AST month, I was pleased to be invited to a lecture in which Education Secretary Estelle Morris presented her plans to “transform” secondary school standards. She spoke well and I found it hard to disagree with what she had to say. I had just one nagging question: how can we raise our game when we cannot even get the staff to teach the curriculum?

This academic year I have spent nearly pound;50,000 on recruitment, enough to pay for two teachers - if only I could find them. This enormous waste of resources results from the staffing crisis blighting inner-city schools such as mine, especially in London. Currently, 46 per cent of my teaching staff has been in post for less than a year and fewer than one in six has been in the school longer than five years. This turnover is very unsettling for our pupils, who do not take kindly to the constant stream of new teachers.

The average age of our teaching staff has reduced dramatically over the past five years, with almost a third now under 30 and only a handful over 50. This injection of youthful vigour is no bad thing, considering the energy needed to be an effective inner-city teacher. But many of our pupils lack the stability of a nuclear family and are emotionally needy; they need and deserve experienced teachers who know them well to help them achieve their best.

Recruitment and retention of staff is a serious problem for many reasons. Teaching is an exhausting job, especially in a school such as ours, where staff typically work 12 to 14-hour days in term-time. Housing in inner London is extremely expensive and for most of our staff owning their own property - at an average pound;120,000 - is a distant dream. Many are repaying up to pound;300 a month on their student loans, a big dent in their pay packet. In addition, most spend around three hours travelling to and from work, and some pay pound;200 a month to do so. Is it any wonder that finding and keeping good staff is difficult?

We have wonderful support staff. But although they provide excellent back-up for pupils and teachers, they can never replace teachers. The Government should know that teacher shortages cannot be overcome on the cheap. Our 30 teaching assistants are great, but few have had any formal education post-16. Most have young families and even if they had the appropriate qualifications to go on to university, it is unlikely that they could afford to study for four years without a salary coming into the house. Our assistants are not subject specialists and do not have the skills required to teach full classes of pupils. Teaching is an art and a skill that has to be learned and practised. That takes time and costs money. We need more teachers and we need to make their job attractive enough so that they will stay, not least in inner-city schools.

So what is it teachers want? I decided to ask my staff. We came up with the following list:

* A life (teachers can’t have one during term-time).

* Enough time to do the job (they never get anything finished).

* Somewhere decent to live at a price they can actually afford.

* A salary that reflects their responsibilities.

* Respect from pupils, parents and carers.

How can this be achieved? They suggest interest free loans to enable staff to gather a deposit for a flat or a house and to help them to repay a mortgage. These could be limited to the amount of time they spend in London state schools (or in other hard-to-recruit areas). Part-purchase deals on property are also a popular choice. Funds to provide free or subsidised travel would also help, as would additional time for training and for curriculum development. My senior staff suggest an enhanced pension scheme for those who work in the inner city. This would certainly help us to recruit and retain experienced teachers in the areas where they are needed most.

I agree with Estelle Morris when she says - as she did in her recent lecture - that an additional pound;2,000 in London allowance would not make a great deal of difference. But it would at least be some recognition of how expensive and challenging it is for teachers to live in the capital. The problem is not going to go away.

In conclusion, Estelle, if there is a new initiative to pilot, please sign us up. If there is any transforming to be done, then this is the school to do it. I am very happy to lead my staff in the process of transforming secondary education, but I cannot do it alone. First, I need the teachers and I need to be able to keep them. And I need them now.

Kenny Frederick is principal of George Green’s school a large, mixed comprehensive school in the London borough of Tower Hamlets