After a particularly trying couple of years, the nation’s head teachers are hopefully taking the opportunity to recharge their batteries and think of things other than Covid protocols, exam results and Ofsted. But they know that when they do fully click back into work mode they will be faced by yet another unenviable decision.
When the government announced that it would be introducing “landmark rises to teachers’ salaries” from September, it did so with a quiet proviso: the pay rises will not come with new funding. That means that the increases of 5 per cent for the most experienced teachers and of up to 8 per cent for those at the start of their careers will have to be found from within schools’ existing budgets.
