much easier a time Scottish teachers have than English ones?

Yes-why do Scotland have such a problem, I wonder? I thought things were better up there!

Rurality? People don't want to move so far?
That's one of the problems here (Cumbria) in a few professions.

My previous school (large Primary, Fringe area) had to resort to Canadian NQTs to be fully staffed too. They were pretty good actually.

A quick scout on the TES jobs page tells me there are 572 vacancies for mathematics alone this week in secondary state schools.

Partial it's a scary situation. The pressure on core subjects is horrific. In September there were maths jobs on the TES and not just a few, about 100 iirc. I'm looking for a way out.

Scotland doesn't train as many teachers and people don't want to move there. But the conditions there do sound a lot better.

And then you read all the "shall I go in and complain about the teacher having lost my child's jumper" posts on here, and you think, "Sure, go ahead. Let's add another straw to the camel's back."

I agree, Clam.

I really think the situation is serious now. I actually only know of one teacher in their 50s who's still teaching full time-every other one has retired very early or been hounded out of a job as their UPS and TLR payments were just too pricey. There just aren't any applicants to replace them though!

It makes me so so angry that my MP can just tell me that the data says there is NO recruitment and retention problem?!

bbc

I love this bit....

In a statement, the Dfe said "teaching continues to be a hugely popular career with more teachers in England's classrooms than ever before".Record levels of top graduates are entering the profession and the teacher vacancy rate remains steady at just 1%

Really?

Think yourself lucky. Three weeks ago I emailed the Tory candidate for my area with a list of questions about education and I have not received a reply.

I want to know which DFE representative said that about the teacher vacancy rate and I want to speak to them!

Head teacher recruitment is even worse ime. Loads here are leaving /being forced out/taking early retirement with no one wanting to apply