Source · Select Committees · Education Committee
Recommendation 52
52
Accepted
Paragraph: 215
Integrate successful flexible working approaches like job shares into the new recruitment and retention strategy.
Conclusion
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.
Government Response Summary
The government states it is already expanding and enabling flexible working through clarifying PPA time, promoting the flexible working toolkit via various campaigns and ambassador schools, and monitoring flexible working levels.
Paragraph Reference:
215
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
Expanding and enabling flexible working is a priority for ensuring we can attract and retain the expert teachers our children need. Ministers have expressed support for flexible working, including through clarifying the position on Planning, Preparation, and Assessment time in the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD), so schools are clear that teachers can use this time at home whilst not compromising on pupils’ face-to-face time. We continue to explore opportunities to promote the flexible working toolkit and our funded flexible working programme wherever possible. We have promoted the toolkit through a range of sector bulletins and newsletters and we ran a small-scale paid search and social campaign last year. We recently ran a comms campaign in collaboration with the Teaching Vacancies service, which aimed to build broader awareness of the benefits of flexible working in the sector, as well as to promote our wider flexible working programme. Our flexible working ambassador schools already play a central role in promoting our work, speaking at local and national sector events. We also signpost towards the toolkit in all our webinars. The toolkit was co-created with the sector, and we continue to work with a broad range of partners including flexible working experts to promote flexible working for teachers and leaders. We already monitor levels of flexible working in the sector through the Working Lives of Teachers and Leaders (WLTL) Survey and part-time rates through the School Workforce Census. The most recent WLTL survey shows that 46% of teachers and leaders have a flexible working arrangement in place, an increase from 40% seen in 2022. Whilst this is encouraging, we know there is further to go.