Sleepless nights caused by not enough staff to cover classes has been the final straw for Evelyn Forde. After 23 years in schools – nine as a headteacher – she’s decided to quit.
The school she has led for the past seven years, Copthall Academy for girls in a leafy part of north London, has a ‘good’ Ofsted rating and is in the top 3 per cent of schools nationwide for Progress 8.
But Forde recalls her sense of despair recently when eight supply staff had to be brought in, not all of whom were qualified to teach. Her email inbox that day received just one job application from a prospective teacher.
“It keeps me up at night. When things are out of your control it becomes very stressful. I just thought, ’I don’t think I can do this anymore’.”
