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Let us teach, not merely tick boxes

A union leader in the Black Country has blamed the national teacher shortage on heavy workloads and changing guidelines, forcing many out of the profession.

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Teacher numbers are reaching crisis levels with almost three out of four local education authorities in England experiencing a shortage of numbers.

Schools across the UK are currently facing an unprecedented shortage in subjects such as geography, religious education and foreign languages, with some schools receiving less than a handful of applicants.

More than half of head teachers, who responded to a survey by the Association of School and College Leaders, said they were finding it difficult to recruit in the so called 'non-core' subjects, which also include design and technology, business studies and computer science.

In the survey of 97 head teachers in England, 65 per cent said recruitment was 'more difficult' than in past years, and ASCL warned the situation was set to worsen following the drop in graduate numbers caused by rising tuition fees, it claims.

ASCL also said an increasing number of secondary-age pupils was 'set to put pressures on the number of teachers needed' and the improvement in the economy would make it harder for schools to compete for talent as potential applicants would be lured into other fields.

The survey carried out follows a number of strike action protests held by teachers over pay and working conditions in recent years.

In July last year more than 100 schools across the Black Country closed their doors after teachers went on strike action over concerns of pay and working conditions.

Stuart Grant, division secretary for Wolverhampton National Union of Teachers – NUT– said: "Recruitment and retention of teaching positions is becoming a big problem locally as well as nationally.

"There are a number of reasons why we have taken strike action recently and one of them, the most important issue, is the teachers' excessive workload which on a national average is 60 hours per week.

"On a national basis two in every five teachers is leaving the profession within their first five years of teaching. This is an awful waste of public money which is being spent on training these teachers for them to be qualified only to leave.

"Another problem is that 20 per cent of the 60 hours per week is spent on data input and data analysis.

"We believe that time should be spent on preparing exciting and challenging lessons for children to enjoy.

"Unfortunately we are dealing with an increased amount of casework of teachers having to work these long hours, some teachers have to work longer than that.

"We are hearing stories that some teachers are not spending enough time with their own children because they are leaving for work first thing before their kids go to the school and returning home, having their tea and doing further work."

From next year a new type of baseline test for four and five-year-olds at the start of their school career in England will be introduced to test children's capabilities.

But it will allow an elite group of primary schools to opt out of the tests if they are confident of meeting tougher targets in later years.

And Mr Grant said the introduction of these tests was stopping teachers from getting creative in the classroom.

He said: "We all accept it is teachers' responsibility to mark work and be professional, nobody is disputing that, but what we are disputing is that the workload is excessive and some of that is test work which includes the process of ticking boxes.

"We all accept assessments are an important tool in working out where children are, everyone knows that, but baseline assessments are being brought in to test four-year-olds when they first go to school.

"When children are that young, going into school for the first time is daunting enough.

"What they don't want is, right from the word go, to experience teachers on a ticking-box exercise to see whether they can pull their arm over their head or not. And all of this is creating tick sheets for teachers to complete instead of concentrating on letting children enjoy school and getting involved with challenging activities."

Education secretary Nicky Morgan has vowed to listen to teachers and says work will be done to cover their workload problems.

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan

She said: "We want to tackle this problem so that all staff working in schools can focus on what matters most in their jobs, and so that they can continue to be passionate about giving pupils the best possible start in life.

"We have listened to what teachers have said to us, and we hope that this plan for action will start to address the complex issues which have led to unnecessary workload.

"There isn't a single answer to these problems and not everything can be achieved overnight, but we want the changes to be real, lasting, and genuinely make a difference to teachers and their pupils."

The question often asked is what needs to change to get teachers back to the classroom – Mr Grant said he felt many things needed to be done to get teachers back enjoying the job once again.

"What we need to do is to have a wider vision so there is far more time for teaching to be carried out rather than tests," he added.

"We also need to amend what we think is a fractured educational system and would like all schools to come back to local authority control. We also believe education should not be made for profit.

"We also need to look at the retirement age as teachers are now expected to work until they are 68.

"I can't see a situation where a 68-year-old PE teacher is going to hold a lesson with a bunch of Year 9 pupils. It is just not attractive anymore."

The ASCL labelled last year as the worst in living memory for teacher training recruitment.

Malcolm Trobe, of the ASCL

The body's deputy general secretary, Malcolm Trobe, said head teachers across the country had been describing the recruitment situation as 'ghastly', 'really difficult' and 'a disaster area'.

A seven per cent shortfall is predicted for September this year – the third such drop in a row.

The teaching shortage has led to teacher training agencies turning to foreign shores in a search for qualified teachers.

Supply teacher agencies are now turning to Canada, Australia and the Irish Republic in search of trained teachers.

And it is not just in traditionally difficult subject areas such as maths and physics that are feeling the pinch.

The shortages are being felt across the board.

The most recent Department for Education published statistics on its teacher training recruitment targets show 19,213 trainees have been recruited to courses for primary school teachers – a seven per cent shortfall.

For secondary schools, 91 per cent of the target or some 12,943 were recruited – a shortfall of 2,278 teacher trainees against the target for September.

Brian Lightman, ASCL General Secretary

ASCL General Secretary Brian Lightman said the current education system is not working and urged the next Government to take action right away.

He said: "We need the next government to ensure that schools and colleges can recruit and retain the highest calibre of staff.

"The existing teacher supply model does not work.

"Schools all over the country are experiencing unprecedented difficulties recruiting trainees, qualified teachers as well as middle and senior leaders.

"The next government must act urgently to ensure that effective processes are put in place to model numbers of teachers needed in each sector and region and then promote the status and value of teaching as a profession.

"Teaching remains a great job which continues to offer people a satisying, rewarding and fulfilling career.

"It is vital that the profession and government work together to emphasise this positive message.

"Teaching must be promoted as a high-status profession and a proposed Royal College of Teaching, to set standards and encourage professional learning, would help to do this."

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