Morale damaged by high level of staff turnover – union rep
MORALE of teachers at St Sampson’s High is being damaged by the high turnover of staff, National Education Union representative Paul Montague has said.
The school has gone under the spotlight after received a damning Ofsted report in July, describing three of four key areas as ‘inadequate’.
Mr Montague said many secondary schools were struggling with recruitment, as well as some primary schools.
‘The impact on students is clear,’ he said. ‘Many students have experienced a very high turnover of teachers in certain subjects. Not only can this damage their progress in that subject but it can also completely alter a student’s attitude to that subject and to learning as a whole.’
Mr Montague said that the issues were also affecting the morale of his members.
‘The negative impact on teachers is clear,’ he said.
‘When there is a shortage of specialist teachers in a department, other colleagues have to take on far more work to support the affected youngsters. When teachers are asked to do too much, clearly the provision will suffer.
‘Feedback from school-based union representatives tells us that morale is very low across all sectors.
‘In our recent staff survey only 5% of all those working in schools felt that the employer took their well-being seriously. Only 45% would recommend their school as a good place to work.’
