Teacher recruitment numbers

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Bath Spa bucking the teacher recruitment numbers trend

Monday, 19 June, 2017

As teacher shortages are regularly reported across the UK, Professor Kate Reynolds, Executive Dean of the Institute for Education at Bath Spa University says this is certainly not the case here in Bath.

Professor Reynolds said: “This year Bath Spa University celebrates 70 years of its renowned teacher training course, and while we recognise that there may be a recruitment crisis and a slump in the amount people wanting to enter the teaching profession in the UK as a whole we are bucking this trend here in Bath.

“Our recruitment numbers are positive, with applications up by 11 per cent in secondary education and 20 per cent compared to last year in primary education. Nationally people may not be interested in being a teacher, but they are certainly interested in being an outstanding Bath Spa teacher.

“We know teaching offers huge rewards at all levels allowing people to remain close to a subject they feel passionate about while having a varied career where no two days are the same.

“High profile individuals such as Financial Times columnist Lucy Kellaway are choosing to switch careers into teaching later in life, giving a boost to the sector’s profile and raising the status of teaching as a career.

“At Bath Spa University’s Institute for Education, our goal is to help our students to achieve their vocation through world-leading teaching and a rich combination of study and placement. We can only do this with the help of our partner schools.

“The principles that our founder Mary Dawson held when she established her teacher training college in Bath in 1947 - to create an outstanding training college that produced passionate, engaged teachers - still holds true today.

“We know there are challenges, there always have been and there always will be.

“Our government is increasingly recognising the need to support teachers and have launched the ‘Teacher Workload Plan’ which aims to cut back on the administrative elements of teaching, which have been steadily on the rise over the past couple of decades. This is a welcome step in the right direction.

“There are many ways that teachers can be much better supported in their roles to ensure that on a day-to-day basis going to school is pleasant and rewarding. They can help themselves by accessing further support and development through professional learning. We actively encourage this at Bath Spa through our Network for Learning programme which offers the chance for teachers to come together to learn and share skills and knowledge.

“Through our teacher training programmes we support teachers to be resilient in how they deal with conflict and negative situations which sometimes arise in schools.

“The challenges modern day teachers face are not deterring ambitious young people who want to make a real difference to children’s lives.”

The Bath Spa University’s Institute for Education is one of the oldest specialist teacher training institutions in the UK, and is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year.