Last week, I had the privilege of attending Education Scape’s Festival of Education inaugural annual lecture, where Dame Menna Rawlings delivered the keynote address. With more than 35 years’ experience as a senior Government official, Dame Menna spoke powerfully about the importance of education and the role it plays in shaping social mobility.

Coming from a family of teachers, she has seen first-hand the pressures placed on the profession and the responsibility they carry in supporting the next generation. Her reflections reinforced a message I strongly believe in, that education remains one of the most significant drivers of opportunity.

While workforce providers may not directly determine social mobility, we play a vital role within the ecosystem of teacher supply, school quality and workforce stability, all of which influence educational outcomes and, ultimately, life chances

As a strategic workforce partner to Multi‑Academy Trusts and schools, we support both mainstream settings and specialist provision for pupils with SEND. By supplying high‑quality teaching staff as replacements for classroom teachers in a substantive, we help ensure that children’s learning remains consistent and uninterrupted.

We also see it as our responsibility to support pathways into teaching. Working closely with our MAT partners, we help ECTs and student teachers gain meaningful classroom experience, strengthening not just recruitment but retention.

Retention is as important as recruitment in a candidate‑short market. Keeping great teachers in the profession is essential if children and young people are to receive the high‑quality education they deserve.

Equally, professional development is paramount. Through our Affinity Academy, we provide extensive CPD and training to all our candidates, delivered by experienced education professionals. This commitment ensures that every candidate, and therefore every school, receives access to high‑quality, fully trained practitioners.

As leaders of workforce organisations, we must provide our schools with excellence and give our supply candidates the opportunity to continually grow. Because, ultimately, everything comes back to the pupils.