Joy of teaching overshadowed by pressure and stress, warns head teacher

A head teacher has said he is worried how schools will be staffed in future due to the ongoing problems recruiting staff.

Steffan Griffiths, of Ysgol Nantgaredig in Carmarthen, said problems attracting teachers in some secondary school subjects was "quite frightening" and he was aware of issues at primary level too.

"We're hearing about teachers starting their careers and then finishing within a year or two. I think with recruitment we have to emphasise the importance of a work-life balance," he said.

The Welsh government said there was no single answer to addressing recruitment challenges but it was addressing workload concerns and routes into teaching.

Griffiths said recruiting and retaining staff should be a top priority in May's Senedd election, adding that it was a concern in his school as he and many of his colleagues were in their fifties and coming to the end of their careers.

"Teachers are coming into the profession and then within a year or two they're saying 'no thank you very much, I'm going to leave and do something else'," he said.

The Education Workforce Council said recruiting and keeping teachers in the profession was a worldwide problem and retention levels were "relatively stable" at the moment.

But recruitment to secondary teacher training course in Wales had been below the target since 2016-17 and was 56% under in 2023-24.

At primary school level, the situation has been described as "buoyant" overall by inspectorate Estyn, though filling Welsh medium places "is still a concern".

Ysgol Nantgaredig collaborate with a local university training student teachers.

Griffiths said: "I think some people are overly concerned that once you start teaching, that's the end - you can't do anything else.

"It's not true. It's a joy to be with the children.

"We are in our posts because of the children and hopefully we can give a flavour of the experience to these young people to work with children."

He said he would want to see politicians vying for votes at the Senedd election to show how they would "persuade these students that teaching is the career for them".

He added it was not about pay, but addressing the pressures.

"It's to do with the rewards you get from being a teacher and working in schools.

"The pupils are our future."

Teacher and additional learning needs co-ordinator, Rhydian Evans, said squeezed budgets placed extra pressure and stress on staff.

"I have 31 children in my class, 31 children in another class and years five and six... there's 34 children.

"The reason behind that is to do with budgeting - not having enough money to employ another member of staff - which means more pressure on teachers," he said.

Evans added that "there's not only more marking, but more parents to deal with, more reports to write and potentially more additional needs to accommodate".

He said student teachers often got a wake-up call about the extent of responsibilities.

"The holidays may be appealing," but he added "they do find out quite quickly what that role entails".

Evans said that a lack of funding placed more responsibility on individuals "so you are stretched as a teacher".

"By the end of the week, we are on our knees."

A recent report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank said the Welsh education system was underperforming.

Other challenges in Wales' education system included high absence rates and poor results in international tests.

One of the authors of the report said the state of education over the past two decades had been "disappointing".

Luke Sibieta agreed there were challenges in recruiting teachers "particularly in secondary schools, particularly in disadvantaged areas, and in particular maths and science subjects".

He said the next Welsh government could offer more targeted incentives to recruit teachers in those areas.

But he added "it may be that you could change teaching conditions and teacher workloads so that the teachers are happier in their jobs and that might help improve recruitment and retention as well".

A Welsh Labour spokesperson said it had published an Education Workforce Plan - a system-wide programme of action aimed at strengthening and supporting the workforce.

They added: "Teachers and support staff are the backbone of our education system."

The Welsh Conservatives said they would give a financial incentive or refund for graduates training as teachers in Wales if they committed to teaching in Welsh schools for at least five years.

Party education spokeswoman, Natasha Asghar, said they had a plan which "backs teachers".

"It restores discipline, reduces unnecessary bureaucracy and ensures staff have the support they need to do what they do best - teach."

Plaid Cymru education spokesman Cefin Campbell said it would introduce new incentives to attract and retain teachers.

He added the party would "address the overlapping issues of poor attendance and behaviour to improve working conditions for teachers".

Reform's Laura Anne Jones said: "Recruitment and the retention of our teachers, especially in core subjects, is one of the biggest issues facing education in Wales.

"We would reduce bureaucracy so teachers can teach. We will empower teachers by restoring school discipline, taking a zero-tolerance approach to discipline and banning mobile phones in schools."

A spokesperson for Wales Green Party said it would "improve recruitment, retention and working conditions for teachers", with increased pay for planning and preparation time that has historically been undervalued.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats said it would introduce a national teacher workforce strategy to address recruitment and retention, alongside increasing school funding per pupil above inflation so schools can properly support their staff.

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