Extending the school day could mean introducing flexible working options into the profession, the chief executive of a multi-academy trust said today.
Giving evidence to the report of the Education Select Committee about the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, on which he served, Martyn Oliver, chief executive of Outwood Grange, said that a shake-up in teacher working hours could be part of modernising the profession
An extension to the school day is one of the proposals being considered by Sir Kevan Collins, the government’s education recovery commissioner, to support Covid catch-up.
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Yesterday, Sir Kevan told the House of Lords’ Youth Unemployment Committee that any extension to the school day should be compulsory in order to guarantee that disadvantaged pupils attend.
Mr Oliver also told the Education Select Committee that any extended day needs to be compulsory to make a difference to disadvantaged pupils.
As part of his response to a question about practical steps to recruit and retain quality teachers in deprived areas, Mr Oliver said: “In our recommendations, we talk about the extended day being an opportunity for the teaching force to actually modernise.
“The bell rings in a school and you move from one lesson to another. You’ve got to be there at the start and at the end; it’s very regimented and, actually, I think the profession can embrace part-time working, flexible working - there is no reason why you can’t start early and finish early, start late and finish late, and still be paid in the same terms and conditions.
“There is an awful lot that can happen and we really do need to modernise big parts of the profession.”
An extended school day was part of the recommendations of the controversial Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities report to develop ”cultural capital”.
The report also made the point that flexible working working arrangements could make the profession more attractive.
