Category Archives: Teacher Network

UK schools boost maternity pay to stem exodus of female teachers in their 30s

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Sector faces ‘catastrophic loss’ as more than 9,000 thirtysomething women leave state education in a year

Schools across England are ramping up maternity pay and offering flexible working in a bid to stem the exodus of thousands of women in their 30s from teaching.

In Wednesday’s budget, Rachel Reeves confirmed she would fund the recruiting of 6,500 new teachers by pressing ahead with imposing VAT on private school fees. Yet heads and charities are warning that with more than 9,000 women aged between 30 and 39 having left state education last year, the government will not fix the teacher shortage unless it also acts to stop experienced women leaving.

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Teachers in England vote overwhelmingly to accept pay rise offer

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NEU snap poll shows 95% of members voting for 5.5% pay rise, ending months of industrial action

Teachers in England have voted overwhelmingly to accept a 5.5% pay rise but warned ministers that without further “corrections” pay would remain uncompetitive and teacher shortages would persist.

Of those members who responded to the National Education Union’s snap poll, 95% voted to accept the 2024-25 offer, which would give schools an additional £1.2bn to cover the pay rise.

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Major fears over Labour’s nursery plan for 9-month-olds in schools

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Early years experts warn of lack of staff, playgrounds and toilets

Primary schools may not have enough space, specialist facilities or staff to deliver the 100,000 new nursery places in England that the government has promised, early childhood experts have warned.

Labour is under intense pressure to create enough places to fulfil its promise of 30 hours of free childcare a week for eligible parents of children from the age of nine months to three years from next September – a commitment inherited from the previous government.

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Eight in 10 primary teachers in England spending own money to help pupils

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Increasing numbers of children hungry and lack adequate clothing, with two-thirds of secondary teachers also supporting pupils

Eight in 10 primary schoolteachers in England are spending their own money to buy items for pupils who are increasingly arriving at school hungry and without adequate clothing, according to new research.

Almost a third (31%) of those who took part in the survey said they were seeing more hungry children in class, with 40% reporting an increase in pupils coming in without proper uniform or a warm winter coat, research by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) found.

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One in three teachers have no behaviour support for pupils with additional needs, poll finds

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Long waiting lists and insufficient resources part of system that is ‘failing’ children, according to NEU members in England and Wales

One in three teachers say they have no behaviour support team for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (Send), while one in four have no educational psychologist or speech and language therapist to help them, according to a union survey.

The online poll, which attracted responses from 8,000 members of the National Education Union (NEU), indicated that seven in eight teachers feel resources are insufficient to meet growing demand, with three-quarters calling for more learning support assistants in classrooms.

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Parents in Wales lose legal fight against ‘woke’ sex eduation in primary schools

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Judge at Cardiff hearing rejects families’ complaint, saying relationships curriculum does not advocate any one gender identity

A group of parents has lost a legal challenge against the teaching of children about gender identity and sex in primary schools across Wales.

Campaigners launched a judicial review in the high court against the Welsh government’s new relationships and sexuality education (RSE) curriculum, which they depicted as “dangerous” and “woke”.

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Leaving burnout behind: the pain and pleasure of starting a new career in my 50s

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I spent 30 years as a journalist before deciding to become a secondary school teacher. While a complete career change is rare, it is one of the best moves I ever made

I had my first midlife crisis in 2006. It started at 7am on a cold January morning when my mother got out of bed, made herself a cup of tea, had an aneurysm and died.

I was a 46-year-old married newspaper columnist with four children, who appeared to be living a more than satisfactory life. But as the sudden axe of grief fell, I looked at my career, which was going better than I’d ever thought possible, and thought: I don’t want this any more.

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Teachers strike over pupils ‘carrying knives and brawling’

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Staff given panic buttons at outstanding-rated Starbank school in Birmingham

Teachers have gone on strike at a school in Birmingham rated outstanding by Ofsted where they say “feral” students are carrying knives, threatening staff and brawling in classrooms.

Staff at Starbank school, whose pupils’ ages range from three to 16, have been given panic buttons and are “scared to come out of their classrooms” between lessons, according to a teaching union.

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Year 6 pupils spend Easter at school cramming for Sats

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Teaching officials angry that children are having to attend revision classes over holidays

Children at hundreds of primary schools in England are being asked to attend Sats revision classes over the Easter holidays, a teaching union official has revealed, warning that it was part of a disturbing trend.

Darren Northcott, the NASUWT national officer for education, said revision classes for primary school pupils were unheard of five years ago but that he now knew of hundreds of cases of pupils in their final year of primary – Year 6 – being asked in for “cramming” by their schools ahead of the tests next month.

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