HEADTEACHERS across the North East have warned the Government their schools face "disastrous long term consequences" with "exhausted" staff facing burnout and being forced out of the profession.

Writing to Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi, Schools North East said their representatives had acted as the ‘fourth emergency service’ throughout the Covid pandemic and teachers had gone‘above and beyond’ to ensure that students can access both education and vital support such as food.

But as a result, this had increased staff workload significantly, with school leaders deeply concerned about the negative impact of this on staff, in particular the "rising toll on their emotional wellbeing and physical health".

The organisation, which represents 1,150 schools in the North East, is calling on Mr Zahawi to temporarily suspend routine Ofsted inspections and school league tables, and remove all "unnecessary bureaucracy" so teachers can access adequate support and resources.

Alex Cunningham, Stockton North MP, accused the Government of treating students as an "afterthought" and the recovery plan was "nowhere close to what is needed", whilst Andy McDonald, Middlesbrough MP, said schools are under "immense pressure".

Chris Zarraga, Schools North East director who wrote the letter, said the region had the highest levels of disadvantage in England, special educational needs and Covid-related absences. By the end of July, pupils missed 44 per cent of sessions in the North East. In contrast, London saw an overall absence rate of 21 per cent.

He also said the North East had seen almost 109,000 more children and young people eligible for free school meals, 27.5 per cent of all pupils, up from a pre-pandemic 23.5 per cent– the joint steepest increase of anywhere in England.

Mr Zarraga said: "School staff have worked tirelessly to support students throughout the pandemic, at great cost to their own mental and physical health. This deserves much greater national recognition and it is now crucial that the Government steps up to support them and protects all schools as they deserve.

"Despite the lifting of lockdown restrictions and the rollout of the vaccine, North East schools continue to experience very significant Covid-related disruption. Managing this disruption and supporting students as they recover from the pandemic’s ongoing impact has left staff exhausted, in what is always a uniquely challenging term. Failure to protect our schools could have disastrous long term consequences for education in our region.

"Without a serious and sustained approach to enable school staff to recover, many of the current expectations on schools are not realistic and there is a significant risk of increasing staff burnout and driving dedicated professionals out of education.

Mr McDonald said: “I met with a group of headteachers and teachers last week and heard first hand the immense pressures schools are under.

"Teaching staff have faced unprecedented circumstances throughout the Covid pandemic as have the pupils. The day to day running of schools has been made more difficult due to staff shortages due to Covid and children’s learning has undoubtedly been disrupted. The Government must do all it can to support our teaching staff and children."

Mr Cunningham said “I have met with headteachers from the constituency throughout the pandemic and some of the stories I have heard from them have been shocking. Children and young people have been treated as an afterthought throughout the pandemic and this needs to end.

“Even before the latest surge in absences, children had missed an average of 115 days of school and children in the North East had missed many more than those in the south.

“The Government’s recovery plan comes nowhere close to doing what is needed – and their own adviser resigned when the government only provided a fraction of the resources he said they needed. Ministers must take urgent action now to support the recovery of our pupils and education staff, so that our children do not end up paying the price for Tory incompetence.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We are incredibly grateful for the efforts of teachers and school leaders over the course of the past 18 months, supporting their pupils through the challenges of the pandemic.

“We have taken a wide range of action to address teacher workload and wellbeing, investing millions of pounds in programmes to provide mental health and wellbeing support for education staff.

"We are also now investing over £250 million in world-class training opportunities for teachers’ professional development across all stages of their careers.”

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