School staff recruitment 'challenging' says Hertfordshire agency

Staff vacancies in schools are proving a challenge to fill for recruitment agencies

A teaching recruitment agency has said filling thousands of school vacancies was "challenging".

Vacancies in Hertfordshire have risen from 6,000 before the pandemic to 10,000 and one Hitchin headteacher had to spend £30,000 on supply staff.

Catherine Tallis of Stevenage-based HFL Education said challenges included jobs allowing people to work from home and fewer teaching graduates.

"There's no doubt it is challenging to fill vacancies", she said.

Geraint Edwards, head of The Priory School in Hitchin said, like many others schools across the UK, was struggling to recruit staff.

It currently has three teaching vacancies and needed to fill several support roles.

Geraint Edwards, head of The Priory School in Hitchin says trying to fill vacant places is costly

"The recruitment process itself, you're talking about £1,500 to advertise for a post within the Times Educational Supplement," said Mr Edwards.

"You do the advertising, then you're looking for supply agencies - so that costs £1,000 a week.

"At this moment in time I think we have spent about £30,000 this financial year on supply teachers."

Modern languages teacher Lorena Carrion-Perez said she finds teaching "rewarding"

Lorena Carrion-Perez is originally from Spain and has been a qualified modern foreign languages teacher for nine years.

She now lives and works in Hitchin and said it was the job she had always wanted, in a country she "fell in love with" as a student.

"Even though we are not earning so much money, I think it is enough if you have the vocation, although I would like more money to cover the additional hours," she said.

Angela Westwood was a police sergeant before becoming a school exclusions officer

Angela Westwood is new to the Priory School. The former police officer joined the support team in January and works with pupils who have been been excluded.

"I always wanted to work with challenging children. Hopefully help them with their pathways so they don't become the adult that we see in policing later on in life," she said.

The mother of two young children said policing during Covid meant she was working up to 20-hour shifts and her life became chaotic.

"For me it [school work] meant better quality of life and it was enough for me to say okay, a change of career is now overdue," she said.

"Professionally, I'm getting such a lot out of it."

Catherine Tallis of HFL Education is finding recruitment for schools difficult as people opt for other careers

Ms Tallis of HFL education said its workload had ramped up "hugely" in terms of teaching and support staff recruitment.

She said: "There's not enough graduates coming into teaching so last year recruitment targets were missed by 40% for secondary teachers.

"Unfortunately pay hasn't always kept pace with the market, particularly for support staff.

"There's no doubt it is challenging to fill vacancies but that ability to shape a young person's life is really ultimately rewarding."

Government information states there are 465,000 teachers in state-funded schools, 24,000 more than in 2010.