Why 87% of Staff Absences Aren’t Emergencies — And What That Means for Your School
By analysing over 90,000 supply bookings, we’ve discovered something surprising: only 12.6% of bookings are made for same-day cover.
The Biggest Challenge in Recruiting Staff as a Secondary School Head Teacher
In this insightful guest blog, inspirational Head Teacher and Educational Consultant Paul Mundy-Castle shares his views on how to create a welcoming and supportive environment for new recruits in your school. The most important component of any school, I believe, is the staff body -- especially the teachers, who play such a pivotal role [...]
Homeschooling: how to ensure maximum engagement for your child
We know how challenging homeschooling can be. That's why we are providing parents with access to our community of qualified teachers for homeschooling support, ensuring children continue to be motivated by, and engaged with, their studies. After speaking with hundreds of parents over the last few weeks we realise even more now how [...]
What the coronavirus pandemic will mean for school recruitment this year
Since March the education sector, like many others, has faced a once in a generation challenge due to the coronavirus pandemic. Whilst schools have done a fantastic job in tackling the situation head on, we can anticipate that a new set of challenges, particularly around recruitment and workforce, will emerge when the school year [...]
How to improve your supply teaching pay by 25% at no extra cost to the schools you regularly work in
We’re currently helping supply teachers to earn up to 25% more than via a typical agency/umbrella company arrangement at no extra cost to their regular school(s). We have found that Employer’s NI contributions, admin fees and other deductions are routinely being taken from supply teachers’ agreed rate of pay. Those teachers thought they had [...]
Why is a school recruitment company trying to help schools spend less on recruitment?
Every year, over £0.5bn is spent on recruitment agency fees in public sector schools alone. That’s a staggering £30,000 per school! Whether it’s agency fees for temporary staff or permanent staff (including temporary to permanent fees), online job advertising or other indirect recruitment costs like admin and consultancy fees, this much-needed money is being diverted [...]
Agency Supply Teacher Pay: Deciphering the Deductions
Our recent exposé on agency fees charged to schools generated much heated debate from schools, agencies and teachers. Now it's the teachers' turn. Here we’ll shine a light on the other side of the coin -- agency supply teacher pay, and the often indecipherable fees, deductions and accruals that appear each week on the payslips of agency [...]
Supply Teacher Agencies and Finder’s Fees – A Textbook Case
How a London Primary school now saves thousands on agency fees The Background Primary School in Inner London, 420 pupils Since October 2018, the school has engaged a KS2 teacher, Claire*, via a traditional supply agency. Claire was speculatively marketed to the school via an email. Coincidentally the school had a sudden need [...]
The Retention Crisis – Nine things we learned at the Schools and Academies Show 2019
The Retention Crisis is seldom spoken about, especially compared to its more prominent twin, The Recruitment Crisis. Nonetheless, the figures associated with Retention Crisis are deeply unsettling. Eager to understand the story behind these figures and the optimal response strategies, we were fortunate enough to attend an eclectic smattering of talks on the subject at the [...]
The Government Recruitment and Retention Strategy for Teachers: Seven Key Observations
Introduction The DfE’s long-awaited ‘Recruitment and Retention Strategy’ was released today and, as you might expect, there is plenty to discuss and dissect. Broadly, we echo the enthusiasm of other pundits and industry leaders. The Recruitment and Retention Strategy (RRS) is bold, well-informed and could rewrite the fundamentals of how the teaching workforce is organised. [...]