1. Addressing the Recruitment and Retention Crisis
Julian Stanley
Education Support Partnership

2. Who are we?
Previously known as Worklife Support, Teacher Support Network and Recourse, we are now one entity – Education Support Partnership
Our Vision: where we’re going
Everyone working in education has the necessary support to be at their best
Our Mission: how we’ll get there
We are a charity committed to the success of the education sector. We offer a wide range of support services dedicated to ensuring individuals, and the organisations they work in, function at their best.
We champion the mental health, wellbeing and effectiveness of teachers, lecturers, school leaders and support staff throughout their careers and during retirement.
Who are we?
Previously known as Worklife Support, Teacher Support Network and Recourse, we are now one entity – Education Support Partnership
Our Vision: where we’re going
Everyone working in education has the necessary support to be at their best
Our Mission: how we’ll get there
We are a charity committed to the success of the education sector. We offer a wide range of support services dedicated to ensuring individuals, and the organisations they work in, function at their best.
We champion the mental health, wellbeing and effectiveness of teachers, lecturers, school leaders and support staff throughout their careers and during retirement.

3. The cause of a crisis - Supply & Demand
Nearly half of SCITTs have seen higher drop out rates amongst NQT’s due to workload
Graduates commencing Initial Teacher Training in 2015 were at 94% of the overall target number and 82% of the secondary school target
In 2001 Professor John Howson alerted the then Secretary-of-State, Estelle Morris that 45% of teachers were aged over 45 and would be retiring in the next years.
DfE projections from 2014 told us that state-funded pupil numbers would increase by 12% (that’s around 870,000 pupils) by 2023
The cause of a crisis - Supply & Demand
Nearly half of SCITTs have seen higher drop out rates amongst NQT’s due to workload
Graduates commencing Initial Teacher Training in 2015 were at 94% of the overall target number and 82% of the secondary school target
In 2001 Professor John Howson alerted the then Secretary-of-State, Estelle Morris that 45% of teachers were aged over 45 and would be retiring in the next years.
DfE projections from 2014 told us that state-funded pupil numbers would increase by 12% (that’s around 870,000 pupils) by 2023
So it’s clear that a common cause of the crisis is the lack of supply of teachers and the growing demand driven by changing demographics

4. The cause of a crisis Policy Rapid pace of change in the curriculum
Increasing financial pressures – house prices and general cost of living, squeezed school budgets etc.
Testing, testing, testing
OFSTED
Acadamisation
Ofqual changes
New NQT teaching standards
The cause of a crisis - Policy
This is an area of so much change it’s hard to know where to start. But some of the key drivers for the crisis regarding policy have clearly been;
Rapid pace of change in the curriculum
Increasing financial pressures – house prices and general cost of living, squeezed school budgets etc.
Testing, testing, testing
OFSTED
Acadamisation
Ofqual changes
New NQT teaching standards

5. The cause of a crisis - additional drivers
Challenging pupil behaviour
Teaching as a ‘less attractive’ career opportunities for millennials / graduates
Overseas opportunities
The ‘loss of gloss’ – an erosion of the professional standing of teaching in public perception and the sector
Culture of negativity in and about the sector, in the media, in parliament and with the public
The cause of a crisis - additional drivers
Again this is an area on which we could focus our entire hour together. But in short some of the key additional drivers are;
Challenging pupil behaviour
Teaching as a ‘less attractive’ career opportunities for millennials / graduates
Overseas opportunities
The ‘loss of gloss’ – an erosion of the professional standing of teaching in public perception and the sector
Culture of negativity in and about the sector, in the media, in parliament and with the public

6. The impact of the crisis on organisations
190,176 extra teachers will be needed in England by 2020 unless more current teachers can be persuaded to stay
The cost of replacing key members of staff earning £25,000 or more equates to £30,614*(Oxford Economics ‘The cost of the brain drain’ Feb 2014)
The 2015 NAHT survey found that:
62 % of schools were struggling to recruit heads
14% revealed they had failed to recruit deputy heads
20% had failed to recruit assistant headteachers
The impact of the crisis on organisations
190,176 extra teachers will be needed in England by 2020 unless more current teachers can be persuaded to stay
The cost of replacing key members of staff earning £25,000 or more equates to £30,614*(Oxford Economics ‘The cost of the brain drain’ Feb 2014)
The 2015 NAHT survey found that:
62 % of schools were struggling to recruit heads
14% revealed they had failed to recruit deputy heads
20% had failed to recruit assistant headteachers
Further to this the NHS In 2014, NHS Employers reported the total cost of sickness absence was £1.65bn, and that a 0.28% reduction saved £97.8m.
As the workforce size (1.3m) and average salary is comparable with the schools sector, the cost of (and potential savings related to) sickness absence is likely to be similar.

