Recommendation 52

The Department have told us they will put flexibility at the heart of the new recruitment and retention strategy. This should include the promotion of existing approaches to flexibility that have been proven to be successful such as job shares and part-time working. However, it is clear that the education sector faces unique challenges; these include the high degree of in-person working it requires; issues around timetabling; and the significant and ongoing problem of high workload. The Department will need to find creative ways to address all of these if flexibility is to become a reality for teachers.