TTR0040

Written evidence submitted by Goldsmiths, University of London

Introduction to Goldsmiths, University of London

The university is based within Southeast London in the London Borough of Lewisham. We have been involved in training teachers for over 110 years. We currently offer Primary and Secondary PGCEs including school direct. Our partnership of 300+ schools spans London and parts of Essex and Kent many of which are situated in areas of social deprivation as per the index of multiple deprivation. 

Reason for submitting

We are submitting this response due to our involvement in ITT. Collectively the authors of this response have over 35 years’ experience working in ITT, and we are very concerned about the pattern of under-recruitment that has been happening. We remain worried about the short length of times early career teachers are staying in the profession.

Summary

This response has been informed by some of our partnership schools. We shared the relevant questions with them and have used some of their views as part of this. This response includes direct quotes from senior leaders and teachers from our partnership across London. We have italicised their words and put them in speech marks.

The current situation regarding teacher recruitment and retention

Main factors leading to difficulties recruiting and retaining qualified teachers

Senior leaders in our partnership schools identified the following factors:

Salary

A number of issues around salary levels were identified as contributing to difficulty in recruiting teachers.

“Staff do not want to join the profession due to low pay in comparison to equivalent graduate professions”.

         Poor pay levels, with stagnant wage increases in comparison to other professionals.

         Salary increases that do not match the rise in the cost of living, particularly in London. The salary levels mean that teachers in London cannot afford suitable accommodation, particularly if the teachers have young families.

         Salaries that do not reflect the hours required of teaching.

Workload, work/life balance

“Workload - too much is expected outside of working hours and staff leave to seek better pay and conditions elsewhere”.

• Post Covid, teaching rarely offers the flexible working opportunities seen in many other professions, which is making teaching much less attractive. One school noted they had lost 3 experienced teachers to other professions due to this factor.
• The perception of extensive workload acts a deterrent for potential teachers.
  The stress of teaching was identified as a factor affecting retention
• Excessive paperwork and planning which require teachers to work beyond their contractual hours.
• Increased workload, particularly for more senior staff due to lack of teachers.
• Greater expectations on teachers to take on pastoral support of pupils due to a ‘mental health crisis among young people’. A societal expectation that schools can fix issues such as mental health, gang and knife crime, obesity, global warming etc
• Requirement to deliver content-heavy curricula.

The impact of Ofsted inspections –a system focused on assessment and attainment

The stress of teaching was identified as a factor affecting retention, particularly inspections and accountability.

“Judgmental and non-supportive accountability measures – Ofsted”

• High stakes Ofsted inspections with the pressure felt in schools by staff.
• The severe scrutiny of teachers, especially by Ofsted, and a heavy testing regime

Public perception of teaching / presentation of teaching in the media

A number of the senior teachers identified this as a barrier to recruitment, feeling that the status of teaching as a profession has been diminished.

“Everyone knows teachers are undervalued and this is a barrier to attracting the right candidates into the profession”.

• Media portray teaching negatively.
• Senior teachers identified negativity from government, with the current government perceived as ‘undermining teachers' profession’
• Everyone knows teachers are undervalued and this is a barrier to attracting the right candidates into the profession
• The higher status/recognition of other sectors

Subjects affected

Most subjects are impacted for different reasons. Below is a list of the subjects that were raised by our Partnership schools:

• English
• Maths
• Science - Physics, Chemistry and Biology 
• Modern Languages and Latin
• Computer Science
• Design & Technology- food technology, technology 
• Geography
• History
• Music
• Religious Studies
• Business Studies

Impact on pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND

Some schools reported that they did not consider particular groups of pupils have been impacted by teacher shortages. One school felt that the school leadership worked tirelessly to sure that pupils were not affected. Another school also felt that the use of supply teachers was effective in protecting this group. However, this school also noted that “the quality of our most recent appointments in terms of dedication and academic skills is disappointing”.

