We need a government to work with teachers, not against them

This is my tenth year as a headteacher, I have worked in education since 2002. 

The most predominant change I have seen during my time in education has been the cuts to funding, and still having to provide a level of service to all children on less resources and with less money – doing more with less is becoming the norm. However, we are in a state of paradox here and this can't continue. 

Lack of government action

It’s really hard when the government don’t work alongside us. I think that they listen but they don’t always take action. We are having to make some bad governmental ideas good - we are like magicians at times, having to make things work regardless of a situation. 

There’s a lack of appreciation for teachers. I think we get a bad press and this is driven mainly from those in charge of our country and our communities hearing this repeatedly. We need to see an urgent change in the way we are spoken about, especially since we rank in third in the most trusted of occupations. 

All educators are massively invested in our children because we know they are our future, and if we don’t provide the right level of education and life skills, we then have to question what is going to happen down the line? 

We're losing talented teachers

The pay and retention crisis in teaching is hugely damaging. We are losing extremely talented professionals who are going elsewhere for less responsibility but more money.

And it’s not because they don’t want to do it anymore, it’s because the juggling act know as workload and stress, is getting harder and harder. We always seem to have to do more with less. 

At our school, our teaching assistants are extremely proactive, and they provide us with a lot of goodwill. They are always going over and above, but then you get burnout, where their work/life balance is compromised, and it starts to impact upon their family life.

They start to realise they can go and work in a supermarket for much less stress and responsibility, but a lot more money, which I think is an absolute catastrophe and shows how the current government perceives our education professionals.

As a school leader it is extremely frustrating and devastating, because you know you have a talented individual there who absolutely makes a difference to a lot of children’s lives, and we have to see them go.

So what heads are trying to do is offer other incentives like “golden days” or health payment plans. We try and do as much as we can to keep them, but to be fair you can’t blame them for leaving. 

Standards are falling

The standard of education we can deliver is diminishing at a huge rate. It’s devastating that a school cannot provide a child with the right professionals resources, because A we haven’t got enough money, and B we can’t keep staff in their jobs because of a lack of job satisfaction and pay. It absolutely does have a massive effect on both children and their education. 

In my school we have 33% of children on free school meals. 

A child on free school meals now is worse off than a child on free school meals when I started teaching. But I don’t think it’s just about the free school meals now, because you have got a level of parents who are just above that threshold, so they just make enough to not qualify for free school meals, but they are the ones who have been hit the hardest by the cost of living crisis. 

We’ve seen a huge decline where we have had to do more and more, like providing uniforms. If we organise school trips we provide payment plans, we do a lot of fundraising to try to counteract diminishing budgets and the cost of living crisis to ensure that our children are provided with the educational opportunities that they deserve.

We try and signpost parents to third parties for help, but sometimes parents are just too proud – it's the level just above the free school meals who are being hit the hardest, so you’ve almost got a double batch – you've got the traditional free school meals, but also the ones who miss out on that help also. 

We have had to provide food parcels. We’ve had to help families find suitable accommodation. We have gone through children’s charities to ensure they can get white goods. I have had my staff bring in unwanted furniture, decorations and clothing to help our families and community.

We had a family around Christmas time the other year who had nothing and had to move into a new house, so all my staff helped them. 

We regularly do washing and drying at school for children. We have a healthy tuck shop at school, but we make sure the children who can’t afford it are included in that offer too. We have a stack of breakfast items to make sure that children who come in hungry don’t go without, because hunger is yet another barrier to their learning. 

My staff go above and beyond. We have up to 33 free after school clubs to help parents/carers/families who are working. We offer a bespoke service based on families and their individual needs, based on the relationship building that we do, and that’s extra time my staff take on top of their educational and work duties. 

It’s heartbreaking at times, but then at other times it is extremely rewarding. 

We need change

When I started teaching, we could reach out to third party services external to school, but now those services are diminishing hugely, and sometimes waiting lists can be up to two years. As a result, teachers are also carers, they offer financial guidance for parents, they’re also nurturing the children, they have to be the inspiration. It’s huge now, it’s not just teaching anymore. 

I’m calling on a future government to work with teachers, not against them.

We need a full reform. We need to have a look at what we have got and make sure the services that we offer match the customers we serve, as in our communities.