Just a day before the second lockdown kicks in, the Department of Education (DfE) have issued new guidance; "face coverings should be worn by adults and children aged 11 and above when moving around the premises, outside of classrooms or activity rooms, such as in corridors and communal areas where social distancing cannot easily be maintained", and the same applies to further education colleges.

This should be implemented as soon as possible, however the department said, but can have until Monday 9 November if they require additional time.

Face coverings had already been required for secondary school pupils within areas under Tier 2 and Tier 3 restrictions in England, with those local restrictions now to be replaced by the national measures.

Those who are exempt from wearing face coverings are primary school children and those older children with special educational needs or disabilities. It will also remain at the discretion of primary schools as to whether staff and visitors should wear face coverings in communal spaces.

The announcement brings English schools more in line with their Scottish counterparts who have been under stricter COVID-19 restrictions for several weeks. 

The DfE also says teachers with serious underlying health issues should keep away from the premises. "Those individuals who are clinically extremely vulnerable are advised to work from home and not to go into work," the guidance says. "Staff should talk to their employers about how they will be supported, including to work from home where possible, during the period of national restrictions.” "All other staff should continue to attend work, including those living in a household with someone who is clinically extremely vulnerable."

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders' union, said the lockdown was announced four days ago and that it "beggars’ belief that schools have had to wait until now to find out how it affects them". "Frankly, it is ridiculous that this new guidance has landed on school leaders' desks less than 24 hours before the start of the national lockdown. "There is very little in the guidance that could not have been communicated with schools 72 hours ago."

Mr Whiteman also expressed concern about the impact vulnerable teachers staying at home would have a schools' ability to operate. "Given the restrictions around clinically extremely vulnerable staff, the reality is that some schools may now find it increasingly difficult to remain open to all pupils."

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, welcomed the move, but said: "It will mean that there are more staff missing from the workplace, on top of those who are self-isolating. "It is imperative that the government reimburses schools and colleges with the cost of hiring supply cover for staff absence. "We have received reports of schools having to spend £6,000 per week on supply cover, and this situation is going to become worse - schools and colleges cannot sustain these costs."

Mr Barton said the extension to the rule on face coverings was a "sensible response to rising Covid levels, and will act as an extra level of protection on top of the other safety measures in schools". He added: "The government's education recovery planning does need to take into account the impact of these restrictions on health and wellbeing."

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said: "We must put the interests of our children and young people first, especially when the benefits of being in the classroom are clear.
"Children are settled back into their routines and schools have protective measures in place keep their staff and pupils as safe as possible.
"Education is a national priority and we cannot allow it to be disrupted again."

David Goodhew, head of £21,000 a year Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith, said a survey of staff at his school found they feel reassured by pupils having to wear masks in the classroom.

Since August, pupils at the school had to wear masks in lessons and in communal areas. Mr Goodhew said: “Pupils and staff in the classroom are still wearing masks and that has worked well for us. I wouldn’t be surprised if more schools followed suit.” He added: “Our experience is that there are solutions to the two main objections, namely pupil discomfort and problems with communication.”

Mr Goodhew said he does not believe that schools are “engines of transmission” of Covid-19, but added: “I think people who work in schools are absolute heroes. Everyone else is being told stay at home if you can, but teachers are going in.” He said it was vital for the mental and physical health of children that schools stay open, and warned that many have “whole year groups or large numbers of staff who are off having to isolate as a precaution and waiting a long time to get test results back”.

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The BBC have reported bookings for the new National Tutoring Programme have opened for disadvantaged pupils in England.

The catch-up tuition was introduced to help close the learning gap following clear that poor pupils lost out most when schools were closed.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said "This is about levelling up those opportunities."

32 organisations have been selected to deliver the programme for pupils from poorer families aged five to sixteen and are prepared for an influx of tuition bookings. 21 of the partners are for-profit organisations, while the remaining 11 are not-for-profit. The NTP said this reflected the applications, 62 per cent of which came from commercial organisations.

However, education unions say tuition should be delivered by qualified teachers.

The tutoring will be subsidised by 75% and some sessions could cost schools as little as £50 for a block of 15, say the organisers, the National Tutoring Programme.

