Retention: Keeping your teachers

It is clear that our schools are crammed full of talented and ambitious teachers. What is also very apparent is that unfortunately as a system we still have much to learn when it comes to nurturing and retaining that talent, with plenty of evidence that too many teachers are leaving the profession early.

Sirius Academy West is an outstanding 1,650-pupil, 11 to 19 academy serving a deprived catchment area in Hull. The school leads a cross-phase multi-academy trust (MAT) and the Blueprint Teaching School Alliance. The academy has developed an impressive approach to the issue of developing and retaining talent, centred around its academy improvement group (AIG). This autonomous body has become a motor for promotion and improvements in teaching and learning by providing talented staff opportunities for training and development and to trial new ideas.