High Peak Conservative Candidate Robert Largan has welcomed the Government’s new plans to improve teacher recruitment and retention.

This week, the Education Secretary published a new integrated Recruitment and Retention strategy to boost teacher numbers and make sure that teaching remains an attractive and rewarding profession.

The strategy, as set out by Damian Hinds, outlines a number of measures to give teachers more early career support, reduce teacher workload and extend opportunities for flexible working which include:

• Simplifying the process of applying to become a teacher and reforming the bursary system to include retention-based payments so that more teachers can be encouraged to stay where they are.
• The creation of the Early Career Framework, a new two year package of training and support for teachers at the beginning of their career, backed by £130 million year.
• Helping schools to reduce teacher workload, by stripping away time consuming and unnecessary tasks like data entry, as well as simplifying accountability system to clarify when a school maybe subject to intervention. 

The strategy was developed by working alongside both Ofsted and teaching unions.

 Robert Largan, Conservative Candidate for High Peak, commented:

“There are no good schools without good teachers. So I am pleased the Government have recognised the big challenges facing the teaching profession and have committed this new strategy, supporting teachers so they can spend more time focusing on children in classrooms.”