Lindsay Patience

After studying Economics and Management at Jesus College, Oxford, Lindsay Patience trained to teach Business Studies and Economics through the Teach First programme. After 10 years working is schools as a teacher and senior leader, she found herself looking for a part time leadership role in education after she had her first child. She was shocked to find that there were no roles available and struggled to find a part time job even as a classroom teacher. When talking to others, she realised she was certainly not alone in this and began to hear more and more how limited flexible working opportunities were in schools. This came at a time when the recruitment and retention crisis in teaching was really starting to ramp up and frustrated by the issue, she began a project with the Teach First Innovation Unit to research and develop solutions. This is where she met Lucy Rose and their work really crystallised the link the between the retention and wellbeing of teachers and the outcomes for pupils and how important flexible working was to improving these. She now works part time as an Economics and Business teacher at Putney High School.