7. The impact of the crisis on the individual
Last year we commissioned You Gov to survey a sample of 800 teachers to understand how they felt about their jobs and whether they planned to stay or leave the profession.
Through this we identified an ‘experience exodus’ with 34% of all teachers planning to leave the profession in the next 1- 5 years’ time.
The impact of the crisis on the individual
Last year we commissioned You Gov to survey a sample of 800 teachers to understand how they felt about their jobs and whether they planned to stay or leave the profession.
Through this we identified an ‘experience exodus’ with 34% of all teachers planning to leave the profession in the next 1- 5 years’ time.
The research also found that the leading reason for departure from education was workload, followed by unreasonable demands from managers, pay and pensions and the rapid pace of change in the sector.

8. The impact of the crisis on the individual
Our annual Education Support Partnership Health Survey spoke to a sample of nearly 2000 people working in education and found some of the key results as per this slide
The results suggested that:
Not only are mental health problems continuing to be a worrying trend for the sector, there is also a real fear preventing people from speaking out or seeking appropriate help when they need it.
Perhaps due to a shortage of workplace wellbeing programmes or due to a sense that school leaders just don’t want to hear more bad news. Either way this has to change if we are to hold onto valuable staff who need more support to help them stay working and at their best
The results suggest that some in the sector are experiencing a communications breakdown, not speaking to their managers about their issues but instead burdening their nearest and dearest with problems they neither know or can do anything about.
This is not sustainable from a professional or personal perspective, as our survey found that nearly half of those experiencing mental health problems had found this to have a negative impact on their personal relationships too.
Ultimately, responsibility for work place wellbeing should lie with the employer, not family, friends or trade unions, this why we believe that the adoption of wellbeing programmes across the entire education sector is so critically important in helping to find ways to unlock, prevent and repair the damage of work place strain.

9. The impact of the crisis on pupils
The Education Support Partnership Health Survey found that the vast majority who had suffered from health problems as a result of their job felt their ill health was affecting their pupils work and results
The impact of the crisis on pupils
Our survey suggested that there was a negative impact on pupils too
Another study written independently by The Work Foundation Healthy teachers, higher marks?’ also indicates that, while more evidence is needed, teacher wellbeing is highly likely to correlate with both student wellbeing and student outcomes.

10. Solutions - It’s good to talk
Our health survey also found that only 25% of those who suffered mental health problems had discussed them with their line manager and only 8% with HR. The remainder preferred to keep things closer to home with the majority speaking to their partner (64%), their friends (51%), or their family (45%) suggesting that many would rather stay quiet about their issues than admit them to anyone actually able to help them fix the problem.
Interestingly elsewhere in the US a piece of research published in May of this year found that teachers who regularly use stress-reducing strategies increase their abilities to cope with the demands of the career and are positioned to do a better job educating students, according to results from a program administered by the University of Virginia's Curry School of Education. Over the school year, 224 teachers from 36 New York public elementary schools located in the Bronx and Upper Manhattan participated in a series of five six-hour sessions. Between sessions, teachers received individualized phone coaching through two 30-minute calls over two weeks.
The program content consisted of: emotion skills instruction; mindfulness/stress reduction practices to promote self-regulation of attention and non-judgmental awareness; and caring and listening practices to promote empathy and compassion
"Teachers who are able to reduce the level of stress they are experiencing have an improved ability to recognize a student's perspective and how their own judgments or biases are impacting their reaction to a student," Patricia Jennings associate professor and lead researcher on the "Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education administered by the University of Virginia's Curry School of Education.

