The Department for Education (DfE) has released statistics this week which show that there has been a significant increase in the number of Senior Leaders leaving their posts over the last five years.
The statistics shared by NAHT following an FOI request to the DfE show that 25% of primary school Head Teachers and 37% of Secondary Head Teachers who started their role in 2015 had left by 2020. This is an increase of 4% in primary and 2% in secondary since 2011. This adds to the growing concern in the sector around whole school retention. A survey by ASCL found in a survey of Head Teachers that 72.4% of respondents didn’t feel that they had an acceptable work/life balance, with 47.7% believing their workload to be unmanageable.
A DfE spokesperson said: “The overall picture of school leadership in England is positive – vacancy rates are low and the quality of leadership is high, but we do recognise school leaders have faced challenges. That is why we are taking a wide range of action to support the profession, including investing £250m in training opportunities across all stages of teachers’ careers, plus the government’s pay reforms giving schools greater flexibility to reward exceptional leaders.”
Just this month the unions ASCL and NAHT called for government action over Covid disruption and late last year Schools North East previously called on the Secretary of State to depressurise the education system. The plan for “recovery” was disappointing with the rollout of the National Tutoring Programme which many North East schools deemed “insufficient” and did not engage with as it lacked the flexibility and understanding of the regional context needed to help our young people progress.
Director of Schools North East Chris Zarraga said: “Over the last 12 months Schools North East has heard from School Leaders in the region through surveys and roundtable discussions the numerous factors which have negatively affected their wellbeing. New challenges in their role have increased pressures, from handling constant disruptions caused by Covid to managing looming Ofsted inspections.”
The Schools North East ‘State of the Region’ survey from February 2022 highlighted that staff wellbeing had worsened marginally since the low point of November last year with 87% reporting that the cause of this was driven by Covid disruption, 58% from Ofsted pressures and 51% said ‘catch-up’ related workload.
Managing wellbeing in staff and students is an increasingly important issue in schools. Despite the easing of covid restrictions, schools have continued to face significant Covid-related disruption this academic year. This issue will be a key focus of the Schools North East Healthy MindED 2022 Conference taking place on Friday 20th May at The Fed in Gateshead. If you are interested in joining us or would like to contribute to the Conference you can find out more here.
