Weekly round-up: Teacher pay and staff shortages

Catch up on your must-read Tes news and analysis right here:

• Unions demand “fully funded, inflation-plus” pay rise 
  Five unions have told the School Teachers’ Review Body that its recommendations on pay for 2024-25 “must address the reality of pay cuts, sky-high workload and the recruitment and retention crisis”.
• DfE could under-recruit in 10 secondary subjects
  The Department for Education’s initial teacher training recruitment target for secondary could be missed by 39 per cent this year - with maths and physics among the subjects suffering shortfalls, according to analysis.
• Teacher vacancies remain high post-Covid
  Secondary school teacher vacancies are still more than a third higher than pre-pandemic levels in some regions despite an overall improvement nationally, data seen by Tes reveals.
• “Something bad will happen”: how social care cuts hit exclusions
  School leaders are facing impossible decisions on suspensions and exclusions because the decline in social services has removed the safety net for vulnerable students, finds Dan Worth
• Teachers’ views on wellbeing revealed in new survey
  Most school staff have considered leaving education completely over the past 12 months, but staff are also feeling more confident in their ability to do their jobs, according to the Tes Schools Wellbeing Report 2024.
• Exclusive: Apprenticeship plan “risks quality of teaching”
  The government’s plan for a Teacher Degree Apprenticeship scheme could “pose risks to the quality of teaching provision” and “undermine” the profession, headteachers’ leaders have warned.
• MAT Tracker: Regional board highlights for January 2024
  Tes presents the key regional board decisions affecting multi-academy trusts in each region in January. You can also find our interactive map of England’s multi-academy trusts by clicking here.
• Revealed: The year groups with the biggest rise in absence
  Absence rates in key stage 3 were higher last term compared with a year earlier, according to new analysis of attendance across primary and secondary year groups.
• Two-thirds of special schools full amid SEND crisis
  Around two-thirds of special schools were at or over capacity in the past academic year, according to the latest government figures.
• Trusts could do “a lot more” on teacher retention
  The government has “an absolute responsibility around teacher recruitment” but the issue of teacher retention “is possibly one for us”, says Leora Cruddas, chief executive of the Confederation of School Trusts.
• Middle leader tips: how to delegate effectively
  Experts share advice on the art of delegation and how to avoid the pitfalls of micromanagement and delegating too much, as part of Tes’ Middle Leadership Essentials series.
• TAs have to perform high-risk healthcare because of cuts
  With NHS and social care services support overstretched, staff in special schools have been left to carry out complex healthcare procedures, write two leaders in the sector.
  
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