GOV.UK
How we stopped marking
When I decided I just had to do something about reducing the crushing workload that our marking policy was inflicting on our teachers, I shared with the staff accounts of what a couple of other schools had done, such as …
Managing staff workload – a governor’s perspective
It didn’t begin as a project about managing workload. It was about effective governance. Having recently been appointed as chair of governors at Hiltingbury Junior School, a three-form entry school in Hampshire, one of my first tasks was to manage …
Outstanding does not mean overworked
We have always understood that our consistently outstanding outcomes are the result of our outstanding teachers and teaching assistants. Happy children are good learners and the quickest way to ensure children are happy at school is to make sure staff …
Video: GDPR Guidance for Schools
Iain Bradley from the DfE explains how schools can review and improve your handling of personal data.
Twelve steps to take now, or twelve steps to take then?
In preparing for GDPR, the ICO’s ‘twelve steps to take now’ is a great starting point. But as time marches on there comes a point where it becomes ‘twelve steps to have taken then’ as schools and other organisations get …
GDPR Readiness: Focus on Catering
Mapping our data landscape is the key step to ensure that the other aspects of GDPR we are focussing on are built upon solid foundations. As May 2018 and GDPR coming into effect draw ever closer, we are using it …
Talking with Staff on GDPR
As mentioned in David’s blog, GDPR can help facilitate some very useful conversations. It has been the case in our school too. I confess I thought having EU regulations about data on the agenda for a staff meeting at the …
Quality, not quantity: how teacher workload has been reduced by focusing on quality
Last year, at Prince Henry’s Grammar School in Otley, West Yorkshire, the findings of the Marking, Planning and Data Workload Review groups were presented to colleagues in a whole-staff meeting. Everyone from classroom teachers to SLT was asked to think …
The leadership equality and diversity fund is supporting diverse school leadership
We speak to participants taking part in school-led equality and diversity projects to find out more about the tools and techniques schools use to support teachers with leadership potential.
Marking: Postmortem or Diagnosis?
Our staff survey in January 2016 showed us that workload was an issue at our school. Marking was one of the tasks our teachers were spending a large amount of time on, often over 20 hours a week - but …