Julian Stanley looks at the impact on education staff of the Government's new plans for underperforming teachers

It seems we have a problem. Schools across the country are awash with bad teachers, who heads and governors are unable to get rid of. The situation is so terrible that the Government has been forced to step in with new plans to fire teachers within a term, rather than take a year as current legislation allows. Or so the latest headlines would have us believe.

The new plans unveiled by the Government include:

• giving schools more freedom over managing their teachers through simpler, less prescriptive appraisal regulations;
• removing the three-hour limit on observing a teacher in the classroom (the so-called "three-hour observation rule") so that schools have the flexibility to decide what is appropriate;
• a requirement to assess teachers every year against the new, simpler and sharper Teachers' Standards - the key skills that teachers need;
• allowing poorly performing teachers to be removed in about a term - the process can currently take a year or more;
• an optional new model policy for schools that deals with both performance and capability issues; and
• scrapping more than 50 pages of unnecessary guidance.

Of course, it is not all bad. Depending on the readers' perspective, the new Teachers' Standards could include criteria relating to the health and wellbeing of teachers, which might incentivise improvements to staff wellbeing and effectiveness. From our point of view at Teacher Support Network more could be done; such as explicit guidance about the ways in which teachers can care for their own health and wellbeing and how employers can facilitate this.

However, Teacher Support Network's main concern relates to the decision to allow poorly performing teachers to be removed in a term. In particular, we are worried about the impact of labelling teachers as underperforming too quickly.

At Teacher Support Network, we have found that some of the teachers who have been labelled as 'bad' are simply lacking skills, experience and opportunities for continuing professional development. With advice from one of our trained coaches, these teachers have often been able to identify how they can take a pro-active role in improving their skills and gaining the confidence to seek support. Many can go on to have very successful, rewarding careers in education.

Teacher Support Network is also concerned that the cause of underperformance may not be as clearly definable as some might think.

We know from the nearly 2,500 calls and emails that we received last year on this issue alone that some teachers are concerned about a lack of support and mentoring.

We also know from the 20,000 calls and emails to the charity in 2011 from people who felt they were being victimised by a colleague, manager, pupil, parent or Governor, that some teachers are struggling to thrive in the climate of fear or bullying that can occur when a manager or headteacher takes charge, who has not been sufficiently trained or developed themselves.

Of course underperformance should and must be addressed. Children deserve the best teachers available, but this is a uniquely challenging profession, and, as in other walks of life, there will be teachers that find these demands too hard to deal with at some point in their career and will need help to address performance issues or indeed support to change their careers with dignity, rather than being labelled.

Dismissing anyone in eight to 12 weeks might be challenging in any organisation, but in teaching, it may lead to unfairness. Is a term long really enough to tell if the underperformance is a blip in a teacher's overall performance or a deep-seated, longstanding problem?

Moreover, with reports that two in five (38%) teachers are leaving the profession within five years of training, and an education system faced with cuts, pensions disputes and structural changes, not to mention the public's perception of teachers at an all-time low, perhaps the real cause for concern is how we will attract, recruit and retain the next generations of teachers to the profession.

If you are struggling to deal with demands of teaching or a climate of fear in your school and would like to talk to someone in complete confidence, call our Support Line on 08000 562 561 (England), 08000 855 088 (Wales) or email our online team here.