Aim of the programme

Five independent charities developed the scheme and is funded from part of the government's £350m allocation to tutoring through the £1bn coronavirus catch-up package.

• tens of thousands of pupils enrolled before the end of term, with provision increasing after Christmas
• schools able to choose the provider and type of tutoring that suits them best, whether face-to-face or online
• 15,000 tutors ranging from post-graduate students to qualified teachers and volunteers

"We need to do everything in our power to help pupils make up for any lost time, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds," said Mr Williamson.

"Tutoring provides tailored teaching support to individual pupils and can be transformational in boosting academic progress.

"This is about levelling up those opportunities across the country."

Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of the Education Endowment Foundation which selected the organisations providing the tuition, said he was delighted schools would have access to high-quality tutoring.

"For too long, low income pupils have not been able to afford tutoring.”  "This is an important step in enabling them to access it."

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, while welcoming the programme said it was "an incredibly complicated way of delivering catch-up support when it would have been far simpler and quicker for the government to have given this funding directly to schools alongside other catch-up money".

"There is good evidence that small group tuition can be extremely beneficial, but this funding could have been used to support schools in delivering this through their teaching staff who already know their pupils, rather than this system in which schools buy in subsidised tuition from external agencies," he said.

Andrew Morris, assistant general secretary of the National Education Union, called the NTP "a cut-price scheme which doesn't require qualified teacher status and pays any qualified teachers who do sign up far less than they should be earning".

While Nick Brook, deputy general secretary of school leaders union NAHT said the scheme was not enough to help all pupils in need.”

"The scope of the NTP this year appears to be capped at 250,000 pupils - a significant number but still a fraction of the 1.4 million children in receipt of free school meals."

Support for a further two years

Nick Bent and Abigail Shapiro who co-founded the Tutor Trust which is one of the organisations selected and already delivers affordable tuition to schools in Manchester, Leeds, Bradford and Liverpool said the programme "puts rocket boosters under our mission of 'transforming lives through tutoring' across the North".

However, they too suggested it could go further: "We are doing all we can to support teachers and to help every child achieve their potential, despite family disadvantage or the impact of Covid."

"As an active member of the Fair Education Alliance, we campaigned for the National Tutoring Programme and we welcomed the Prime Minister's announcement in June.

"Now, we urge Mr Johnson to follow the logic of the evidence and of his own commitment to 'levelling up', and to fund the NTP for a further two years."

Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson has announced next year’s GCSE and A-level exams will be going ahead – but with some changes. Firstly, content will be reduced for some subjects and secondly, exams will be pushed back by three weeks to give students more time to prepare and make up for lost learning.

 The government has rejected calls made by unions and leading figures in Education to cancel exams and instead use teacher assessment grades.

Usually exams start around the middle of May, they will now start from 7 June. Some exams – such as one maths and one English GCSE paper – will be scheduled for before May half-term. This will give students

Normally results are handed out a week apart, however they’ll not be given out in the same week; A-level results day will be August 24 and GCSE results day will be August 27.

Vocational qualifications like BTECs are also expected to be delay in-line with this changed timetable.

Gavin Williamson said more back-up plans would be decided later for “all scenarios.” The Department of Education plans to publish more details “later in the autumn”, in order to “ensure students have confidence that they will be fairly treated in terms of assessment in 2021”.

This year’s summer exams were cancelled due to the pandemic - leading to chaos for students whose marks were downgraded by an algorithm. The government was forced to make a humiliating u-turn and allow students to keep their teacher-predicted grades following a public outcry.

“Fairest Way”

Education secretary Gavin Williamson said: “Exams are the fairest way of judging a student’s performance so they will go ahead, underpinned by contingency measures developed in partnership with the sector."

“Students have experienced considerable disruption and it’s right we give them, and their teachers, the certainty that exams will go ahead and more time to prepare.”

“I will continue to work closely with stakeholders and I’m grateful for the commitment and willingness that’s been shown in delivering this additional time to ensure young people have the best opportunity to succeed.”

He added: “Combined with our £1bn catch-up programme and the changes proposed by Ofqual to free up teaching time, the changes I am announcing today give young people the best chance of being ready for their exams without undermining the value of the qualifications they receive."

“Unrealistic and Unfair”

Last week, education unions warned moving the timing of exams back slightly was unlikely to make any significant difference following the vast gulf in learning experiences between pupils.

