When English teacher Gareth Edwards broke his ankle attempting a karate kick dance move at the school Christmas party, he was able to recover at home and teach lessons remotely.

Then, when the 59-year-old was considering early retirement last year, he was convinced to move to three days a week.

If his school, Thomas Gainsborough in Suffolk, had not allowed him this flexibility, he would “probably” have ended his career altogether.

Last year, nearly 40,000 teachers left public schools for reasons other than retirement. Because of his school’s flexibility, Edwards wasn’t one of them.

Part of the Unity Schools Partnership, Thomas Gainsborough is one of 10 ambassador schools and trusts (one for each region) appointed by the Department for Education to develop flexible working approaches and provide advice to others interested in doing the same.

Nationally, only about 20 percent of high school teachers work part time. At Thomas Gainsborough, it’s more than a third (34 of its 100 teachers), an increase of 15 percent from last year.

Assistant principal Alex Blagona, who leads the school’s flexible working program, says that, given the flexibility, “the vast majority” of staff “will pay that back in kind later.”

The school is also, literally, being paid off. This approach led to a 30 per cent drop in staff absences last year, helping to save £30,000 in supply costs. Paid vacation time has also fallen by 80 percent.

“Not just be a fluffy bunny”

Given the recruitment and retention crisis, schools like Thomas Gainsborough feel they have no choice but to be flexible.

Just over a third of teachers and leaders in 2023 (36 percent) planned to leave the public school sector in the next 12 months (excluding retirement), compared to 25 percent in 2022. Eighty percent of Teachers who left the school blamed the high workload, while 37 percent cited a lack of flexible working opportunities.

“We had to adapt, because teachers know that the job market allows them to find part-time work elsewhere,” explains Blagona. “Schools are now aware of the value of their teachers. »

Headteacher Helen Yapp has just allowed one of her department heads to work from home on the day of our visit because absences elsewhere meant “she was whipped to the bone”.

“It was the human thing to do. We talk about trying to understand the invisible emotional backpacks people carry, but I’m not being gentle – I don’t want her to go into long-term illness either. So it’s not just about being a fluffy bunny, it’s about being quite strategic.

Yapp believes her students’ parents are unaware of her flexible approach. “They don’t need to be because it doesn’t affect their child.” However, “they would comment if we had a long-term supply.”

But there is some nervousness about the apparent public perception of lazy teachers. The DfE’s flexible working group and leaders from its ambassador schools and trusts met in London last month on the day an article was published regarding a Teach First report on attracting new teachers. Teachers are being “offered lie-ins”, we read in the title.

The framing of the story “sent alarm bells” through the group, Blagona says, because “that’s not the narrative we’re trying to promote.”

Thomas Gainsborough personnel may spend their planning, preparation, and evaluation (PPA) time off-site as long as they are not required for coverage tasks. Some teachers start late on some days – so they can drop their students off at school without sleeping. They also sometimes leave school early.

Blagona currently has the opportunity to work from home four mornings a week, allowing her to spend more time with her daughter and get a “mental break” from the hectic school environment.

Upheavals in schedules

But Blagona says the school, which is an ambassador for the Eastern region, faces “challenges” in “bringing other schools with us”.

“It still feels like the new era of hybrid working in the private sector doesn’t really fit the education landscape. »

Two of the original ambassador schools have since withdrawn from the program.

The DfE survey suggests a rise in cynicism about the feasibility of flexible working. Fifty-six percent of teachers and leaders thought flexible working was incompatible with a teaching career, up from 51 percent in 2022.

Blagona says that among the participating schools he has spoken with, “the number one issue” holding them back is scheduling constraints. Some tried to offer all staff a period of leave on fixed days, which proved impossible.

But he believes that the schedules should not be a deterrent. “You have to be smart, that means thinking outside the box about how you distribute teachers,” he says.

The secret, Blagona says, is “to be open with people, so there are no special deals made behind closed doors with different staff members.”

The joy of job sharing

Thomas Gainsborough’s approach was born from a “difficult pandemic”, after which a dozen employees announced their retirement plans. Its rural location – an hour’s journey from the nearest major town (Ipswich) – makes recruitment tricky at the best of times.

The school “needed a plan to encourage people to join us.” He has promoted flexible teaching roles, which help offset the disadvantages of a potentially long commute for those based further afield.

Half of the school’s part-time staff have changed their working habits since arriving, including six young mothers and four job-share teachers. This is unusual for a secondary school; The DfE survey found that just 1 per cent of secondary teachers shared a job, compared to 12 per cent in primary schools.

Liliana Hurtado-Read, head of modern languages ​​at the school, shares a position with her husband Laurence. She almost quit after returning from her last maternity leave, finding the hours “quite difficult” given that one of her children has special needs and is partially home-schooled.

Now she teaches Spanish four days a week and Laurence takes over the other day. They also share a tutor group, which “feels like family.” When there is a crisis at home, they “have each other’s backs.”

Liliana says sharing work has allowed the couple to “continue to grow professionally and enjoy time spent with the children.”

But “the levels of coordination and organization” within their household must be “very high” and they spend “little time together” as a couple. “It’s not an easy thing to do. You have to be able to give on both sides.

Yapp says being flexible means “retaining some of our best people.” Although maintaining experienced staff costs more, it’s a price worth paying. “I don’t balance my budget,” she says.

Well-being at work

A common misconception about flexible working is that it costs schools more. The school was reluctant to go into detail about its budget, but said its personnel costs this year represent 75 percent of its total revenue, which has not changed significantly over the past two years.

According to government guidelines, staff remuneration typically accounts for more than 70 percent of expenses; anything above 80 percent is “considered high.”

Thomas Gainsborough also receives around £50,000 for being a DfE ambassador school.

Yapp believes that “interest in flexible working is increasing”, but there is still a cultural stigma in secondary education where “it’s too complicated not to work full time”.

Mistakes were made because staff did not have “a professional understanding that the ability to work flexibly must suit both parties”.

Since the pandemic, Blagona’s team has also become “really aware” of staff “who are showing courage and sometimes going to school when they really shouldn’t… Part of maintaining wellbeing is about understanding that it’s okay to not be okay. »

Debbie Kwakkelstein, the school’s coverage manager, remembers that a decade ago her teachers thought that “you couldn’t have just one day off, because no one would believe you were sick.” So they took two.

She reassured them that she believed in the reasons for their absence, which helped bring about a cultural shift toward “many day-long absences.” “It saves us money in our blanket production…There are really good relationships between people helping each other.”

Kwakkelstein, 60, felt “pulled in all directions” herself, juggling her family responsibilities as a daughter and grandmother with her job, when she began thinking about retirement this year. Blagona said the school viewed her as a “valued agony aunt” with 20 years of “personal knowledge of staff and procurement agencies” that they “did not want to lose.”

So they struck a deal, reducing her responsibilities to finding coverage in the morning, rather than teaching the coverage herself, in exchange for a 50 percent pay cut.

Blagona says the desire to reduce hours “is still rare in schools… Some would just prefer to see a staff member leave.”

But he believes that retaining experienced staff for longer allows them to “pass on their knowledge” to new staff, which “makes them feel valued at the school”.

Meanwhile, Edwards’ new, shorter work week gave him time for other activities. Yesterday he went dancing with a friend – hoping to avoid any karate moves.

“I feel like I have the best of all worlds now,” he says. “I have to keep the smile off my face sometimes, because I don’t want to look too smug.”