Most of the schools reported that they felt the teacher shortage did have an impact on disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND Many school leaders felt that the reduced resourcing for schools had a considerable impact. Pupils are not supported as well as they previously were, and it was felt that pupils’ needs were not being met. Cuts to budgets have led to a lack of LSAs to support pupils with EHCP. Teaching assistants were being taking away from whole class support to cover 1:1 support.

A lack of available staff and high absence levels means that pupils have inconsistency in their day-to-day experience. The lack of teachers has also impacted on particular groups of pupils in a number of ways. Too many classes are covered by supply teachers which can create a lack of consistency that is unsettling for all pupils but particularly those with SEND. A lack of teachers leads to non-specialists are covering lessons. This means that lessons can be formulaic and less creative which does not suit all pupils. Non-specialists may not have the passion or enthusiasm for the subject.

“We have lots of classes taught by unqualified staff - fully or partially. Many SEND students then are a) not given the appropriate support because they are not really know to staff and because staff are not trained in this b) this creates a knock-on effect with poor behaviour for learning/feeling safe as they go from one poor quality lesson to another without consistency of staff”.

Suggested Action The DfE can take

to address the challenges in teacher recruitment and retention

We believe that more funding needs to be made available to schools so that mentors can carry out their role. There needs to be freedoms around about the hours of training that the ITT Market Review has mandated along with the ECF training teachers who carry out these roles are exhausted. There is a real danger that schools will no longer take trainee teachers or employ ECTs because of time and because of the costs of release time for ECTs over 2 years. 

Funding was raised by school staff.

• Review how PGCEs are funded. Some partner schools felt that they should be offered for free e.g., ‘pay off student loans (10% for every year teaching in a state school)’

         Incentivise teachers to stay in the profession e.g., 

o        ‘Offer free PGCE (no tuition fees), bursaries for all subjects, London pay more competitive, pay experienced teachers for retention instead of increasing starting salaries’

o        Offer golden hellos for all age phases and in all subjects by rewarding teachers who stay in the profession

o        Offer to pay off the tuition fee loan and any interest, if a teacher stays working in the state sector for at least five years. One school suggested the following: ‘offer a bonus to teachers who have stayed in the profession for over 10 years and then 20 years (as in Switzerland)’

o        Offer Government incentives for being a school employee - reduced council tax, healthcare support, other taxes reduced. Bolster community services like mental health so that it doesn't all fall to schools.

         Salary is another issue that was raised by partnership schools

• ‘Improve the workforce quality by improving pay’
• ‘Increase pay for Early Career Teachers’.
• ‘Use experience level and experience to determine salaries’.

Many of the school leaders felt that it was important to ‘Promote a positive rhetoric around schools and education - a change of mindset will take years but is necessary to change the quality of ITT candidates and ultimately the quality of education’. They want to be listened to and consulted.

         Workload 

• Our student teachers have expressed concerns about the workload that they have witnessed that their class teachers and mentors must engage in. They want a better work life balance. One teacher suggested the following: ‘Carry out a review of the actual time that it takes to mark, assess and prepare for lessons to a high standard and give teachers the time to do the work in allocated time. In my opinion, the allocated PPA time is not enough.
• Flexible working has become the norm across many other organisations, but schools do not seem to offer this when there is a desire for this by several teachers. There is a desire by schools for ministers to work with them ‘to address the issues of workload management at all levels of the profession’.
• ‘Remove significant workload issues (performance-related pay, data gathering, support for SEND admin and teaching, parental contact support).’

         ‘Reconsider the role of Ofsted and look at alternative approaches such as the role of school improvement partners and local authorities to maintain and raise school standards in a supportive and constructive way.’ The current way it is implemented in schools and for ITT inspections is a a big stressor for all involved.

         ‘Change the current model of inspections and grading system - this will make a huge difference according to feedback I get from my staff and other schools.’

         Provide funding to schools which allows smaller class sizes, appropriate levels of support staff to assist with high-need students including those with significant mental health issues.

Impact of the new bursaries and scholarships announced in October

There has been an increase in the number of applications from overseas- some have been suitable, many are not. We are getting applicants applying for bursary funded subjects who are wholly unsuitable in some cases. Recruitment to MFL has picked up but it has not had an impact on shortage subjects such as maths and science.