Dr Mary Bousted, of the National Education Union, said it was "unrealistic and unfair" after the disruption to their schooling.

She said: “Today’s announcement is yet another appalling example of political ideology trumping practical reality.” "It demonstrates that this is not a government which is interested in levelling up because the impact of these decisions will impact most severely on the most disadvantaged."

She has called for a broader range of topics in exams to give students a fairer chance.

She added: "If government will not reconsider and change its mind quickly, members tell us that exams, even with greater optionality, are no longer tenable.” "In which case, the only route to fairness would be a complete cancellation of exams and the use of robustly moderated, externally quality-assured teacher judgements.”

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the ASCL school leadership union, said he was “dismayed” by the announcement, and said delaying the start if exams would be “of marginal benefit when compared to the loss of learning from the national lockdown and ongoing disruption”.

“It has taken the government an eternity to reach a very inadequate response to the scale of the challenge which lies ahead for students who are taking GCSEs and A-levels next year.”

Paul Whiteman, the leader of the NAHT, added: “Having started this discussion in July, it is disappointing it has taken this long to get to this point when there are so many more decisions to be made.”

Labour’s shadow education secretary, Kate Green welcomed the delay to next year’s exams, but said it should have been announced earlier.

“The government have finally listened to Labour’s call for exams to be delayed,” she said, “but they could have done this weeks ago to give schools more time to prepare.”

Wow. This is a first.

Never have we faced such a tough and unknown situation than the one we are all going through now. Covid-19 has changed the way we live, work, socialise, shop and commute in a way none of us would ever have imagined.
With so many restrictions, constant changes and hearing negative news it can have an impact on your mental health and well-being.

Stress, anxiety and fears of how the pandemic will affect our future and everyone around us can easily creep up on us without even realising. Now, more than ever it is vital that we take care of ourselves.
Working in education is probably one of the toughest challenges at the moment and one where there is a huge amount of uncertainty.

Follow these top five tips to help you keep in control, calm and focused.

1. Keep talking
One of the best things to do when you are feeling overwhelmed is to talk.
Talking helps to ease your worries and help you see things from a different perspective. Have a conversation with your manager or a member of the senior team, it will help them see things from view and provide the support you require. It’s also good to talk to friends and family, although they may not be able to change things at work, they can help to give you advice and sometimes it’s nice to talk to people outside of your school colleagues without the fear of being judged or worry about any implications your concerns may have.

It’s equally important to keep talking to your students and check-in with them of how they are feeling. Young minds are constantly developing and taking in new information, however many of them won’t have the emotional capacity to handle or process this in a healthy way.

If you can encourage all the staff to adopt the same practices, it can really help the well-being of the whole school.

2. Stay on top of basic things
Daily life mustn’t stop or change. It’s really important to keep on top of basic things like shopping, cleaning, laundry, eating, sleeping and exercising. If you keep up with the little things, you’ll be able to handle new changes and extra tasks that come your way.

3. Stay connected in the correct way
With so many restrictions in place you can easily find yourself locked away and out of touch with friends and family. Use the technology and social media around you to keep in touch with people remotely. And, if social media becomes too overwhelming then it’s okay to disconnect for a while.

4. Be kind to yourself
We are all constantly learning a new situation which is ever-changing. Don’t be hard on yourself if you’re struggling to adapt to new ways of working. Not only will you be faced with your fears and emotions, but also new types of reactions from others. You wouldn’t be hard on children when they are learning new things in the classroom, so why be hard on yourself?

If you find yourself having to take on more responsibilities, or work a different way. i.e. teaching via online videos, try to keep what you are doing simple. Don’t over complicate your work or do things that are not necessary, keeping to the basics will help keep the pressure off yourself.

5. Plan time for you – and only you
 This looks different to all of us, but it’s vital to regularly take time out for yourself.
During the day try to find a few minutes in the day for a bit of peace or get some fresh air. Even if it means taking 10 minutes out to eat lunch without having any distractions around you.

