It is said when an elephant reaches a certain age, or state of health, they direct themselves to a place to await their death: the so-called “elephants’ graveyard”.

And this week, I found myself thinking: have we created a teachers’ graveyard? More teachers - of all ages - are quitting the profession for good. Do they find themselves resignedly walking along one-way path towards retirement, or a new career altogether, accepting that it’s time to leave the world of education far, far behind?

The overwhelming answer is yes. 

This week I talked to two people who have resigned owing to the pressure of teaching. One was a relatively young headteacher, who is fed up with constantly thinking that he’s unable to meet the expectations of everyone connected with the school.

The other has decided to go back to his job pre-teaching - financial advice - to give his family a better life: it’s more money for less hours.

All jobs are stressful: teaching isn’t alone in this. But the pressure that comes with working in education is filtered down to each and every individual and it’s a burden that many struggle to live with. And for god sake, it’s not like the stress is compensated by a high pay packet and a high level of respect from society.

Both colleagues said that they would potentially return to teaching in the future, but the headteacher has said he would never be a school leader again. He asked me, “How can I continue in a job when most visitors to the school question what you are doing and think they can do it better?” Perhaps his belief that schools and headteachers receive little or no support gives an insight into why so many find themselves trudging down the path towards the teachers’ graveyard.

Herein lies the problem. If the teaching profession ever had a direction - a clear mantra of what is right and proper for our children - it’s been lost. Lost by successive governments telling teachers what to do rather than working with them towards a common goal. Lost by Ofsted, local authorities, academy chain leaders, governors, the media, all eager to shout out their advice, all eager to tell the profession what they should and shouldn’t teach, all believing that they know how to teach better than the teachers themselves.

I really hope that my two colleagues achieve career happiness in the future. I was lucky because I truly achieved this in teaching.

It’s a sad indictment to say fewer and fewer teachers get to experience the same feeling I did. And, inevitably, the real losers are the pupils who lose out on being taught by excellent educators.

Colin Harris led a school in a deprived area of Portsmouth for more than two decades. His last two Ofsted reports were “outstanding” across all categories