Dilapidated school buildings, excessive workloads, and inadequate pay – this, says Dr Mary Bousted, is how we as a society treat our teaching and school staff in 2023. And it's now so bad that even Ofsted is passing comment...
The educational crisis caused by the chronic teacher shortage was the main topic of Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman’s latest annual report.
To use a cliché, I have never read anything like it.
The report is testimony to a decade of neglect of education and children’s services. It documents shocking evidence of:
- Nurseries under threat of closure because staff can earn so much more working in local supermarkets.
- A shortage of foster carers and under staffing in children’s homes because the wages and support offered are too low.
- Children and young people with SEND not receiving the specialist support they deserve from appropriately qualified staff because schools cannot recruit and retain them.
