The single most important factor that impacts upon students’ learning in schools is straightforward - the quality of the teaching they experience. The second most important factor is leadership.
It is essential, therefore, that we retain and recruit the best teachers and leaders that we possibly can.
I joined the Headteachers’ Roundtable because we firmly believe we can do more to address the challenges that contribute to the recruitment and retention crisis that we are currently facing.
Dedicated and highly trained school staff are our most precious and crucial resource. Decades of erosion of school funding and the undermining of the profession have taken their toll on our workforce.
Improving teacher recruitment and retention
Working in and leading our schools have become unattractive prospects. Pay and conditions have been insufficiently competitive and flexible to attract candidates and to retain existing staff.
An exponential increase in demands on schools has created untenable working conditions and it is causing teachers and leaders to burn out. This situation is exacerbated by a lack of respect for - and trust in - the profession, which is clearly manifested through unhealthy and inhumane accountability pressures.
So what do we need to do to improve the situation? We need a long-term strategy, with proper investment, to mend the damaged and demoralised teaching workforce. This is not a situation that can be fixed by applying sticking plasters
It requires fundamental change to the working practices for teachers and leaders, a long-term commitment to improve the pathways into the profession, and clearly developed working practices to develop great teachers and leaders and retain them.
We know from research carried out by the Education Endowment Foundation that great teaching is the most important lever to improve student attainment, especially for our most vulnerable learners.
On this basis, teaching should feature among the top graduate career options, and this is clearly not the case. If students are taught by overworked, unhappy teachers, this is hardly a glowing endorsement for joining the profession. It is clear that the recruitment crisis is worsening.
Recent data from the National Foundation for Educational Research shows another poor year of initial teacher training recruitment, with 10 out of 17 subjects, as well as primary, below target. We have to work to arrest this slide immediately.
Investment in staff learning
The Headteachers’ Roundtable’s Education Manifesto sets out what we believe are the essential first steps to tackle this crisis. We need to deal with the issue of pay - pay for teachers and support staff needs to adequately recognise and reward the expertise and hard work involved.
To do this, schools need further investment in order to have sufficient money for non-contact time and staff professional learning. Investment in staff learning is essential in supporting teachers to continually reflect, improve and develop their practice.
Investment in staff learning and wellbeing is the most powerful way in which we can impact upon students’ learning and wellbeing.
Additionally, we argue for the need to fully fund and increase statutory planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) time to give teachers adequate time to fulfil their teaching responsibilities beyond the classroom.
Finally, teachers and support staff need their school leaders to be trusted and valued within the profession. School leadership has become particularly unattractive due to the fractured web of high-stakes accountability mechanisms and a short-termist performance culture.
The football manager approach to judging school leaders has led to a revolving door of headteachers leaving the profession.
Supporting school leaders
If we want to invest in our teachers, support staff and students, we have to provide school leaders with the professional learning opportunities and support to create expansive learning communities within which all staff and students can thrive.
We are therefore arguing for the need to provide professional supervision and coaching for headteachers as standard. We need to develop more humane and intelligent accountability systems and urgently address the problems with the current Ofsted complaints procedure.
We are asking for a genuine commitment to raising the profile of the profession in order to attract and retain staff, and to promote a culture of trust and appreciation for state education.
Kulvarn Atwal is headteacher at Highlands Primary School in London and a member of the Headteachers’ Roundtable
This is second part of a series of articles in which members of the Headteachers’ Roundtable go into detail on proposals in their manifesto, published ahead of the forthcoming general election. You can read part one here
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