Ask almost any school leader and they will tell you that retention of their most experienced teachers is what keeps them awake at night. An unhealthy level of teacher churn is one of the main indicators that a school is struggling and results are likely to be disappointing. It is often identified as a key reason for the intergenerational failure in some of England’s poorest communities.
It is also why we have brought together some of the most experienced educationalists to form the Commission on Teacher Retention. The Commission will examine the reasons why so many secondary school teachers are leaving the profession, and what would make them stay.
There can be no silver bullet. The policy levers available to politicians in Westminster are limited and the same possible interventions come up time and again. But, the fact is that, quietly, without special help from ministers or Whitehall, there are schools that do manage to buck the trend.
