The Department for Education has said it does not believe it would be “helpful” to produce a list of responsibilities for schools and teachers, in response to a recommendation from MPs.
The Commons Education Select Committee recommended last May that the DfE “clearly defines the parameters of schools’ and teachers’ responsibilities” following its inquiry into teacher recruitment and retention.
The committee had made the recommendation in an attempt to support schools by making clear what issues are not within the scope of their responsibilities.
In response, the DfE said: “We do not believe that producing a list of responsibilities for schools and teachers would be helpful, as looking after the development and wellbeing of large numbers of children is inevitably complex.
“Recognising that workload pressures extend beyond teaching, the prime minister announced a new Child Poverty Taskforce in July, co-chaired by the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education.”
Addressing the recruitment and retention crisis
It was one of a number of recommendations made by the committee to the government to help address the teaching recruitment and retention crisis.
In its response to the committee, published today, the department has also said it is looking at how it can build school support for behaviour and attendance into the new Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence (RISE) teams.
The RISE teams will also help facilitate networking, sharing of best practice and bringing together improvement programmes to help schools access support for teacher shortages.
Where there are teacher shortages in particular subjects, the DfE has said it will encourage subject associations to continue supporting schools to get training so teachers can upskill.
The government response also highlights a series of measures, which were Labour manifesto commitments, such as introducing a Teacher Training Entitlement and an Excellence in Leadership Training Programme, reinstating the School Support Staff Negotiating Body and updating the Early Career Framework as steps, which it said will help address recruitment and retention.
It further committed to monitoring its funded flexible working programme and looking for opportunities to broaden the evidence base on flexible working.
The DfE will also review the Subject Knowledge Enhancement package for future years.
Teacher retention incentives
To explore the recruitment and retention crisis in more detail, the select committee recommended the DfE collect and publish data on the retention of teachers by subject and on regional subject shortages in teacher supply.
The DfE has said it will explore publishing subject leaver rates as part of the School Workforce Census in future.
In addition, the DfE said it will “attempt to evaluate” whether teachers who receive payments like the levelling-up premium and early career payments tend to leave the profession once these payments stop.
The DfE currently offers retention incentives of up to £6,000 for maths, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their career and working in a disadvantaged school.
The latest recruitment data for the postgraduate route to teacher training showed a fall in entrants to primary teacher training and that the government had missed its recruitment target for secondary by nearly 40 per cent.
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