School spends £430k on supply teachers

Teachers at Starbank School in Hob Moor Road, South Yardley, walked out several times last summer over bad behaviour which they claimed was not being addressed by the school’s management.

It was reported last year police were investigating after two pupils brought a knife into the school.

The NASUWT union, which staged the protests in June and July, said a pupil had threatened to attack a teacher with a weapon on a separate occasion.

Now, figures released by Birmingham City Council show the school spent £434,189 on supply teachers to cover teacher absence between September 1 and December 9.

This was the highest amount spent by any primary, secondary or nursery school in the city whose accounting is reported to the council.

It amounted to £197 for each of the school’s 2,200 pupils during the period.

A total of £220,326 of Starbank’s supply teacher spending was paid to recruitment agency Now Education.

The remainder was not paid through the council’s payment/vendor system so could not be identified.

Starbank is an all-through community school teaching primary and secondary-age children across three sites.

The strikes were reported to be in relation to secondary-age pupils’ behaviour, whereas the supply teacher spending figures relate to “Starbank Junior & In”.

Figures for the secondary section of the school were not included in the council’s document.

The school was previously rated outstanding by Ofsted, which changed the rating to inadequate following an inspection in July last year.

A special measures monitoring inspection by Ofsted in January found the school’s leaders were taking “effective measures towards the removal of special measures”.

But Ofsted’s report stated: “Pupils do not yet benefit from a stable body of teaching staff. This is because of issues in recruiting new staff and high staff absence rates.

“This in turn hinders pupils receiving well-planned and sequenced lessons which build on their previous learning in many subject areas.”

The figures were released by the council in response to a Freedom of Information request.

The figures show Birmingham schools – other than academies and “alternative education settings” – spent a combined total of £3.7 million on supply teachers during the quarter.

After Starbank, the highest spending schools were: Mayfield School in Lozells at £271,853, Banners Gate Primary School (now Sutton Park Primary School), Sutton Coldfield, at £114,524 and City of Birmingham School in Frankley, which spent £100,139.

The average amount paid by each school on supply teachers during the quarter was £21,990.

Now Education was the agency paid the most by city schools at £609,145, followed by ABC Education at £199,943 and Aspire People at £168,024.

A Birmingham City Council spokesman said schools manage their own budgets, and teacher training is a national issue.

The spokesperson added: “Supply teachers are used for a range of reasons and are temporary cover due to staff absence.”

Starbank School and NASUWT have been asked for comments.