This session is presented with Zen Educate, a staffing agency, and includes Zen Educate describing its own service. Bill Bryant works for Zen Educate and Helen Woodward is described as an adviser to it; Karen Burns, CEO of Victorious Academies Trust, joins as a school trust leader. HeadteacherChat has not independently tested the service. Published 17 December 2025.

What this covers

  • Why finding staff is hard, and what listeners told HeadteacherChat about staffing.
  • Research on the effect of well-trained staff on children's learning.
  • The effect on wellbeing in schools struggling to recruit.
  • Budgeting, contracts and the criteria to use when looking for staff.
  • How Zen Educate says it supports schools.

Before you act on it

If you use agency or supply staff, Keeping children safe in education sets out the checks you must obtain written confirmation of from the agency. For agency contracts, use the DfE's buying for schools guidance and its Get help buying for schools service.

About the session

In this session, we are joined by special guests from Zen Educate, Bill Bryant @ZenEducate, Helen Woodward @helen_maryg, and Karen Burns @Karen_BurnsCEO CEO of Victorious Academies Trust, who will be sharing their expertise on this important topic.

Bill Bryantis the Regional Commercial Lead for London. He leads a Zen Educate team that supplies teachers and teaching assistants to schools.

Helen Woodward, advisor for Zen Educate and previously head of school improvement at the DfE, programme leader for the NPQH at The University of Manchester and has held lead roles in local authorities across the North West.

Guest representative

Karen Burns is the CEO of Victorious Academies trust. In Karen’s words, ‘The Victorious Trust has a vision for education that builds futures for all, focussing on personal strengths, academic progress, character development and the pathway to employment.

We discuss:

  • The challenges of finding staff in the current climate.
  • What our listeners have told us about staffing at this time.
  • Research about the impact of highly trained staff has on children’s learning.
  • The impact on wellbeing for schools who are struggling to find staff.
  • Budgeting and contracts
  • The criteria for looking for staff
  • We also hear from Zen Educate, and what they do to support schools

For more information, please email support@zeneducate.com

or telephone 02038704413. website: www.zeneducate.com

Quote of the day:

"The single most important aspect of your job is to make it easy as possible for teachers to teach. All else flows from that." David Didau @DavidDidau