Hull’s target to drive up school attainment needed a kick-start, so the council came up with a range of proposals to attract newly-qualified teachers Judith Harwood explains

Newly-qualified and experienced teachers are being drawn to teach in Hull from across the country, following the launch of an innovative programme of improvement designed to radically transform the quality of education in the city.

The ‘Hull offer’ is a key part of a multimillion-pound drive to improve the learning experience of children and young people in Hull, and turn the city into a beacon of educational excellence.
v This is an exciting time for education in Hull. The Hull offer forms part of the ‘Hull challenge’, which is the council’s drive to improve local educational standards. The authority has put together a set of eight objectives for secondary education which is aims to achieve by 2012, including improving school attainment, attendance and outcomes for all children and young people.

To achieve this, more top-quality teachers are required, which has led to the council widening its search and promoting the city, in a bid to attract potential candidates. We are working towards a set of ambitious pledges as part of the Hull challenge. We need the best-possible teachers in our schools to help us achieve our ambitions. The offer is available to new teachers, and includes benefits such as financial incentives, including £4,000 for newly-appointed heads of department in maths, English and science, and a broad range of professional development opportunities tailored to a teacher’s individual needs and aspirations. Demographics show that almost half the teachers in the city will have to be replaced in the next 10 years, which means there will be fantastic promotion prospects for excellent practitioners who are ambitious and capable.

The city is working with nationally-recognised experts in education, including Professor Tim Brighouse, who is credited with turning around underperforming schools in London and Birmingham, to ensure they are at the very forefront of thinking. For too long, education in the city has hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons – but we are committed to turning this around. We have already achieved our best-ever GCSE results, and need more ambitious, driven professionals to join us on our improvement journey.

With property prices among the most affordable in the country, the authority is positioning the area as a great place to live and teach. The city has been undergoing a radical transformation over the past few years, with major investment and regeneration projects across the region. And our Better Schools for the Future programme is one of the biggest in the country. New learning environments are being created which, in turn, are creating fantastic new development opportunities for teachers.

There has never been a better time to come to the city. w Judith Harwood is head of learning, participation and skills at Hull City Council