UK schools facing a significant TEACHER RETENTION crisis

'Parents, schools, pupils, come on let's pull it together because if we don't what is the future going to look like?'
Head teacher at LVS in Ascot, Christine Cunniffe reacts to a Think Tank report that suggests pupils should sign behaviour contracts.
#headteacher #thinktank #school #ukschools #gbnews
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[@EveLovesChristJesus]

No surprise! The level of toxicity amongst staff is a huge reason for why so many leaving in their droves

[@lovelylocolad]

Yes, I thought it was the children but it's actually the faculty that's worse. Kids have no consequences because staff don't follow through.

[@tayachting6345]

One of the major reasons left.

[@TheBigThinker944]

No it ain't. It's the poor behaviour

[@tayachting6345]

@@TheBigThinker944 that AND the toxicity among staff.

[@slingertennischronicles]

'UK schools facing a significant TEACHER RETENTION crisis.' Nothing whatsoever to do with discipline. Nothing whatsoever to do with pay. This headteacher is here only to read from her carefully choreographed script. Maybe the government should consider how they have coerced teachers to take part in a grotesque social experiment with the threat of the sack for any teacher who does not comply?

[@slingertennischronicles]

The headteacher herself has been coerced. She is simply too scared to talk about the real issues because if she does she'll find herself on the dole next week.

[@citizenA-Z]

that’s just not true. my aunts been a teacher for 20years there’s many reasons she’s thinking of leaving but one is certainly resource access with dissolute the cuts have mean there is nowhere to send the kids to when they acting out like isolation secondary school

[@StephenJHolloway]

Parents are the people who need to step up and discipline their kids. The current generation of kids belong to my generation of girls who got knocked up when they were 16 and they haven't raised their kids properly. kids these days are a mess. Far worse than we ever were back then.

[@KINGSOMALIA]

I wish parents actually done their job properly. Rather than leaving everything to teachers.

[@shawnli4746]

Fewer teachers, less education, dumber population, all according to plan innit

[@EveLovesChristJesus]

The best education is after leaving the school system

[@user-bi8ko7kc6h]

@@EveLovesChristJesusDepends, not when the parents are low educated or both working in full time and have to leave the kid at home all day and do nothing.

[@Sir_Gerald_Nosehairs.]

Have always had a vague bit of sympathy for teachers, they have less disciplinary powers than a bus driver; the latter can refuse to ever drive you again with the full support of the company he works for. Teachers are expected by many Heads to work with the little shits and their gobby parents and develop an "action plan" as if they were the ones in the wrong. We don't expect GPs or the like to put up with ill-behaved children, I don't see why we expect it of teachers. But how does this square with schools closing due to lack of pupils?

[@jackhadroom4540]

We've been having this conversation for at least twenty years; I doubt anything will be done.

[@joycegibbs5267]

of course they will. This far left, gender madness and fear of saying the wrong thing is not worth anyone's time and effort.

[@ne-ht4zx]

🤣🤣

[@notakobold5792]

The main issues are significant overwork, poor pay and lack of career growth. The poor behaviour, which has worsened since lockdown, also is a discouragement, imagine you went into work and had a meeting, and people started ignoring or verbally abusing you, that’s what teachers deal with sometimes, and can be a factor especially if its bad.

[@Beauweir]

No it's not 'the far left'. Have you ever worked in teaching? Far left communist countries are ridiculously abusive to children and have always demanded compliance and discipline. Do you think Soviet Russia or CCP tolerate unruly children? Far left. For Pete's sake.

[@TheBigThinker944]

​@@notakobold5792I agree but poor behaviour tops the list in the top 3

[@GlycerineOxide]

as a teacher myself this statement is bullshit.

[@user-bi8ko7kc6h]

Children receive financial rewards for being a good kid at school? 😂😂😂😂😂 When I was a kid, teachers were allowed to punish students e.g kick them out of class, keep them at school for extra hours, call the parents etc. Now, you can’t even shout at them, if you called them using the wrong pronouns you lose your job.

[@paulwild4330]

Who wants to be a teacher anymore. The kids are animals. The system is toxic and the hierarchy abusive all the way to the top of the education ministry. Home school is a really serious option

[@lumpyfishgravy]

"Things are getting worse." "Let's call a meeting and make more rules." Definition of madness.

[@TheBigThinker944]

If the last set of rules don't work and we can't even hire people.... what you think they should do?

