Teach Secondary Issue 14.2

‘MissingMothers’ report (see tinyurl.com/ts142-MT1) is extremely welcome. Produced by The New Britain Project think tank and The Maternity Teacher / Paternity Teacher Project (MTPT) campaign group, the report finds that while teaching remains a female- dominated profession, 9,417 women between the ages of 30 and 39 left the profession in in 2023 – the highest proportion of any demographic. The top three factors cited as their reasons for leaving were excessive workload, family commitments and a lack of flexible working arrangements on the part of their school. Adaptive timetabling So is the answer to offer more working fromhome? Surprisingly not, since these leavers’ chief request was actually the ability to attend significant events in their children’s lives, and for there to be more adaptive timetabling options. As a teacher, I’d certainly hope that the parents of my students would be able to attend those meaningful moments in their children’s school journeys, such as assemblies and Nativity plays, and where possible, be able to pick themup at the end of the school day. And as a mother, I’d like to do the same for my own children. When inflexible work practices collide with teachers’ hopes for more flexibility around their roles, it can, and evidently has pushed experienced teaching staff into different professions that are actually willing and able to provide what they’re looking for. Moreover, the 30 to 39 age bracket in question is the sweet spot for advancing into leadership roles. Women for whom teaching has been their sole profession will have acquired years of highly valuable experience by that time – but if they leave, all that acquired experience will go when they do. This might partly explain why men are 2.3 times more likely to become headteachers than woman. Until very recently, it was virtually unheard of for men to request flexible working. Women, on the other hand, can be off for long periods on maternity leave or to raise their children, potentially multiple times. Upon their return, they’ll then be expected to continue as if they had never left, catching up on various profession- wide developments while dealing with their own life changes and taking everything in their stride. Their male counterparts will typically only receive a few weeks of paternity leave before being expected back at work, enabling them to resume their career trajectories largely uninterrupted. The ‘default’parent I’ve discussed withmy husband the frustrations I’ve felt at being a ‘working mother’, while he’s seen as ‘a man at work who happens to have kids at home’. For all that he’s incredibly active and deeply involved in attending to our children’s needs, he’s never viewed as the ‘default’ parent. Whereas I am– purely by default of my XX chromosomes! 18 months ago, I made a personal decision to leave the classroom and my leadership role, in favour of taking up a support staff job at an independent school. While the experience and the flexibility it afforded were fantastic – I could work from home, be there for school pick-ups, book days off in term time for health visitor and hospital appointments – I felt desperately unfulfilled. I therefore decided to return to teaching via a SEN leadership job. I’ve worked part-time since having children. They’ve attended nursery, during days that could naturally be longer – but there was something about my children starting school that made me want to be there for pick-up at least once a week. So that’s what I asked for inmy letter of application. At the interview, when asked if I had any questions, I replied, “ How do you feel about me going to my children’s Nativity? ” If I were to be offered the job, they asked, would I still be a firm candidate? I responded by asking them, “ Would I be able to collect my children from school on at least one day per week? ” Reading through the findings of the ‘Missing Mothers’ report made me realise that if I wanted to stay in the profession I loved, then I’d have to clearly outline exactly what I needed to thrive, rather than simply survive. It’s a document that I feel all school leaders – whether they’re faced with teacher retention issues or not – should immerse themselves in. Before then figuring out how to embed its recommendations into their standard practice. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Nikki Cunningham-Smith is an assistant headteacher based in Gloucestershire IN NUMBERS 127,910 The number of women teachers aged 30 to 39 within the education workforce 2,194 of the headteachers in English state schools are men; 1,652 are women Source: DfE School Workforce in England 2023 of female teachers aged 30 to 39 have left teaching due to family commitments of women teachers aged 30 to 39 opting to remain within the profession cited ‘supportive school policies around parental needs’ as a key reason for them staying; 71%cited the ability to secure part-time toles Source: 2024 survey carried out for the ‘MissingMothers’ report 51% 95% 39 teachwire.net/secondary S TA F F I N G