11. Solutions –workplace wellbeing programmes
Very few of those surveyed said there was a workplace wellbeing policy in place in their education setting.
Even if there was a policy in place 71% felt it was either never or rarely implemented properly.
But 46% said their mental health would improve in their workplace if their employer had to meet independently-regulated high standards of health and wellbeing provision for staff.
Seeking solutions –workplace wellbeing programmes
Workplace wellbeing programmes are very important way to address the health and wellbeing problems the stress of the job of teaching can cause.
In our Health Survey we found that very few of those surveyed said there was a workplace wellbeing policy in place in their education setting.
Even if there was a policy in place 71% felt it was either never or rarely implemented properly.
But 46% said their mental health would improve in their workplace if their employer had to meet independently-regulated high standards of health and wellbeing provision for staff.
Education Support Health Survey Results 2015

12. Solutions – The #NotQuittingTeaching Campaign
Seeking solutions – The #NotQuittingTeaching Campaign
In January of this year we launched a campaign called #NotQuittingTeaching in response to the huge outpouring of negative experiences and stories we had heard both in and about the sector.
The aim of the campaign was to pool the thoughts of those working in education as to what the heart of the problem was regarding recruitment and retention and what in turn could be done about it.
The challenge to solve this problem continues, and it cannot be done by those working in the sector or those, such as not for profits such as us, who work to support them.
Ultimately we recognise that most of the answers are to be found through policy.
But meantime allow me to introduce an overview of our thoughts, experiences and recommendations of what can be done by the sector itself

13. Solutions – finding a management sweet spot
Education Support Partnership and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), have co-funded some innovative new research being conducted by PhD student Candy Whittome of Birkbeck, University of London’s Department of Organizational Psychology
The research seeks to find the sweet spot between responsibility and support that empowers without overburdening teaching staff.
“My research seeks to develop current understanding of how and why leadership behaviours and organizational climate are associated. The  two core aims are: (a) to understand more about the causal relationships between leadership behaviours and climate; (b) to develop understanding of the processes through which specific leadership behaviours influence organizational climate. Primary schools in England have been selected as the setting for this research.”
Candy Whittome, Birkbeck University of London
Some solutions – finding a management sweet spot
Co-funded by Education Support Partnership and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), some innovative new research is being conducted by PhD student Candy Whittome of Birkbeck, University of London’s Department of Organizational Psychology.
The research draws on lessons learned from fields of business and management organizational psychology and uses the vast amount of (anonymous) data gathered through our Positive Workplace Survey programme.
Preliminary findings suggest that whilst giving teachers sufficient control and autonomy is an important factor in reducing job strain, the effect is relatively small unless combined with leader and management support.
In other words, good management is statistically significantly in reducing job strain in the education sector.  
This makes clear the importance of the support that teachers receive from school leaders and the support that headteachers in turn receive from Governors, local education authorities and academy chains.
The research explores data gathered from the charity’s Positive Workplace Survey, a service provided by Education Support Partnership to help schools better understand their working environments. This data reveals that job strain has, over the past 5 years, been the single most important factor causing teachers to access the Education Support Partnership 24-hour helpline.

14. Solutions – making the most of the holidays
City University London, in close collaboration with the Education Support Partnership is looking into the psychological value of the school holidays for teacher health resilience and wellbeing.
The results so far have showed that;
The Christmas break was of vital importance to allow teachers’ emotional energy resources and psychological health to be restored.
Teachers who continued worrying and ruminating about work during the Christmas break were less likely to recover fully from the demands of the teaching term,
Teachers who were able to satisfy three ‘basic psychological needs’ - namely; a sense of competence, autonomy and feeling close and connected to other people - during the Christmas break had much higher levels of psychological health.
The research is continuing and has just looked at the last May half term
Some solutions – making the most of the holidays
City University London, in close collaboration with the Education Support Partnership is looking into the psychological value of the school holidays for teacher health resilience and wellbeing.
Dr Paul Flaxman and his team asked 90 school teachers from schools across the UK to complete brief surveys at the end of eight consecutive weeks, capturing the period before, during, and after the two week Christmas break in 2013 as well as a sample of teachers in Quebec in Canada.
The results showed
The Christmas break was of vital importance to allow teachers’ emotional energy resources and psychological health to be restored.
Teachers who continued worrying and ruminating about work during the Christmas break were less likely to recover fully from the demands of the teaching term,
Teachers who were able to satisfy three ‘basic psychological needs’ - namely; a sense of competence, autonomy and feeling close and connected to other people - during the Christmas break had much higher levels of psychological health.
The research is continuing and has just looked at the last May half term

