Striking teachers
Children’s recovery from the pandemic is being hampered by a workforce crisis which means there are not enough teachers in schools and nurseries, Ofsted warned on Tuesday.
Staff are fleeing the profession for better paid jobs elsewhere as the cost-of-living crisis hits, it said in an annual report. The recruitment crisis means children are in larger classes; many sports, drama and music lessons have not been reinstated after the pandemic; nurseries are closing down and children in care are being destabilised because of the constant churn of staff.
Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman said the energy crisis and economic pressures have added to the turbulence in education sparked by the pandemic.
She said: “It is clear that in education — and in children’s social care — staffing issues are compounding problems standing in the way of a full recovery… it’s vital that education and social care providers are able to recruit, train and retain talented and capable people.”
The annual report found:
- Schools and colleges cannot recruit enough supply staff, teaching assistants or tutors, leaving pupils to be taught in large classes of mixed abilities where their needs are not being picked up.
- Nurseries are closing because they cannot retain staff who are leaving for higher paid work elsewhere, while some are too reliant on apprentices.
- Staff are leaving children’s homes to work in retail or hospitality, raising fears there may not be enough places for children to live.
- Covid-19 continues to affect absent rates in schools, with more pupils away from school due to anxiety or as families are rescheduling holidays in term time.
Overall more schools are now judged “good” or “outstanding” than last year, and London is leading the country. Nationally, 88 per cent of state schools were given the top two grades — up by nearly two percentage points from 2021, but in London 95 per cent of all schools were given the top ratings. But Ms Spielman warned that children are still arriving at nursery, school and college behind where they should be due to Covid.
The schools watchdog also called on the Government to give it greater powers to tackle illegal schools and for it to create a register of home educated children. It said there are also still too many “invisible” children out of sight despite schools reopening after the pandemic.
