Teachers still being lost 'left, right and centre', claims Cambridgeshire union

More work must still be done to encourage more people into teaching, according to a teachers' union in Cambridgeshire.

Today marks 100 days since the General Election, in which Labour won by a landslide margin.

Since then, the party has agreed to a pay rise of 5.5% for teachers and school leaders, the equivalent to an increase of more than £2,500 on average.

Labour has also pledged to recruit 6,500 new teachers as well as steps to reduce teachers' workload.

Abby Maddison is the National Education Union's district secretary for the county:

"We know that we are still losing teachers left, right and centre and we know this isn't just about pay, but pay is important because we need to make it an appealing profession.

"So many governments, they see things short-term because it's about votes.

"If they're doing that, recruitment and retention might need to be thought of as more of a long-term project."

In its school teachers' pay and conditions, the Department for Education said a teacher employed full-time must be available to work a maximum of 1,265 hours of directed time per academic year.

Directed time is when teachers are directed by their headteacher to be available for work, with hours "to be allocated reasonably throughout those days in the school year".

Workload is 'losing teachers'

In July, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said the government wants to "work urgently to recruit thousands of brilliant new teachers and reset the relationship between government and the education workforce.

"I want all children to have the best life chances which means recruiting and keeping great teachers in our classrooms – today is the first step in that mission."

Abby, who's been a teacher for 20 years, has had tough times to deal with.

"I've been there many times and it's exhausting; they have this pressure and feel they need to take on that extra workload, and we're losing teachers because of that," she added.

"We know this is important and they've recognised when they're working less, they're working more productively and their mental health is better."

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