Find small moments in the week to distract yourself and switch off from the things that are affecting your mind. There are lots of things you can do which don’t require a lot of investment, such as:
- Going for walks, bicycle rides or even a class at the gym. If going out is not an option; join a fitness class online
- Jigsaw puzzles – doing a bit at a time will give you the motivation to complete it
- Painting, making a collage, embroidery, pottery
- Playing an instrument – there are lots of tutorials on YouTube
- Cooking, learning a new dish or just experimenting with different foods. There are tonnes of social media groups, recipes and videos online showing you step by step guides

Whatever you do, remember the time is for you, no one else. It’s tempting to keeping looking at our phones, to stop temptation, switch off your phone and leave it another room.

We all need time to reflect, relax and recharge; after all, we’re only human.

Further guidance and support can be found by visiting the following websites.

The government have provided extra mental health support for pupils and teachers - https://www.gov.uk/government/news/extra-mental-health-support-for-pupils-and-teachers 

The Education Support Partnership supports all staff in educational settings with mental health and well-being - https://www.educationsupport.org.uk

The NEU has published a guide on protecting mental health during Covid-19 - https://neu.org.uk/coronavirus-what-you-need-know-staff-mental-health-and-wellbeing

MIND is a leading mental health charity that provides support to anyone experiencing mental health problems - http://www.mind.org.uk/

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All pupils are due to return fully back to school in September and the Department of Education (DfE) has warned shools to avoid staff members from having to quarantine during term time effectively barring teachers from taking a holiday abroad during the summer holidays.

The government has warned that there is 'no risk free travel' and quarantine restrictions can be introduced with no notice on any country. Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, said it was up to individuals and families to decide whether they wanted to risk going abroad in present circumstances where there are fears of a second wave heading towards Europe. 

Earlier this week the UK removed Spain from its list of safe countries to travel to after uncertainties that the country was experiencing a second wave of coronavirus. Almost 600,000 Brits are racing to get back to the UK and will have to face a 14 day quarantine when they return. 

Like many other key workers, school staff are unable to work from home and face taking unpaid leave if they get caught up in the newly-modified quarantine rules. 

The DfE added, “Where it is not possible to avoid staff having to quarantine during term time, school leaders should consider if it is possible to temporarily amend working arrangements to enable them to work from home.”

The Prime Minister said, “It’s vital that when people are coming back from abroad, if they are coming back from a place where I’m afraid there is another outbreak, they must go into quarantine. “That’s why we have taken the action that we have, and we will continue, throughout the summer, to take such action where it is necessary.”

Despite ongoing clashes between unions and the government over safety measures including whether pupils should wear masks, all schools will be reopening in September and parents must send their children back otherwise href="/news/news/send-your-children-back-to-school-in-september-or-face-a-fine">risk facing a fine

Currently employers do not have to pay while you are in self-isolation and you are not eligible for statutory sick pay. This has sparked outrage and led to growing calls from the government to provide additional support to people who have been caught out by the sudden change in rules. People who are self-employed or can't work from home will lose two weeks wages.

Teachers and nurses have warned of taking industrial strike action unless ministers remove the pay cap across the public sector. The warning comes after the government announced the 1 per cent pay cap will be lifted for police and prison officers. The recommendations for police and prison officers are yet to be published by the pay review body and are waiting a government response, which the Prime Minister Theresa May has said will happen “shortly.” The genuine feel is that ministers will accept the advice given for police and prison officers pay for 2017-2018 by the pay review body, resulting in the first pay rise above 1 per cent for seven years. Unions are pressing for a 5 per cent increase for millions of nurses, teachers, council staff, civil servants and other workers who have had to endure a pay freeze or 1 per cent cap for seven years.  

In July the government announced that teachers would only receive an overall 1 per cent pay rise in 2017-18, although those at the top and bottom of the main pay scale would see their salaries rise by 2 per cent. The NASUWT teachers union said the average pay award for teachers last year was 0.6 per cent. Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders' union, said that failing to include teachers in the pay announcement was "short-sighted and wrong," due to ongoing recruitment and retention problems.

A national rally will be held in Westminster in October and the TUC will seek a meeting with the Chancellor. Ministers are expected to accept recommendations for higher pay rises for police and prison officers, but unions warned against “cherry picking” of workers. John McDonnell, shadow chancellor, said: “The next Labour government will lift the public sector pay cap for all public sector workers and we are demanding nothing less than that from this shambolic Government. “The crisis in our public services is a crisis made in Downing Street. The pay review bodies have been operating under the constraint of a Tory 1 per cent cap for seven years. “The pay cap must now be lifted across the whole public sector rather than by playing one group of workers off against another.” National Education Union (formerly the National Union of Teachers and Association of Teachers and Lecturers) concluded the threat of strikes is a possibility.

Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said: "The pay cap needs to be lifted for all public sector workers if we are to protect our public services, which are an essential part of everyone's daily life.” "The cap was not lifted this year for teachers and various other groups, resulting in pay being cut still further in real terms. We know that teacher supply is in crisis and, without sufficient teachers, the education of children will suffer. Giving teachers a fair pay rise is a crucial part of solving that problem."  

In the last 4 years the number of unqualified teachers in state-funded schools across the UK has risen by 62 per cent. Labour revealed the data from the DfE School workforce which showed in 2016 there were 24,000 unqualified teachers up from 14,800 in 2012, when at the time Michael Gove was Education Secretary removed the requirement for teachers to be qualified in the specific subjects they cover. Assuming an average class size of 25.5 children this means 613,000 children were taught by unqualified teachers. In the same period, the number of qualified teachers rose by just 1.4 per cent, from 427,300 to 433,200. A higher proportion of unqualified staff are in academies and free schools. In local authority secondary schools, 4.9 per cent of teachers are unqualified, but in secondary sponsored academies there are 9.6 per cent, and 11.3 per cent in secondary free schools.  

Labour condemned the findings, highlighting that the Government has missed its teacher training targets for the fifth year in a row. Mike Kane, a former teacher and the shadow schools minister, said the government was relying on unqualified teachers to plug the gaps in schools brought about by chronic underfunding. “Under Labour, all permanently employed teachers had to be qualified. This government changed the rules and scrapped that requirement, allowing schools to employ unqualified teachers, permanently threatening standards. “The Tories’ failure on teacher recruitment is putting school standards at risk, and it’s our children who will pay for their mess,” he said. “The Government have completely failed in their most basic of tasks and are clearly relying on unqualified teachers to plug the gaps,” he said. “Unqualified teachers have no guaranteed training in safeguarding children, controlling a class or adapting teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils,” Mr Kane said. “But under the Tories, they’re responsible for the education of hundreds of thousands of our children.”   

Plugging the gap
The results coincides with dramatic staff shortages felt across the sector with more teachers leaving the profession than entering for the second year in a row. was unheard of years ago, however this is now common practice in many of England’s schools. Teaching Assistants and staff from other areas were being pulled in to plug gaps for example native language speakers who do not hold a qualification in teaching are increasingly being used to teach MFL subjects. Worryingly, more than a third of Physics teachers do not have a degree in the subject, more than a fifth of Maths and English teachers hold no higher than an A-level qualification in the subject. Earlier this year the Government launched a £300,000 overseas recruitment drive in a bid to address the recruitment crisis facing the UK Education sector.  

The idea behind employing unqualified staff was to make it easier for schools to have lessons from people with particular skills, such as technology experts, sports tutors, musicians or linguists. But it was opposed by teaching unions who claimed it was a form of cost cutting and a lowering of professional standards. Local authority schools still require teachers to have qualified teacher status, but there are exemptions such as specialist instructors, teachers trained overseas and trainee teachers. Another former education secretary, Nicky Morgan, last year put forward plans that would have completely removed qualified teacher status. But these proposals were reversed by the current Education Secretary, Justine Greening, who has said she wants to strengthen QTS rather than end it. "Some people have suggested that QTS might be scrapped or replaced with some vague notion of an 'accreditation'," she said in a speech earlier this year. "Let me be absolutely clear: not on my watch." Ms Greening added: "Keeping and strengthening QTS is vital. This is not about removing school freedoms. But I believe that teachers should have the highest quality qualification and what I want to see is a QTS so well regarded, so strong that school leaders will naturally want all their teaching staff to have it. "QTS should be the foundation stone for the teaching profession to build on."    

