Teachers leaving
“How can children today feel that sense of belonging if their teachers keep leaving?”
That’s what Bridget Phillipson asked in her CST speech this week.
Here’s how she answered her own question:
To achieve and thrive, children need stability, not churn.
And we’ve got to keep our amazing teachers in the classroom. I know that.
So we will end the sorry story of so many teachers leaving the classroom fed up and worn out.
Turning the tide, not just plugging the leaks.
Because the best recruitment strategy is a strong retention strategy.
We must make teaching a career that sparks pride, not resentment. Fulfilment, not burnout.
It once was, it can be again.
And it should be a career that women in their 30s don’t feel forced to leave.
Because, let’s be honest, they make up a huge share of the teachers leaving the classroom.
We need a change of approach.
I can’t imagine many would argue with much of that.
But the question is: how do you make it happen?
This week’s highlight from the We Are In Beta community explores one possible answer.
One of our research team - the brilliant Ellie Atack (Director of ITT & ECF) - has found 7 schools who are thinking deeply about flexible working and analysed what they do.
We - schools - Are In Beta - always learning (when we stop teachers leaving so we don’t have to recruit as many).
✍️ Flexible working: analysis of examples from 7 secondary schools.
Here’s why Ellie took on this project
To put it bluntly, recruiting and retaining teachers is tough, and getting tougher!
As a parent, balancing a manic toddler with the wild ride that is senior leadership, I was very intrigued to uncover the flex on offer across high performing MATs, schools and trusts. Building on this piece from International Women's Day 2023 on 60 successful schools embracing flexibility in their leadership teams.
Ok, so flexible working might be one way to stop teachers leaving. But first, it’s worth asking…
What are the different forms of flexible working in schools?
According to DFE flexible working guidance , which was mirrored in the school policies Ellie analysed, flexible working can take the following forms;
Part time - working less than full-time hours.
Job share - two or more people doing one job and splitting the hours.
Phased retirement - gradually reducing working hours and/or responsibilities to transition from full-time work to full-time retirement.
Staggered hours - different start, finish and break times.
Compressed hours - working full-time hours but over fewer days.
Annualised hours - working hours spread across the year.
Personal or family days - days of authorised leave during term time.
Lieu time - paid time off work for having worked additional hours.
Home or remote working - working off site.
Why do schools have a flexible working policy?
In the 7 policies she read, all of the schools were keen to highlight the purpose of their approach to flexible working.
Often these gave a strong sense of a school culture where staff were respected and cared for.
Key themes included:
balancing domestic family and working commitments - 5 of the 7 schools recognised the challenges of doing so
raise staff morale and increase loyalty, commitment and attendance - 6 of the 7 schools recognised that flexible working could help.
support work and leisure or education interests too (not just caring) - 2 of the 7 schools recognised that flexible working was not just for caring responsibilities
managing work life balance improves employee motivation, performance and productivity - 4 of the 7 schools recognised this
🔎 4 flexible working policy observations.
The full project shares 50+ observations from the 7 policies looked at.
Here are four that might get you thinking about what your school does:
📜 Policies in place - 7 schools out of the wider list of 128 looked had a flexible working policy
🪧Definition - all 7 policies defined what they meant by flexible working
🏫 Balancing needs - 4 polices stipulated that flexible working requests will be considered alongside the needs and objectives of the school/ MAT.
🧪Trialing - 1 policy make provision for trialing new flexible working arrangements
To read about the other 47 observations and learn about the specifics how these schools support flexible working….
Want us to research policies and practices for you?
Reply to this email to tell us what policy you’re writing and we’ll do a lot of the leg work for you.
Want do research like this with us?
Join our research team here, especially if you are interest in MAT level practice - we have some new projects live.
🗒️ 7 careers case studies.
You don’t have the time to read all the resources, so we’ve done it for you.
We’ve found the most practical bits and organised them into case studies about areas such as:
eligibility for flexible working
making requests
holding meetings
considering, approving and rejecting requests
appealing requests
If you want to read more about how they codify these strategies, and you are a paying member of the community, you can read them here.
Case studies are a members only resource.
Not a member of Pastoral Champions? Get a trial here.
Not a member of Curriculum Thinkers? Get a trial here.
Not joined Trust Education Leaders yet? Register your interest here.
On a personal note.
The statistics about teachers leaving the profession make for grim reading.
It’s not lost on me that I am - regrettably - part of those statistics.
One of the reasons I ended up leaving and setting up We Are In Beta was that my school suffered from teachers leaving and then struggling to recruit.
The pressure it put on staff and leaders was enormous.
The inflexibility of the timetable was an obvious barrier.
But perhaps there was a less obvious one?
Perhaps a lack of conversation around (or even awareness of) flexible working was it?
Having benefited from both working flexibly in schools (later in my career) and hiring staff flexibly at We Are In Beta, I often wonder if it might have helped back then.
Why am I telling you this?
I’m determined to be part of the solution - commissioning this is one way
I believe sharing experiences can help us understand the statistics
What’s your experience?
As always, I’d love to hear from you. Just reply to this email.
Thanks for reading.
@NiallAlcock and the We Are In Beta team
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