[@TheBigThinker944]

If the last set of rules don't work and we can't even hire people.... what you think they should do?

[@TheBigThinker944]

If the last set of rules don't work and we can't even hire people.... what you think they should do?

[@paulcavanagh9370]

Try reverting to teaching and not political WOKE indoctrination, you may then retain some of the older generation of those who just want to teach.

[@greenstar2108]

The gender thing (or whatever it is now) is not really an issue, that's more of a storm in a teacup thing that gets hyped up on the web (even if teachers were interested in indoctrinating pupils, there isn't time to do it, as most struggle to just get through the week in many schools). The real issues arise from poor parenting (many kids well into secondary school have single-digit reading ages), a lack of subject specialists (e.g. we have PE teachers and other subjects teaching maths, because mathematicians are proving impossible to recruit), excessive unnecessary workload being part of the culture of the profession (1 in 4 teachers in London does in excess of 60 hours a week, despite being in class for less than 25, and only being paid for about 35), and leadership weaknesses regarding bad behaviour. A knock on effect is that there are less really experienced teachers to mentor the newer ones, so the job is even harder for those joining. This makes the situation unsustainable.

[@Pippa87]

And what when the older generation die? How will you entice and keep the new generation?

[@TheBigThinker944]

The funny thing is YOUR kids specifically are the WORST behaved. Bc u feed them this lie and it's boring. That don't happen and if that's what u think pls just keep yourself away from the schools they got enough going on

[@YorkshireTeaNBiccies]

It’s behaviour and workload.

[@baltukur3368]

Distributive pupils must be removed from class let others learn put them all in a separate class this is the solution

[@susanparkauntiesuze5447]

Too much pointless record keeping, that no one actually reads and too cumbersome to be of any use, taking so much time and effort, just to present to OFSTED when they turn up.

[@EnjoySynthSounds]

The 'let teachers teach' ideal, has been lost in a myriad of box ticking, form filling, inclusivity driven shenanigans. Oh well, never mind. They'll learn the hard way.

[@roathripper]

i would never send my kids to a state school

[@adi91216]

Some private schools are worse - entitled kids, rich parents who don't care and blame teachers for everything. Schools make their own rules. It's a nightmare. Speaking from experience. Obviously not all private schools, but they aren't any better.

[@roathripper]

@@adi91216 oh god! i just want the best for my kids. it's hard to know what to do for the best. you hear stories etc.

[@Beauweir]

The way I see it is, we used to have corporal punishment in this country. Children were hit when they talked back. We also had 2 world wars so people understood about pulling together to achieve common goals and punishment for stepping out of line. Over the years, the corporal punishment stopped but the generation that received it (boomers) were raising the generation that didn't and they had been raised by the silent generation who had been in the wars, so the boomers and silent gen passed down the discipline to gen x and millennial kids. However, millennials had a financial crisis meaning they had to keep up with working all hours to afford to raise their kids and were too exhausted to pay attention to discipline just leaving them to their own devices online. So the levels of discipline have been watered down over the years and the attention of parents have also been watered down leading to this unruly generation of kids now. I think in the future, it will be a stark difference between overworked parents and their unruly kids and well off upper middle and upper class parents who can afford decent childcare and extra tuition who will have well behaved, much more successful offspring. I say this as someone who has taught and seen the barriers to learning and someone who attended a grammar school with extra tuition in an upper middle class household.

[@antonymarjeram576]

Possibly teachers telling kids there not gender neutral and shouldn't identify as a cat and the school firing them might contribute to staff leaving

[@greenstar2108]

Teacher's don't get fired for that. More generally the gender thing is not really an issue, that's more of a storm in a teacup thing that gets hyped up on the web. The real issues arise from poor parenting (many kids well into secondary school have single-digit reading ages), a lack of subject specialists (e.g. we have PE teachers and other subjects teaching maths, because mathematicians are proving impossible to recruit), excessive unnecessary workload being part of the culture of the profession (1 in 4 teachers in London does in excess of 60 hours a week, despite being in class for less than 25, and only being paid for about 35), and leadership weaknesses regarding bad behaviour.

[@TheBigThinker944]

Mate let it go that's not real. Just chalk it up and move on bc violent kids causing staff to leave is real and the longer u live in fantasy land the worse it gets

[@stephfoxwell4620]

A relative 30% pay cut since 2011, excessive wome bureaucracy and the atrocious behaviour since the Pandemic are the push factors .

