Supply teachers' spending shot up in Bristol schools in 2009

April 30 2010

New figures from Bristol officials have revealed that spending on supply teachers in the city's state schools jumped by almost 50 per cent last year, a local news report has said.

According to the Evening Post, Bristol city council said that schools spent £2.2 million in 2009-10 on employing agency staff to cover classes compared to £1.5 million a year earlier.

A surge in the number of teaching staff taking maternity and paternity leave is believed to be responsible for the huge rise in spending.

"The figures will have gone up since September and there will be more schools using agency staff because colleagues can't cover for each other any more," Nina Franklin, Bristol divisional secretary for the National Union of Teachers, was quoted as saying by the publication.

In other news, most parents say that support staff have a positive impact on their children's education, according to a new report by the Training and Development Agency.

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