Flexible Working in Schools
18 August 2022
Following the ongoing increase of recruitment and retention problems within UK schools, it is more important than ever to consider ways that schools can incorporate added flexibility into their roles. With the forever growing demand on job roles within schools, staff experiencing high levels of stress and many other sectors offering an increasing variety of flexible working options, a noticeable staff shortage is occurring within schools.
77% of teachers who have left the profession would only consider returning to part time or job share roles (TES survey 2016).
It is recognised that offering and managing flexible working within schools is far more challenging than other sectors and there is no simple solution to this. Schools need to consider and prioritise the potential impact on pupil progress and welfare, as well as providing continuity for the pupils throughout their learning journey. School’s budgets are, in most cases, already stretched so the additional costs of flexible working are not always manageable.
Flexible working complicates timetabling arrangements particularly when trying to manage continuity for pupils but also fairness to staff. There are also the communication issues to consider, increased flexible working could make it very difficult for all staff to be able to attend meetings and training at one time, causing difficulty in ensuring everyone is given important information. Schools looking for ways to increase flexible working could consider the following suggestions. However, it doesn’t necessarily mean these options will work for all settings as each school’s demographic and needs will differ greatly.
For those staff wanting to explore part time hours, schools could consider either a job share to manage this or other options such creating a role for a teacher to teach one subject across the school rather than teaching one class. In addition, there are other ways that schools could be flexibility including:
Staggered working e.g., early departures or late starts which could help staff with caring commitments.
Scheduling PPA at the start or end of the day and give the option to work from home during this time.
Working agreed core hours each day rather than the whole day.
Regular agreed time out e.g., one morning or afternoon per month.
Compressed hours- allowing staff to work their full-time hours over less days.
Phased retirement- this is beneficial as it can retain skilled and experienced staff for longer whilst allowing for effective succession planning.
There are many different reasons that staff may want to consider flexible working and therefore many different arrangements could work for them. It could be that taking a whole school approach could work better than taking individual requests. This involves sharing with staff the best time of year to discuss their flexible working requirements to aid formal planning and timetabling. However, school’s will need to manage expectations as it may not be possible to grant all requests and staff should also be willing to compromise where necessary. For example, if a school received a high number of flexible working requests, it would be very difficult for schools to accommodate such requests whilst also considering the needs of the pupils. Or, if an employee specifically works with a child with an EHCP, it may not be practical to allow flexibility within the school day due to the needs of the child.
Therefore, employees should remember that although they have the right to request flexible working arrangements, it is not an automatic right for it to be approved, provided that the school have lawful reasons for refusing flexible working requests.
It is possible for new working arrangements to be trialled initially to check that they work in practice. However, there should be a collective understanding that not everyone will necessarily be able to have what they ask for. Senior leaders could work together to see where compromises could be made to meet the needs of the employee, the employer and the pupils.
If schools do implement flexible working arrangements this can be monitored to assess the impact and evaluate any improvements that it has made on the wellbeing and retention of their workforce. Schools may also see a reduction in recruitment costs over time.