[@tashaclaire7258]

Because they want a nation of workers... not thinkers...

[@conorseery9664]

Unfortunately it's not an easy situation to solve. 1. Inclusion introduced by labour hasn't worked, having so many kids with special education needs kept in the mainstream system where schools simply don't have the resources to cope or adequately deal with these kids ruining lessons all day every day for everyone. 2.Austerity cuts by the Tories has led to families growing up in poverty and not able to adequately raise kids and schools and subsequently teachers are filling gaps by taking on more social responsibility which they aren't trained or have the resources to do. 3. What is the point of education, keeping kids in school until the age of 18 who aren't interested or equipped to do A-Levels is a drain, we need more apprenticeships and ability to enter the workforce at 16. 4. OFSTED, tedious national curriculum 5. Red tape, paperwork, endless marking, if i want to spend an hour entering data into excel id rather sit in an office and not get stuff thrown at me. 6. Pay

[@captainbuggernut9565]

I'd say its young teachers whose expectations are far in excess of the reality. The grind and paperwork is simply not worth the money. For older teachers it's the endless additional bureaucracy that makes them call it a day. Zero tolerance might work in prison but it doesn't in schools. Career progression is non existent as well. Pupil behaviour isn't much different to when I was at school (long time ago).

[@KINGSOMALIA]

You're correct for the most part but there is ALOT of career progression in teaching secondary (I'm not so sure about primary schools).

[@lyannmartin821]

When the uk government took the rights of parents to discipline their children that was the beginning of the unrulinesses. A mothers go through 40 weeks of pregnancy to give back to her children, feed them, cloth them, take care of them spending their hard earned money but they are not allowed to discipline them and the government tell them they cannot smack that children or even shout at them. Does the government love these children more than the parents who gave birth to these children? Why are newly planted trees ring fenced? Ring fencing a tree in a certain way direct that tree to grow straight up to certain height before it branches start spreading out so that they do not become a disruption to their environment. The government is solely responsible for raising these unruly children. Until the parents are giving the rights to discipline their children or even smack them they will continue to breed unruly and violent children. I was smacked by teachers it did not kill me neither did my parents kill me. What that did to me was to grow up to become a decent and law abiding citizen of society who values and respect others. Even neighbours could discipline us when found in a place where we have no business been there or hanging out with other children. You start running before they get to you. If caught they will smack you and come and report the matter to your parents and they too will discipline you. Tying the hands of parent behind their back and then expect that parent to do their job effectively is hypocritically naive on all fronts from government, to police, to teachers and society. The blame lies with the government and not the parents. The children are been bombarded about their rights so they’re not afraid of their parents nor are they afraid of their teachers or society.

[@johncatto5019]

Discipline at home, discipline at school. I wouldn't be a teacher for any money.

[@philarthur2777]

The removal of OFSTED, and the return of the HMI, would do wonders for teacher retention.

[@honeydate]

It's the mental workload and bullying Headteachers. Poor behaviour has zero consequences and less in the budget means staff are stretched until bursting point.

[@guidofeliz8384]

I love numbers and yearned to be a high school math teacher but school officials, particularly the DOE, discouraged me as much as they could (without making it look so obvious) from chasing my dream. I also recall CUNY guidance counselors discouraging me from pursuing my academic objectives. This was all done in an effort to keep certain minorities from reaching success and job security. The New York City DOE is the definition of toxicity. So, I did others things with my life. Now at 59 years old with three (not boasting) college degrees, I find myself working as a security guard making peanuts for a living in a dead-end job with no pension, no benefits, a simple but confusing 401k (knowledge of the stock market is needed), and the list goes on and on. How about that for a story? P. S. I also worked as a substitute teacher for 8 years in NYC public schools. The worst 8 years of my life.

[@CeciliaSalinas-om4br]

I'm sorry for all you've been through. I'm a teacher in Perú. Compared to all I'm reading here, my students are angels!

[@malcolmabram2957]

I used to be a teacher (science) and witnessed the decline in the job from one which was enjoyable to complete stress. Issues: 1. No longer able to deal with recalcitrant students who disrupt lessons. 2. Having to stick to ever tighter national curriculum. 3. Ofsted, who only make negative feedback on a lesson. I was inspected on one of my lessons, which was success with pupils, (rockets), but was slammed for going out of the curriculum too much and insufficient detail in plenary. Never replied to their replied, couldn't be bothered, zero respect. 4. Far too much red tape, which grew year by year, so much so, it was becoming 2 jobs. Forget the marking and lesson prep 2nd priority, which I did prioritise, but would upset people as I neglected the red tape. 5. Woke issues 6. Pay. Yes I had long holidays, but much of this was recovering from very long hours during term time, not to mention catching up with lesson preparation for the following year. Left for a much better paid job, and much less stress. Missed the way it once was.

