Season 2, Episode 11 - How do new governments make Happy Teachers?

2024-07-14

Britain has a new government but what does this mean for education and for the happiness of teachers? This week we look at the education headlines from the Labour manifesto and give our thoughts on whether they will improve the happiness of teachers, parents and students. Is it necessary, for example, to recruit 6,500 new teachers (a third of which will, statistically, leave in the first five years) when we have more than enough qualified teachers to fill all the vacancies - they’re just not choosing to return to the classroom. Surely retaining excellent teachers and encouraging returners should be the priority? Schools should be mandated to offer shared parental pay at the same amount for men and women, as the civil service does. We give our verdict on the six main promises of the Labour party. We go beyond the manifestos and examine what the Department of Education is offering to improve retention and returning rates. We were both pleasantly surprised to learn about return to teacher advisers but, clearly, more needs to be done to advertise this service, rather than focusing government advertising budgets on new teachers.

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In this week’s Break-time Banter, Roxy reminisces proudly on the question her Year 10s set a visiting member of the House of Lord.

In Get in the Bin, Jenny chastises political parties for headline-grabbing promises on recruitment when the real issues that need fixing are teacher retention and how to encourage returner teachers.

Watch us on YouTube at:

Jenny and Roxy

Email the show: thehappyteacherpod@gmail.com

Links to relevant websites mentioned in the show:

Return to teaching - Jobs in Schools | Teaching Vacancies

: Find out more about returning to teaching and what a return to teaching adviser can offer

Home Page

: Find out more about Maternity Teacher Paternity Teacher Project and how they can help retain teachers that have become parents.

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