There is a national issue with regards to the recruitment and retention of teachers across all sectors. This is acknowledged by all teaching unions, professional bodies and schools. In May 2016, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee criticised the DfE's attempts to recruit teachers and stated in a report that the Department had no plan for how to meet its ITT recruitment targets and did not understand ”the difficult reality that many schools face in recruiting teachers”.

Bradford has been the first local authority to commission a designated post to address these concerns at a district level. This model has now been replicated in other authorities such as Walsall and Lincolnshire.

The report of the Director of Children’s Services (Document “AC”) will explain how the Recruitment & Retention Strategy Manager is addressing the key issues, progress to date and next steps.

Recommended –

That the report be noted.

                                                                                    (Judith Kirk – 01274 439255)

There was a national issue with regards to the recruitment and retention of teachers across all sectors. This was acknowledged by all teaching unions, professional bodies and schools. In May 2016, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee criticised the DfE's attempts to recruit teachers and stated in a report that the Department had no plan for how to meet its ITT recruitment targets and did not understand ”the difficult reality that many schools face in recruiting teachers”.

Bradford had been the first local authority to commission a designated post to address these concerns at a district level. This model had now been replicated in other authorities such as Walsall and Lincolnshire.

The report of the Director of Children’s Services (Document “AC”) explained how the Recruitment and Retention Strategy Manager was addressing the key issues, progress to date and next steps.

The Committee was advised of initiatives such as the “bus tours” for final year students and the establishment of the “Bradford Talent Bank” .  Consideration was being given to the development of teacher apprenticeships.

The following questions were asked by members and responses given:

·         What steps were being taken to recruit existing teachers who had left teaching?  Refresher training was being offered for teachers wanting to return to teaching.

·         How are issues of retention identified by new head teachers?  All new head teachers had a mentor for 12 months to identify hot spots or potential issues in schools and undertake advisory work in schools.

·         Are specialist teachers being recruited in maths and science?   The focus had been working on specialist areas at a local level.

·         Had there been any reduction in in the number of newly qualified teachers (NQT) leaving the profession as a result of the introduction of new teacher training routes?  The first cohort was being monitored and work was being undertaken with universities and teacher training providers on the recruitment process to ensure that the right people were recruited onto courses.

·         What percentage of  NQT’s trained in Bradford stayed in Bradford?  There were approximately 500 NQT’s in Bradford each year and a high proportion of them were from local training centres.

·         What was being done to recruit more men into teaching?  Two upper schools were part of a pilot involving sixth formers who had shown an interest in teaching which would be monitored and rolled out into the district.

·         Would having an apprentice in a class reduce the amount of teacher contact time and questioned what rates of pay would the apprentices receive.

The following comments were made by members:

·         The importance of conducting exit interviews with teachers leaving the service was stressed.

·         There was a need to monitor the stability index.

·         The percentage of staff on a support plan would identify areas of stress.

·         Head teachers were discouraging teachers returning from maternity leave to work part time.

·         Can more be done to promote teacher fellowships and sabbaticals to provide a career path over time?

·         Nepotism in schools effects morale. It was noted that this was an issue for governors and would be raised with the Governor’s service. 

·         Male teachers were discouraged from working in primary schools with young children. 

·         Morale was low in schools. 

·         Budget restrictions were referred to. 

It was acknowledged that low morale was a national issue.  A response was awaited to a request to Dr George Madine (Bradford University) to share his report on the recruitment and retention of teachers across Bradford schools.

The Education, Employment and Skills Portfolio Holder welcomed the steps being taken to attract and retain the best teachers to the district.  He noted the success in the primary sector and the desire to do more in the secondary sector and to continue with the initiative beyond the initial three year period.

Resolved –

That the report be welcomed and a further report be presented to the Committee in 12 months.

ACTION: Strategic Director of Education