[@militarymodellerpaul5932]

It,s because they don’t get to teach normally and gender is more important then basic subjects.

[@discombobulate12]

Naughty children? Naughty teachers more like, try teaching the children the curriculum, instead of the gender crap, complete with inappropriate pictures! No wonder they are screwed up!!!!!

[@indradass7220]

Better to pay them to go elsewhere.

[@CarlitoGio]

I predicted this way back when I was a secondary school kid. Seeing my classmates pregnant left right and centre meant that children were having children and not being mature enough to raise a kid and now we have this endemic.

[@tariqkhader6196]

I'd happily become a Secondary School MFL Teacher. I can't and won't pay for it.

[@spikefunakoshi5667]

Ex-teacher here. Bad behaviour is at the heart of all of this. Reintroduce the cane or other forms of corporal punishment and watch how things improve. A school leaver's certificate based on attitude, character and so on would also help. Bad behaviour = no certificate. No certificate means no state financial support for five years after they leave school. Self-interest is always a powerful motivator.

[@amichaelthomas83]

Behaviour is much worse than it used to be. The only job (not even profession) where you are subjected to routine abuse from students, parents and sometimes management. You don't get to set up your own ship in schoola, if you challenge the little darlings you very rarely get supported from the management who have left those at the chalkface behind.

[@roathripper]

stop dumping on parents!!!!!!

[@roops2939]

From disaster to tragedy.

[@baltukur3368]

Uk has the worst education system in Europe with 40 student per class. The teacher wont even know the names 😂😂😂😂

[@baltukur3368]

@@greenstar2108 depends on the location local council mass immigration has contributed to this work it out where are the immigrants children go to school there is not enough resources and schools the government has not build enough schools

[@greenstar2108]

@@baltukur3368 - I've always worked in London where the ethnic diversity is larger than most other areas, so if it is not happening there, it probably isn't a general issue. The average secondary school class size according to the 2021 statistics was 22 or 23 in England. Primary schools were slightly higher at 26 or 27. 40 is not typical or anywhere near. Regards

[@DCFCCJG]

30 kids per class

[@misslink783]

30 kids per class, I know all my kids names.

[@garymitchell5899]

There's obviously no confidentiality issues from low-level discipline problems from anonymous children 30 years ago.

[@77fox524]

I quit in January having worked in education since 1996. Just tired of all the bollocks. Every year the 'to do' list gets ever extended and the financial 'reward' became increasingly insulting. It was making me ill. I am lucky. I am old enough to take a low paid job just to keep the cobwebs at bay. In truth, I feel about twenty years younger since quitting teaching. I may go back... never say never. But, it would take a radical change in attitude amongst the political leadership of this crumbling nation.

[@77fox524]

@@eightiesmusic1984 I hope the break will do you good. I have already started to receive calls from agencies for September. My advice would be to not ever take a contractual post again, just enjoy being a very decent supply for a while. It's the politics of institutions that grinds you down. Go in, be brilliant, go home. No meetings, no distraction, just teach. Good luck!

[@77fox524]

@@eightiesmusic1984 All the very best. You'll smash it!

[@77fox524]

@@eightiesmusic1984 Just a heads up. If you do go down the Supply route, they will ask you what your daily rate is. For someone with your experience, you should expect at least £200 per day. As someone who has always been salaried, this caused me a degree of confusion. I have worked it out now. I hope this helps.

[@77fox524]

@@eightiesmusic1984 For anyone reading this thread. Most agencies operate PAYE basis. You would probably have to request to be left off this system and become, essentially, self-employed. Agencies will ask you what your daily rate is. This is confusing but, essentially, you need to allow for the holidays that will be unpaid. So, an experienced teacher who might expect a £45k salary should divide £45k by 52. Which comes out at about £865 per week. Given that you risk periods of unemployment you might want to top this up a bit to allow for this. Hence a figure of between £200-£220 per day might be achievable. Some schools and colleges might try to attract you in by agreeing a daily rate, and then they determine that they will only pay contact hours. These are rare, but they do exist. In such cases, you are not required to prep or mark anything. You can negotiate a separate contract if they wish you to fulfil these tasks. Hope this helps. Good luck everyone. New term. New journeys to propel. All good.

