Solihull headteacher giving 'shattered' teachers one day off a fortnight sparks debate

A headteacher giving teachers one day off a fortnight in a bid to stem the mass exodus from the industry, and attract new talent, has been flooded with praise. Earlier this week we reported that St Peter's Catholic School in Solihull will be the first Catholic school in the country, and the first school in the West Midlands to roll out the trial.

The radical scheme, which is only open to full-time teaching staff, will see staff teaching 45 periods (lessons) rather than 50 periods a fortnight. The scheme, which comes into effect in September 2024, will see teachers' enhanced PPA (planning and preparation) offering reduced to the statutory allowance to accommodate the changes.

Stuart explained he has taken the drastic move after some job adverts for teaching roles in the school received zero applications, despite being in a competitive district. And there were more than 400 comments and nearly 500 reactions to news of the scheme on our BirminghamLive Facebook page, with fierce debate sparked on the holiday allowances given to teachers.

READ MORE: Solihull school 'first' to give teachers one day off a fortnight as head forced to act

Get breaking news on BirminghamLive WhatsApp

Headteacher and former pupil Stuart Shelton explained that the school's 1,350 pupils won't feel any difference in how they are taught, and that an efficiently organised rota means there will be no reduction in teaching levels in the classroom.

He said record numbers of teachers leaving the profession forced him to act. Stuart told BirminghamLive: "I had just noticed over time the number of applications being received going down. From 2021 to 2022 there were 40,000 teachers who left the profession. That is almost nine percent of the workforce and it doesn't include those teachers retiring. It used to not be a problem in subjects like PE.

"We are an outstanding school and we have had no applications for jobs. Solihull is a fairly competitive market. Imagine what it's like for inner city schools in Birmingham.

"I had to think of a different way to attract staff to the school and retain our staff. We've had a massive push on staff wellbeing."

'If the holidays were worth it there wouldn't be a national shortage'

Taking to our Facebook page, Olive Schwenk wrote: "People talking about long holidays and weekends off don’t realise that many teachers are in school during the holidays, can be doing schoolwork over the weekend and are everyday working longer than their children’s school hours!"

Sammie Jacobs added: "Gosh some of these comments amaze me. Teaching is a profession many are leaving…if the holidays were worth it then there wouldn’t be a national teacher shortage.

"Many teachers go above and beyond in what they do for the children, school isn’t just for an education these days, in the absence of proper funding for other services schools are picking up more and more pastoral and safeguarding responsibilities. It amazes me that people are so negative towards them."

Katy Lucas posed the question of childcare problems: "I hope this [isn't] gonna be across everywhere because, teachers do get the most holidays out of everyone. I’m not disputing tho how hard they work because they do work hard, but they do get the holidays too. And also, for that one day then, how would that work for childcare when most people work weekdays."

Accompanying a picture of a typical work day for a teacher, Victoria Jane said: "This is why we are shattered and leaving!" There were also many current and former teachers getting involved with the debate.

Maggie Hanson explained: "As an ex teacher, I can confirm that many teachers work long hours. The people complaining about this scheme are probably the ones who moan that their child hasn’t got a proper maths/ science/ any other shortage subject teacher. This is an initiative to retain and attract good teachers and it would certainly have encouraged me to apply! Good luck to St Peter’s."

How does the day-off scheme work?

• The new scheme will come into effect from the new academic year in September 2024

• Staff will be reduced to 45 periods (lessons) rather than 50 periods a fortnight

• St Peter's used to offer an enhanced PPA offering (time allotted to teachers for planning and preparation). To accommodate the new changes, their PPA time has been reduced to the statutory allowance

• The day off option is only available to teaching staff, not teaching assistants, senior leadership or other school staff members

• Only full time staff can take part

For more stories from across Solihull including BHX, breaking news, politics and what's on, sign up to our MySolihull newsletter