Teachers offered lie-ins and three-day weekends in efforts to combat retention crisis

Charity Teach First says changes are needed to attract Gen Z towards teaching

Allowing more flexibility in a teacher’s lifestyle could be the key to attracting recruits, Teach First says (Getty Images)

Lie-ins and three-day weekends every two weeks have been offered to teachers in England as some schools seek to address the recruitment and retention crisis.

Schools have been forced to take on new ways to make the teaching profession more attractive as teachers highlight the lack of flexibility in the industry.

The government wants teachers to have the option to do planning at home to improve their work-life balance, as part of its push to recruit 6,500 new teachers.

But it has been warned that far stronger measures are needed for the sector to catch up with other professions in terms of flexibility and pay.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson is leading plans to recruit 6,500 new teachers (PA Wire)

Charity Teach First has now called for “flexibility” entitlements, to allow short secondments away from school and unpaid career breaks to allow teachers to work in other sectors.

Schools around the country have taken on parts of the initiative to create a more inviting environment for prospective teachers, the Guardian reported.

Dixons Academies Trust has introduced a nine-day fortnight for their teachers across 16 schools and one college. It means teachers get an extra day off every two weeks.

The trust’s lead, Luke Sparkes, said one of the ultimate goals is to “try and improve outcomes for children” as well as to tackle the retention crisis. Sparkes emphasised that the policy creates “no detriment to families or children”.

All Saints Catholic College, a state secondary school in west London, is offering a double period off one morning each week, allowing teachers to come into school at 10:30am.

Head teacher Andrew O’Neill told the Guardian that the school wants to “treat teachers like elite athletes” to ensure they are sufficiently cared for.

The Teach First report finds that 42 per cent of 18-24-year-olds see teaching as a stressful job, 36 per cent regard it as poorly paid, and 32 per cent believe the sector is inadequately funded.

But the survey of 3,000 young adults also found that 73 per cent see teaching as a job with purpose.

The polling showed that 61 per cent would consider working as a teacher in future.

Teach First CEO Russell Hobby said: “Recruitment is falling, and many teachers are turning to industrial action, or leaving the profession, due to concerns over pay and conditions.

“The Government’s pledge to recruit 6,500 more teachers is a welcome step in the right direction. But given the scale of the challenge, action to realise this must begin now.

“The untapped potential of our young people is vast; failing to invest in their education could cost the UK economy around £38 billion.”

Last year the UK saw a net increase of just 480 teachers, with 44,002 joining in the year to November 2023 while 43,522 teachers left, according to data published by the Department for Education.

Mr Hobby hopes their proposal will help set a “fresh agenda” for the new government, one which “makes teaching a top choice for graduates, offers competitive benefits, and rewards expertise fairly”.