[@albertoginelsalvador2172]

Stem burnout teacher here! 👋

[@lauren9004]

What a broken society

[@McRocking]

My school had zero tolerance. They also had the cane. It worked!

[@scaryjoker]

Its culture. British culture to be exact. British people just arent taught to respect their teachers. In other countries, children are expected to treat their teachers as their parents and never disrespect them and it works.

[@horsemanoftheapocalapse5837]

Crowd control more like. Also new teachers not supported by staff that are already at the school. Its all about the students And do they like you. It should be about respect and what can we learn.

[@missy4335]

Maybe there needs to be something new. Maybe schooling hours should be cut. For example maybe kids should attend 3 times a week and maximum 15 children per class. It's stressful for both childern and teachers. There's alot of technology out there where children are learning a lot more, therefore children are becoming more bored at school. There's always ways for things to get better. We are all living in a modern day society where there has been so much change but the system is still holding on to the centeries upon centeried old ways of teaching and this could be the problem.

[@ianmangham4570]

Toxic environment 😮

[@TheNationalWellnessOrg]

The whole school system need a full revamp.

[@HunkumSpunkum]

'"Yeah, a little bit of talking here and there" Hmmm, yeah.......low level disruption could just have a bit more to it than that 😆

[@citizenA-Z]

cuts mean it’s harder for teachers to deal with bad behaviour , like having an exclusion zone with boring work they can send disruptive kids (that was cut 7years ago so have nowhere to send them). Also teachers are not often respected by their managers, pushed to do overtime and treated like they are extensible.

[@stewartkarol757]

Kids are assholes. Spare the rod .. spoil the child. The parents are just as bad too.

[@abbyc.4215]

The solution is to send consistent unruly students to alternative settings at the parent's expense. Only then will they actually begin to discipline their children.

[@helenadoherty5763]

Class sizes.

[@citizenA-Z]

i think paying kids to be good is not a bad idea honestly, the parents will push them to behave for the money. if that’s cheaper than other forms of investment in behaviour

[@nuhabashir1672]

That's wrong. Why u gonna do that

[@peteredan7352]

Spare the rod.

[@ayeshapyesha7301]

Is she DELUDED???? love from: a teacher.

[@mike-xt7qi]

Those who can’t teach.

[@amps830]

These comments are ludicrous! The entire state educational system is inherently flawed, skewed and biased towards targets. The curriculum is far too complex and pressured. The teacher training model is still deeply tied to the 1950’s behavioural model. This is why the institutional and cultural discrimination towards SEN children and neurotypical children is not working. Implementation of policies supposedly in alignment with law is failing. This rubbish about parents must do better and feeling sorry for teachers is absolute garbage. Teachers are remunerated very generously. They choose their career freely. The reason it is ‘too hard’ for them is largely because they don’t have the right mindset about the job. They are there to lead by example and nurture and protect children. Most have a colossal ego and the misapprehension of being omnipotent. Do as I say, not do as I do. How about treating children as people to start? Respect is a two way street, you realise. Teaching is not just a wage, it’s our childrens future. Get your head out of your backside and take a look in the mirror. Stop crushing our children’s spirits because you find it ‘too hard’ to do the job you chose. Cretins.

[@marcushart3360]

Teacher rectal tension shortages more like.😂

[@aziza000]

Lol I wanted to be a teacher, not anymore I guess.

[@paulgibbons2320]

They will need to speak 27 languages soon.

[@ne-ht4zx]

I wonder if paying them properly might help?

[@NPC--666]

Already overpaid. Its because they are so left wing its toxic beyond belief

[@S-North]

They are already paid handsomely. So no.

[@ancietman]

I live near a primary school,there are always 2 or 3 teachers cars in yard. These cars are not old bangers they nearly new some are 4x4s. My point I'm sure they want more money ( don't we all ) but I doubt many are using foodbanks like we keep getting told by the MSM.

[@xxxmaysilssss690]

@@S-Northnot for the amount of work they do. So no. They don’t get paid enough.

[@S-North]

@@xxxmaysilssss690 They work 46 hours a week. That's around the national average, though I personally don't know anyone who works less than 50 these days. Teachers are paid well for the hours they do.

[@kevindunn1758]

We are only teaching the 3rd world, so no worries