As we begin the fresh school year in 2020, thousands of newly qualified teachers will be doing so knowing that they have been stripped of time: time to learn, time to develop, time to build confidence.

The loss of time means many will be nervous about the challenge that lies ahead. It also means school leaders have an obligation to focus extra efforts on supporting NQTs at the start of their career.

Supporting new teachers: the workload problem

Teacher retention has long been a thorn in the side of education. According to Department for Education school workforce data, in 2019 only 85.4 per cent of teachers who qualified in 2018 were still in service and the percentage of teachers remaining in their roles after five years was only 67.4 per cent.

Workload continues to be a significant factor in all retention figures; for NQTs at the start of their career, this is particularly pertinent as they are still learning and developing their craft.

Varying levels of support and resources for behaviour management, planning, marking and feedback, amongst other pressures, can make workload unmanageable.

The Early Career Framework states that early career teachers have “an entitlement to additional support and training”.

In the wake of school lockdowns, leaders need to be acutely conscious of the need to nurture and encourage those new to the profession with the provision of expert mentors and bespoke CPD packages.

The majority of the class of 2020 will have missed out on that vital final school placement and, similarly, NQTs will have missed over a third of their first school year. 

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Practice makes perfect

Research on teaching and learning applies equally to adults who are in the formative stage of their careers, as it does for pupils.

Rosenshine’s Principles provide a framework for teaching that is useful in the classroom for both pupil and teacher; the 10 principles include a focus on explanations and new material, modelling, scaffolding, regular practice and review. 

During the practice stage, learners develop greater independence and hone their skills. This cohort of NQTs have lost the time to practise what they have started to learn so far and they have missed out on the close guidance and coaching that teacher training affords. 

For example, to support behaviour management, NQTs should be ”practising routines at the beginning of the school year”, yet time to understand and observe the tips and techniques that help on a day-to-day basis has been lost.

This support must be prioritised by leaders through exceptionally tight behaviour management systems, which they must uphold and maintain if their teachers are to succeed. 

Plugging the gaps

Last year student teachers and NQTs alike missed out on over a term of CPD and mentoring. In the “forgetting curve”, Ebbinghaus demonstrates that “time passes and we quickly forget”.

Schools need to assess the gaps in knowledge, and design bespoke CPD for individuals to plug these gaps.

Effective CPD must be iterative and relevant, and must drive improvement of teaching and learning in the classroom not only to improve outcomes for pupils but also for a teacher’s professional development. 

Crucially, performance monitoring should be low-threat. These early career teachers are starting in unparalleled and daunting circumstances; stringent accountability is counterproductive.

If budgets and timetables allow then perhaps initially a greater reduction in timetable than 10 per cent or 5 per cent respectively would help to give back time lost for practice and CPD. 

Some NQTs might benefit from an extended probation period, agreed early on, as a vehicle to provide time to succeed, especially in the new world of blended learning and remote lessons.

Now is the time for leaders and colleagues to think creatively to sustain them. 

Joanne Tiplady is curriculum and research lead for TEAL Trust and the Wolds Associate Research School and teaches at South Hunsley School in East Yorkshire.