Facts behind crisis that is hitting Bucks schools

SCHOOLS across Buckinghamshire are struggling to recruit new staff as demanding workloads, conditions and pay lead to more teachers leaving the profession.

Headteachers are having to re-advertise positions several times in an effort to fill vacancies because, they say, there is no longer a pool of applicants looking for jobs.

Fewer students are opting to join the profession for the same reasons existing teachers are leaving - and a large proportion of teachers in Buckinghamshire schools are over the age of 40.

A spokesman for the National Union of Teachers said: 'Nationally, two-thirds of teachers are over 40. That is building a huge problem for the future because when they retire we will not have sufficient teachers to replace them.'

The NUT said the vast majority of students are put off by the low starting salary given to newly qualified teachers, despite quick-fix Government bursaries to attract potential teachers.

In an effort to attract more people into the profession, Education and Employment Secretary David Blunkett recently announced £150-a-week training salaries for postgraduates entering teacher training.

The NUT spokesman said: 'The Government is going for quick-fix measures and isn't dealing with the problem.

'A newly qualified teacher's starting salary is £16,050 compared with an average of £18,000 for other professions. They are being paid £1,950 less for four years training than other graduates who study for three years, and that gap will get worse as time goes by.

'The salary is not in touch with other professions and the Government's quick-fix measures produce a quick burst of interest which isn't maintained.'

Clive Ricks, head of Great Marlow School, Marlow, said: 'We will be in dire straits if something isn't done. We had to abandon an AS law course because we were unable to fill the position.

'It has taken more time to recruit staff this year because of the lack of people around. Five years ago we would have a pool of ten to 15 applicants applying for the same job. We are now getting one or two applications.

'This may be due to starting salaries. We need an increase of 20 per cent across the board in salaries for people to go in to teaching. The average age of teachers in this industry is 45. In 15 years time, half the work force will go.'

Stephen Box, head of Holmer Green Upper School, High Wycombe, said: 'This year has been one of the most difficult for recruiting teachers in the ten years I have been in the profession as a deputy head and head. Not enough people at any level are coming in. Last year, two jobs were advertised nationally and locally and no one applied. We advertised again and again and on the third advert we recruited four people.'

The county council recently carried out research into the recruitment and retention of teachers in an effort to identify why they are leaving.

The research revealed that twice as many teachers have left High Wycombe schools as left Chiltern and South Bucks schools, although the districts are similar in size - 75 schools in each area.

The recruitment and retention project showed that a higher proportion of teachers who left were from secondary and special schools - 49per cent of Bucks teachers work in the secondary sector and sixper cent in special.

A staggering 65per cent of teachers who left were from secondary schools and 11per cent from special schools. Sixty-oneper cent had only been at their school for three years or less.

The research confirmed that 26per cent of those teachers left because of the work environment and workload.

It also revealed that 67per cent of leavers were aged between 40 and 59, and two-thirds of these were secondary school teachers.

David McGahey, county education director, said: 'We are working hard to attract people into the county from the initial teaching training courses. We are looking at how we can encourage people who were teachers but are no more, to come back into teaching.

'We are also developing training programmes to help learning support teachers to get qualified and looking at how schools can train their own teachers.'

Mr McGahey said the council was trying to recruit teachers from Ireland where there is a surplus and would consider employing teachers from abroad if the situation did not ease. Derek Morris, regional officer for the National Association of Headteachers, said: 'We have evidence that people are leaving the profession because they feel the demands are so great it is making them ill.

'The last ten years when I was a headteacher, it was a very different picture. The headteacher was given a small amount of money to buy books and resources.

'Now they are responsible for the school budget, managing staff, the curriculum and other matters relating to pupils. That is a phenomenal change.

'Headteachers are saying this last year was the most stressful year they can remember because of the introduction of the numeracy and literacy hours.

'They want things to be left alone and a real cut in the amount of bureaucracy.'

The NUT spokesman supported that view: 'The struggle to staff schools is taking its toll on both headteachers and classroom teachers. Heads are at the sharp end. They have to bear the brunt of finding people and living with the consequences of appointing people not of the desired calibre. They are unhappy for themselves and their staff.

'The extra stress on classroom teachers is leading to more shouting at children, more tiredness, headaches, absences and illnesses and ultimately to higher levels of resignation than there need be.'