15. Solutions - a pledge from Government
Announcing the findings of the Teacher Workload Review at the NASUWT conference, the Education Secretary pledged further support to free up teachers’ time by stamping out the unnecessary tasks and red tape impacting on the profession, stifling its creativity and passion.
These new reports focus on addressing the top 3 concerns raised through the government’s workload challenge survey:
marking
planning and resources
data management
Some solutions - a pledge from Government
Announcing the findings of the Teacher Workload Review at the NASUWT conference, the Education Secretary pledged further support to free up teachers’ time by stamping out the unnecessary tasks and red tape impacting on the profession, stifling its creativity and passion.
These new reports focus on addressing the top 3 concerns raised through the government’s workload challenge survey:
marking
planning and resources
data management
As you will know the reports make recommendations for schools, school leaders and Ofsted, as well as to the government. They include:
calls for schools to challenge emerging fads that can cause excessive marking practices and not to reward ‘gold-plating’ - which involves excessive data collection
school leaders to evaluate the impact of school marking practices on teachers’ time, to prevent unreasonable demands on staff and to make sure they help drive pupil progress
actions for Ofsted include continuing to ensure that no particular marking methods are being singled out for praise, with clear training for inspectors and monitoring of the reports
better sharing of effective teaching to inform planning - underpinned by continuous professional development
the Department for Education and other agencies to work with the sector to allow sufficient planning time when making changes
regular reviews of planning demands placed on teachers led by school leaders
Time will tell if these actions are possible to implement and if they make the difference the sector so desperately needs.

16. Solutions - An opportunity for change
Finding the staff to replace and fulfil the roles required to support growing pupil numbers may be daunting, but can also present a fantastic opportunity:
Reform standard training such as ITT and NPQH
Ensure that 100% of teachers take the additional training and development they want to take to improve, rather than the current level of 58% (ESP/YouGov 2014 Training Survey)
Implement a Health and Wellbeing policy
Culture-changing measures such as these won’t just help to reduce resignation rates: they will make teaching more attractive to potential recruits too.
Some solutions - An opportunity for change
Change isn’t always a bad thing but encouraging your staff to recognise this and embrace the opportunity it represents can be tough.
However, if you can achieve this change is an opportunity to better equip staff to manage school realities such as workload and rapid organisational change by reforming standard training such as ITT and NPQH
It’s an opportunity to make reflective practice mainstream, so people feel education is the sector to work in if you want to continually develop and be continually valued. We should ensure that 100% of teachers take the additional training and development they want to take to improve, rather than the current level of 58% (ESP/YouGov 2014 Training Survey
It’s an opportunity to make staff feel more supported by ensuring greater health and wellbeing assistance. In our recent annual Health Survey we found that only 40% had a workplace wellbeing policy in place in their education setting and that of those, 71% felt it was either never or not often implemented properly.
Culture-changing measures such as these won’t just help to reduce resignation rates: they will make teaching more attractive to potential recruits too.

17. Our work in Leeds
Education Support partnership has been working with Leeds City Council from their time as Education Leeds since 2008.
Initially worked in partnership with some schools on our ‘Well-Being Programme’ which was a survey and consultancy but since then we have worked together on a range of programmes, particularly on ‘Headspace’.
To date, 140 Headteachers have been on Headspace with great success.
“Anecdotally I think Headspace has helped retention” – Annette Bradley – Leeds CC
Our work in Leeds
Education Support partnership has been working with Leeds City Council from their time as Education Leeds since 2008, we worked in partnership with some schools on our ‘Well-Being Programme’ which was a survey and consultancy.
Since then Education Leeds has been absorbed into Leeds City Council’s Children’s services department.
In 2011 Leeds City Council felt they needed to take further steps to ensure the well-being of their Headteachers so we met with Annette Bradley - Head of Health and Safety for Schools in and a true advocate for the work we at Ed Support do to support those in education, especially school leaders.
Together we worked to set up a pilot Headspace Programme for twenty Headteachers and the response was huge. Perhaps some of you here today have experienced the programme as a result? Certainly that work laid the ground work for the partnership we continue to have with Leeds City Council today.
Yourspace
Further to our existing the relationship with the Headspace schools, we are now on our fourth Yourspace programme for Deputy and Assistant Heads, this follows a similar format to Headspace (four sessions instead of six) and is funded by the schools, all programmes have continued and as many as 80 Deputy and Assistant Heads have taken part.
Other activity
Further work has seen is assisting 22 schools with our Workplace Assistance Survey as well as a range of training being conducted in 6 schools on themes including: Communication, relationships and workload
However you look at it the need for help in the sector has never been greater and our history together evidences the potential, so we want to say thank you to Annette for the creation of a partnership that we hope will continue to provide help and support to many of you in this part of West Yorkshire for a long time to come.