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We trust headteachers to run their schools and make the right decisions for their pupils. The latest figures show that nine in ten secondary lessons are taught by a teacher with a relevant post A-level qualification – a clear indication of the importance headteachers place on ensuring pupils are taught by highly qualified teachers.” “The quality of new entrants to teacher training continues to be high, with 18 per cent of this year’s cohort holding a first-class degree. We are investing £1.3bn up to 2020, along with bursaries of up to £30,000 tax free in subjects including physics, to continue to attract the best and the brightest into the profession, particularly in the core academic subjects.” Unions and Labour claim that not enough trainee teachers began courses in more than three-quarters of subjects, with maths, physics, design and technology, computing and business studies all falling at least 15% short of their targets. About 6,000 trainee teachers began courses after achieving a 2:2 or lower in their degree subject, and less than half of trainees are studying for their qualifications in universities, they claimed. The only subjects to meet the required recruitment levels were PE, history, biology and geography, while English and chemistry narrowly missed them.  

27,500 teachers who trained between 2011 and 2015 had already left the teaching profession by 2016. That means that just over 23% of about 117,000 teachers who qualified over the period have left. New research by the Education Policy Institute found that half of full-time teachers work between 40 and 58 hours a week, whilst a fifth of full-time teachers are working up to 60 hours a week, 19% longer than the average elsewhere of 40.6 hours.

These extortionate hours leave teachers no time for quality of life forcing many skilled teachers choosing to take huge pay cuts and work as teaching assistants rather than contend with the vast workload expected of them.These alarming figures add further concerns and pressures to a profession that’s already in crisis and when demands for the government to remove the 1% pay cap that has been placed on teacher salaries until 2020.  

Tory MPs have complained the overall schools budget is too small and needs to be increased. Teaching unions have been urging ministers to lift the pay cap. They also want to make it cheaper for teachers to train and to introduce measures to encourage teachers to stay in post in areas with significant recruitment problems. Over worked and stressed, many teachers are taking lower skilled roles or leaving the profession altogether.   

Following the election chaos Education Secretary Justine Greening, has demanded an extra £1.2bn from the government and is in support of both relaxing the pay cap and increasing public spending on schools. However she is one of a series of cabinet ministers making spending demands on Philip Hammond, the Chancellor.  

Angela Rayner, the Shadow Education Secretary, who uncovered the figures showing the number of teachers leaving the profession, said they highlighted the “sheer scale of the crisis that the Tories have created in teacher recruitment and retention”. “Teachers are leaving our classrooms in record numbers, and the crisis is getting worse year after year. We are now at the point that more teachers are leaving than staying,” she said. “The government has serious questions to answer on the impact of their policies such as the continued cap on public sector pay, and their failure to tackle the issues like excessive workload that affect teachers in the classroom. The shadow education secretary, Angela Rayner, said that the statistics were proof of the strain teachers are under, adding that the profession is at “crisis point”. “It is time that ministers finally admitted that we are at a crisis point, and came up with a proper plan of action to deal with it.”

The Department for Education said the rate of teachers leaving after just a year had remained stable for decades, adding that some teachers were returning to the classroom after quitting. A spokesman said: “Teaching remains an attractive career and the latest statistics show that around 90% of teachers continue in the profession following their first year of teaching – this has been the case since 1996. The number of former teachers coming back to the classroom has also risen significantly – from 13,090 in 2011 to 14,200 in 2016.” “We are actively addressing the issues that teachers cite as reasons for leaving the profession, for example by supporting schools to reduce unnecessary workload and improving behaviour management training for new teachers. Teachers play a hugely important role in our society, providing education and guidance for future generations.”  

The key to raising school standards is to ensure a high level of teaching is being delivered consistently and effectively. In order to achieve this the Department of Education (DfE) has said it is vital for all teachers to receive the necessary training, however the Teacher Development Trust have highlighted there are 20,000 teachers in schools across England who have no budget to train them.

David Weston, chief executive of the Teacher Development Trust, said the findings were "extremely concerning." The study reports 600 schools have simply had to remove their budget for professional development due to lack of funds. Rising costs and cuts in budgets has meant head teachers are having to juggle where money is being spent.  

