Education recruitment looking "really positive"

Tuesday 30 July 2024

Guernsey's schools will feel the ongoing benefits of stability next term - with education bosses saying recruitment is looking positive, despite ongoing challenges in that area.

After years' of uncertainty for secondary school staff and pupils, as decisions have been made and overturned, ESC says things are now looking much more stable across that sector in particular.

Nick Hynes, the Director of Education, said this is being reflected in the number of positions being filled across island schools. 

There are three permanent vacancies across the four States maintained secondary schools in Guernsey now, compared to 25 at the beginning of this calendar year.

Agency staff are being used to fill some of the vacancies, which both Mr Hynes and Liz Coffey - the Executive Principal of the Secondary Schools Partnership - defended, saying they offer a valuable service, particularly with the restructuring Guernsey's secondary schools have faced in recent years.

"We employ about 571, teachers across the whole (estate) including primary, secondary, special, College of Further Education, TGI...the percentage of vacancies we're holding is actually very small," Mr Hynes said.

"We have no vacancies in the primary sector at all for September. We've got a handful in our special schools, and a handful in secondary. As a percentage across the whole system, it's actually really positive. 

"Now, (recruitment) is really difficult, our colleagues in secondary in particular, worked really hard this year with our HR and Communication colleagues because we're advertising in different ways, and it's been successful this year, but it is going to be an ongoing challenge. We're going to have to keep looking at how we can recruit the best over time if we're going to be successful."

Pictured: ESC says there are no vacancies in the primary sector at all for September with just three across the secondary schools, and a "handful" in the island's special schools.

Mr Hynes also praised the current staff for their diligence under what he admitted has been a difficult period in education. 

"Secondary school leaders and teachers have worked really hard this year in quite challenging circumstances, because they've also been going through a complete restructure," he acknowledged. "... going into next year, we're hopeful there'll be more stability. 

"All members of staff across the secondary school partnership are aware of what their final position is going to be in September 2025 so they know that now, and that is hopefully going to deliver great stability across the whole system. And we know we've got a continuously improving secondary school system, as demonstrated by the Ofsted reports at Beaucamps, and St Sampson's going from what was an adequate school to a good school in just under two years, which is a remarkable achievement for everyone involved. We know secondary school education is getting stronger and improving, and we expect that to grow year on year as we move to a new model."

Liz Coffey - the Executive Principal of the Secondary School Partnership - agreed that the ongoing stability in the secondary school sector is benefitting everyone, in particular those being recruited to join local staff.

While both Ms Coffey and Mr Hynes have acknowledged that recruitment has been challenging across every industry, they said education is now in a good position with local vacancies at a manageable number as we head towards a new school year starting in September.

"There is a national recruitment crisis in teaching, and there's no getting away from that," said Ms Coffey.

"We feel the effects of that in Guernsey, so if you want to try and find a maths teacher, for example, you are competing with everyone else.

"We've also got a higher proportion of retiring, aged teachers leaving, and fewer younger teachers coming into the profession, and we've got an exodus out of teaching after three years. We know that's the national picture, and in fact, it's an international picture, so we will feel the effects of that.

"We continue to use agency staff which is where you can might have temporary support from people who might come temporarily to support a particular school or teach in a particular subject area. That can suggest agency teachers are bad but it doesn't mean that. We're very dependent on those agency staff, and also the young person sitting down in the class doesn't necessarily know they're an agency staff. What they know is what they're like and what relationships they have with them."

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