Education Today Education Today Magazine
Capita has been awarded a new contract to deliver a programme for culture change and promote flexible working practices in English schools. Boosting flexible working is a key pillar of the Department for Education (DfE)’s strategy to recruit new teachers and help retain the existing workforce, with the aim of modernising working conditions and offering a range of working patterns that better suit teachers and leaders, improve staff wellbeing, and create a more diverse teacher and leader workforce.
Capita, along with delivery partner Flexible Teacher Talent and other key partners from the sector such as Now Teach, will deliver a culture change programme to increase the awareness within schools and MATs about the full range of flexible working practices available, which can include part-time working, job sharing, home or remote working, phased retirement and personal/family days. It will also support school leaders to implement flexible working, including designing flexible roles, adopting a proactive approach and navigating the challenges flexible working can pose in schools.
In addition to primary and secondary schools and MATs, there will be a key focus on assisting schools and MATs with a high proportion of disadvantaged students, as well as schools with specific specialisms such as Pupil Referral Units/Alternative Provision and Special Educational Needs and Disability. The contract will run for two years initially until March 2025. Capita and its partners will design and promote a series of free training and support, help drive awareness and improve knowledge through regional workshops and conferences, as well as support the strategic and operational delivery of up to 12 grant-funded Flexible Working.
Ambassador Schools to be appointed by the DfE. Dr Gordon Carver, consulting partner, Capita Education and Learning, said: “We believe this strategic programme is a critical part of addressing the urgent teacher retention issues the sector currently faces. “We’re excited to be delivering such a vital culture change programme which will have a real, positive impact on the working lives of our teachers, improve career progression, and help retain a skilled workforce.”
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said: “Teachers are the backbone of our school system – inspiring, educating and ultimately preparing our next generation to make the very best of their lives. That is why we want to transform teachers’ working conditions to make flexible working more accessible. “Teachers need to be properly supported and this strategy aims to ensure teachers have access to a working pattern that suits them. This will have a profound knock-on effect on teachers’ wellbeing and help with the retention of great teachers.”
