We are sure that the children in 5 Maple and their families are wondering who will be looking after them from after the Easter holiday, when Mrs Miller-Orme starts her maternity leave. There is no need to panic, but we are yet to recruit for the Summer Term. We have explored various options and ‘tried out’ several agency staff, none of whom as yet have met the high standards and expectations we have. We have other ‘irons in the fire’ and fully expect to have filled the gap before we break up. If all else fails, we will redeploy one or more members of our Senior Leadership Team to teach the class. One way or another, the children will come back to a teacher and we will make sure the transition is smooth and the children know what to expect before we break up.
The difficulty we are having in recruiting reflects the national crisis in recruitment and retention of teachers, which has been developing for many, many years. Generally, we are lucky – good and outstanding teachers want to work at Parkdale and stay here. We do have a fantastic recruitment in place for Year 5 from September, so they are out there, if few and far between.