18. Free support for you Independent, confidential & free helpline
Our 24 hour helpline provides in the moment support from accredited counsellors specifically to the education sector. The helpline also signposts to helpful resources for a range of issues.
Information & Guidance
Our website has information and advice via our blog and Life Guides. Some topics include how to achieve a good work-life balance, handling stress, managing disagreements at school, managing your time, how to form and maintain good relationships at work, and managing difficult student behaviour.
Financial Support (grants)
Financial help during short term emergencies, providing essential 
items or costs, which contribute to improving your health and wellbeing, and help you to stay in or get back
to work quickly.
Free support for you
Independent, confidential & free helpline
Our 24 hour helpline provides in the moment support from accredited counsellors specifically to the education sector. The helpline also signposts to helpful resources for a range of issues.
Information & Guidance
Our website has information and advice via our blog and Life Guides. Some topics include how to achieve a good work-life balance, handling stress, managing disagreements at school, managing your time, how to form and maintain good relationships at work, and managing difficult student behaviour.
Financial Support (grants)
Financial help during short term emergencies, providing essential 
items or costs, which contribute to improving your health and wellbeing, and help you to stay in or get back
to work quickly.

19. Education Support Partnership in the news
Our free services have been celebrated by many in the past, and earlier this year gained recognition from one of the most well respected education correspondents around, the now retired, Richard Garner of The Independent.

20. Education Support Partnership Grants
Brenda is working as a teacher but due to the circumstances of her partner’s diagnosis and subsequent treatment for cancer) she was unable to financially support a family of 4 so applied to us for a grant.
She told us that her partner was receiving chemotherapy and stem cell transplants in Leeds (a 132 mile round trip from their home) so the travel expenses were very high and Brenda needed help with this and the family’s every day bills.
Her partner was only receiving statutory sick pay so having reviewed the case we awarded a grant of £600 to assist Brenda with her costs and we will keep in touch to see how things progress.
Sometimes keeping someone in teaching is about throwing then a line to help them with the many challenges we encounter in our lives outside of the work place.
Education Support Partnership Grants
We provide grants to people in a range of financial difficulties.
Brenda is one of those people.
Working as a teacher she was, due to the circumstances of her partner’s diagnosis and subsequent treatment for cancer), unable to financially support a family of 4.
She told us that her partner was receiving chemotherapy and stem cell transplants in Leeds (a 132 mile round trip from their home) so the travel expenses were very high and Brenda needed help with this and the family’s every day bills.
Her partner was only receiving statutory sick pay so having reviewed the case we awarded a grant of £600 to assist Brenda with her costs and we will keep in touch to see how things progress.
Sometimes keeping someone in teaching is about throwing then a line to help them with the many challenges we encounter in our lives outside of the work place.

21. Education Support Partnership
Services for schools and education institutions
We also offer a range of products and services, designed to help schools and organisations look after their staff, prevent workplace stress, and build a positive working environment. These paid-for services include:
Employee Assistance Programme, with a dedicated support line providing access to a range of advice, and to face-to-face counselling if required
Positive Workplace Surveys, identifying issues and providing support to overcome them
Coaching and facilitated support for school leaders and managers
A range of training and professional development programmes
Services for schools and education institutions
We also offer a range of products and services, designed to help schools and organisations look after their staff, prevent workplace stress, and build a positive working environment. These paid-for services include:
Employee Assistance Programme, with a dedicated support line providing access to a range of advice, and to face-to-face counselling if required
Positive Workplace Surveys, identifying issues and providing support to overcome them
Coaching and facilitated support for school leaders and managers
A range of training and professional development programmes

22. 08000 562 561 Free 24/7 Helpline Number Ed Support contact details: