Best in Class
Recently I had the exciting task of being a judge for our latest education campaign - #BestInClassComp, where we committed to investing ￡500 for three separate schools, to put towards transforming a teaching area that promotes creative learning. I was extremely proud to see over 130 teachers reach out to us as part of the competition, with heartwarming messages and illustrations which really demonstrate how passionate they are about helping their pupils learn.
This particular competition means a lot to me. Most of us have a friend or family member that works as a teacher and know that on the odd occasion, they dip into their own pockets for top-up classroom supplies. I wasn’t aware however of the extent of teaching professionals across the entire country who are having to fund essential classroom supplies themselves.
The inspiration behind this campaign came from recent findings from teachers’ union NASUWT, which found that among the 4,386 members who responded to the survey, 20% said they paid for classroom resources at least once a week, with half of those saying they did so “several times a week”.
Earlier this year at the annual NEU conference, teacher Jenny Jones presented a shopping list to delegates containing classroom supply items totalling over ￡700, all of which were personally funded. According to TES, Jenny bought 120 glue sticks, 100 coloured erasers and a heater to keep her warm when she was doing her marking after school, for when the heating gets switched off. Another teacher told NASUWT that they had spent at least ￡5,000 over the last few years and will no doubt will continue to do so - voluntarily but not always happily. It’s upsetting to find out that schools are even resorting to using crowdfunding and Amazon wishlists for basic supplies to buy the most essential of items. An investigation carried out by the Guardian revealed that more than 1,000 English schools are appealing for help due to government budget cuts. One head teacher in Cardiff described how her staff have been driven to sourcing supplies from charity shops and car boot sales, due to teaching materials budget being cut by 50%.
While ministers are saying that school finances are a priority for the next spending review, we need to raise awareness of this together to ensure teachers are receiving the funding they need to educate our nation. We’ve been helping teachers find happiness in new roles for over 25 years and we don’t want this issue becoming something that distracts them from applying, especially during such a huge skills shortage.
Alongside some of the work we’ve been doing, there are some amazing charities out there which are really going the extra mile to equip children with the vital essentials they need in order to learn. Research by market analysts Mintel suggests British parents spend about ￡1.2bn on clothing and equipment for school. There’s a local Luton charity which we’ve been working with over the past year, who share the same passion as we do, in enabling all children the equal right to an education, irrespective of financial background. The Level Trust charity has helped children aged 3-16 since 2013. It’s estimated that the charity has saved families ￡163,586 by providing some 7,858 pieces of school uniform, 1,041 winter coats, 3,345 pairs of school shoes, and 3,930 learning resource packs. Impressive work indeed. Our internal teams have been getting behind the cause too. As part of our ‘Randstad with Heart’ initiative, every employee is given the opportunity to swap eight working hours for volunteering activities. With our Luton education team working closely with Luton’s schools, helping the charity enabled us to make a positive contribution to the local education community. You can see some of the team in action as they refurbished the Level Trust premises here.
Becoming a teacher is a hugely rewarding career, with the ability to really make a difference and inspire the future generation, but unfortunately we’re still facing a lack of applicants. Among the long list of positives, it’s no secret that teachers work hard, sometimes do long hours and take work home with them. They don’t need the added pressure of having to budget for supplies out of their own salary for the classroom. We ultimately want to make the lives of teachers easier, and that’s part of the motivation behind launching the Best In Class competition. We’ll see three classroom or teaching areas benefit from a well-deserved makeover, on us. Hopefully following the upcoming general election, depending on which way it goes, our schools are granted the much needed capital they deserve, so our teachers can take some of the pressure off themselves with regards to the essentials they need to carry out their indispensable roles.
I would like to congratulate Lunts Heath School, Stanground Academy and Greenland Community Primary School for their amazing creative entries. Have a look at the photos below to see the impressive submissions for yourselves. I’m really looking forward to seeing the finished product next year and hearing about how the pupils have been enjoying their new and improved learning space. We’ll be doing a follow up film to showcase the transformation, so please watch this space.