Challenges that exist in teacher recruitment, training and retention for teachers from different demographic backgrounds

Our partnership staff present a varied picture of the demographic make up of the staff in their schools

         Some feel well, reasonably well (‘but we should be more diverse if we had the candidates’) or quite well (this was the minority response)

‘In Newham we are very conscious of this and work to ensure the workforce reflects the pupils in the school. However, this is not common elsewhere, in my experience particularly outside of London’.

         A vast majority feel that their school do not do so:

• ‘It is still heavily dominated by white British at top senior levels. Black males lack representation across the board’
• ‘There is definitely a disparity in the demographics of the staff body compared to students, although our staff body is diverse and is becoming more diverse. The area is also a factor as teachers will not necessarily travel far for work.’
• ‘Our student population is very diverse but despite all efforts, our teaching workforce is lacking very much in diversity. Our support staff function, by contrast, is much more diverse’
• `There are fewer Black African heritage and BCRB heritage teachers and fewer from working class backgrounds’
• ‘Poorly - from my own school experience which is very mixed ethnically but dominated by white middle class teachers.’
• ‘Not well - in my experience a school roll with a majority of students from minority backgrounds will be taught by teachers from majority backgrounds.’
• ‘At senior levels overall this is poor.’

Some schools have made concerted efforts to address the disparity in lack of diversity in the workforce e.g.,

         ‘Not very well at all. There is a distinct lack of representation. We have tried to address this in our school through job adverts and where we advertise.’

         ‘It has got better through us 'growing our own' - training LSAs/Cover Supervisors to be teachers.’

As an ITT provider we recruit above the sector in terms of students from a black and global majority (BAGM) and we have found that the students have noticed the lack of diversity. This at times has made some feel less confident and maybe less able to thrive as well as they would wish to do so. The ITT sector has developed an antiracist framework to address how schools can make their environments are more welcoming space for students from a BAGM.

The ethos of schools can act as a barrier e.g., ‘schools operate with an ethos and style of behaviour management that reflect a particular cultural origin, alienating some teachers from minority backgrounds’.

‘Role models for a wide range of demographic ensures students feel reflected and valued’.

The current teacher training framework work to prepare new teachers

and how could it be improved

Some of the school leaders were very positive about the current teacher training framework, they felt it worked well and that the CCF is comprehensive. However, school leaders did raise concerns about the impact on teachers’ (mentors’) time to support new and training teachers:

“the onus/workload is placed on the mentors and class teachers in schools who are already at breaking       point”

“ITT cannot fully prepare someone for a job that is endless - a job that has no start or finish time, with ever growing expectation without anything being taken away, a job with little to no flexibility (holidays are not what the new generations want it is flexible working)”

Suggestions for improvements included:

• Making the framework more bespoke to schools.
• Funding for schools to incentivise the use of more experienced staff.
• Higher expectations in English and maths - improve expectations of subject knowledge at entry point and throughout the course.
• Increase opportunities to go through salaried routes in teacher training.
• Provide grants for mature students to become teachers.
• Sustain it over a longer period.
• Reduce the paperwork, especially for the mentors and include more practical activities
• Include more about professionalism - hours, expectations, how to apply for jobs, not backing out once accepted etc.
• Include more about workload expectations - so they come in with a realistic view of how hard the job is.
• Reduce the specificity it needs to be more focused on subject knowledge and workload.
• There could be more focus on research and observation of other teachers.

Impact of the Early Career Framework which was implemented in September 2021

School leaders recognised that the content of the ECF was useful, that it supported key areas of pedagogy and a longer induction period was useful. However, overwhelmingly school leaders felt that the ECF has created more work for schools. It has increased workload for mentors and ECTs and has created a squeeze on school budgets due to the specificity around mentoring hours, training and the additional non contact time (the move from one year induction to two years). As an ITT provider this has impacted on the offer of school placements due to schools not having enough mentors and the job offers to our PGCE students- they are seen as a burden not a positive addition to the workload (financially).

April 2023

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Goldsmiths, University of London