Prepare for the expected. Let's act to mitigate post-lockdown staffing pressures now

There is little question that schools will need to engage temporary staff when the current lockdown lifts to cover isolating teachers, for COVID testing and for ongoing pupil support.

That's why prescient MAT and Local Authority leaders are building banks of supply teachers and temporary staff now. They're taking action to ensure their schools can meet their staffing requirements when all pupils return to the classroom -- we hope in February.

Lockdown presents immediate challenges for school leaders, teachers and support staff. They are managing a constantly shifting pupil and staff landscape and are doing a heroic job of ensuring teaching continues as smoothly as possible for all pupils, whether they are in school or at home.

Central teams can do right by school leaders by making preparations for their temporary staff requirements through the spring and summer months now.

At Teacher Booker we help MAT/LA recruitment, talent and HR teams attract their own bank of temporary staff, ensure they are safely cleared for work and are made available to support local schools. These staff can be deployed to both the organisation's own schools and can even be shared between collaborating MATs and LAs, to ensure as many school communities are covered as possible.

When lockdown is lifted (and at present it looks like this will coincide with what is usually the peak annual demand for supply staff in schools), schools in groups whose leaders have foreseen and addressed this demand for staffing support in good time will benefit. They'll be able to source high quality staff who have been sourced and vetted by the organisation itself without the uncertainty, without the haggling and without the massive cost and quality variance that using third party agency staff incurs.

During lockdowns last year we worked with MATs across London to build up their staff banks, and this thesis bore out -- when schools fully re-opened after lockdown headteachers on the ground were able to find the trusted temporary staff they needed instantly. Timely action by leaders saved money, increased employer brand by providing fairer, better paid teaching opportunities to candidates, and began a virtuous cycle of staff attraction, retention and engagement across their schools.

Although there are many immediate pressures that lockdown brings, we must keep an eye on what lies ahead. We should use this time to prepare for what is inevitably coming in the Spring. To choose not to do so risks our on-the-ground school teams, who have worked so hard to continue day-to-day provision through the most challenging of periods, being left in the lurch when they need support in the months ahead.