The news could not have come at a worse time when the teachers leaving the profession is shamefully increasing year on year. "It is shockingly short-sighted for schools to be slashing these budgets at a time when there is more pressure than ever on recruiting and keeping staff," said Mr Weston. "We work with schools who have invested in this area and seen huge improvements in pupil results and teacher recruitment." He said that investment in professional training should remain a priority and that pupils deserved to be taught by teachers with up-to-date skills. The report found lower-achieving schools were less likely to spend money on training than those which were more performing better. Primary schools spent 0.65% of their budget on staff training while Secondary schools spent much less, 0.37% of their budget. Rising costs and budget cuts means leaves schools with a constant struggle in getting the right balance

Professor Robert Coe, director of the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring at Durham University said funding levels for training were "pitifully low."

"Research evidence is very clear that investing in high-quality support for teachers' professional learning is not just one of the most effective things schools can do to raise standards, but one of the best-value choices they can make.” "Cutting spending on CPD, even in a time of tight budgets, would be one of the most counter productive, short-sighted and evidence-averse things a school could do." The deputy head of Quintin Kynaston school in north London, Ross McGill, said it was wrong for schools to be "squeezed into a corner, forced to make a decision to cut, or have no continuous professional development budget available to their staff." He said that the staff development budget was "always the first thing to be cut when unplanned financial circumstances arise throughout the academic year." "With rapid reforms in curriculum, examinations and assessment, every school will need to invest a huge amount of time for all staff to be one step ahead of their students in class," he said.

A DfE spokesman said: "Continued professional development is vital for all teachers to help improve their knowledge and skills.” "Thanks to our investment in school funding, which at more than £40bn in 2016-17 is at its highest level on record, we are giving all schools access to the resources they need.” "We trust heads to make the right decisions for their staff and use those resources to invest in high quality training and development."  

With the new academic term fully under way, for many teachers this period can be very stressful. With work/life balance has been highlighted as the biggest reasons why teachers are leaving the profession or even refraining from entering the profession. Being a teacher is one of the most rewarding professions and yes it does come with stress and pressure.However an exhausted teacher is no good to anyone, especially to yourself. Here are our top 10 tips on ensuring you remain as powerful and as best as you can be throughout the academic year.

1. Keep your to do list up to date

This is one of the biggest stress relievers and really helps you to plan and structure your week. Best of all it feels great to be super organised and tick off completed tasks!  

2. Talk to other teachers and seek advice

A problem shared is a problem halved, so do not keep it to yourself. There are experts in the field who can help you. Make time to get to know other teachers and build yourself a network you can rely on.

3. Take one day at a time and take time to reflect

No Teaching role is the same, every class, every student and every school is different. It takes time to build up experience and know what methods work for you. Allow yourself to fail and learn, it is important you take time to reflect so you can improve yourself next time. 

4. Communicate with parents

Getting parents on your side will be one of your biggest strengths. Parents love to be acknowledged, simply keeping them informed, engaged and even a simple smile will work wonders. 

5. Respect and reward your students

Students will only respect you if you respect them. Positive recognition is known to encourage positive behaviour. When providing negative feedback always start with something positive to break the ice.

6. Keep it fun in the classroom

Learning is fun so make it fun! Decorate the classroom, crack a joke, start and finish the class with a song – whatever you do make it interactive. Your students will appreciate it and be motivated to come into your class.

7. Avoid negativity

Surround yourself with positive people. There will always be people who moan about work – simply avoid them! Negativity will drag you down and make you feel unhappy. Positive vibes will rub off on you so make sure you are around those. 

8. Do not try to be perfect

Nobody is perfect and you will fail trying to be. Just be yourself.

9. Make time for yourself

You are a human being and we all need to recharge our batteries. It is great to plan something you can look forward to i.e. a holiday, cinema or a night out. If you find yourself having a tough day, go for a walk at lunch or read a book - do something to take your mind off work. Eating and sleeping well is crucial to the delivery of your work. Try not to go to bed with unfinished business on your mind. Your thoughts will race and your sleep is likely to suffer so get into the habit of writing down your worries before you go to bed.    

10. Remember why you are doing the job

When the going gets tough remember you decided on a teaching a career in the first place. Keep special gifts you have been given, think about all the happy times you have had and the difference you have made to all your students.  Always remember you are leading the class and you are the best person for the job. You can’t control everything, or everyone. Nonetheless, you can really excel at what you’re doing as long as you remember to make time for yourself and time to relax.

You’re doing a great job, keep it up!