Managing staff workload – a governor’s perspective
...we would be able to define a common set of data that meets the needs of both. Getting started To achieve this, I met with the assistant headteacher and data...
Teacher Mental Health and Wellbeing
Outstanding does not mean overworked
...child in their class by using whichever approach works best for them, and their pupils. Pupils are taught so that they are supported in their learning or stretched, depending on...
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 …
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 …
Using Curriculum Area Development Time to reduce teacher workload
Like many of the schools in this series of blog posts, our first point of call when looking to address teacher workload were the three independent review group reports on the topic. Staff forums and regular meetings provided our Senior …
Flexible working: Putting our pupils at the heart of our flexible working policy
The first thing to note about our flexible working policy at Hearts Academy Trust is that it is about our pupils and not our staff – although it benefits them too, obviously.
Doing fewer things in greater depth: How we reduced teacher workload by restructuring our approach to planning.
At St Peter’s Primary school, North Somerset, we have long been looking into ways in which we can try to reduce teacher workload. We began our journey by reading the teacher workload review group paper 'Eliminating unnecessary workload around planning …
‘Mark however you think best’: A year in the life of a meaningful, manageable and motivating marking policy change
September 2017 Like many other schools around the country, we at Barr Beacon School found marking in a way that felt thorough and yet was not overly time consuming to be a significant challenge. A year ago, we reduced our …
Tackling Workload Reports: An ITT Provider’s Response
The University of Greenwich’s Primary Partnership is an outstanding provider of initial teacher training (Ofsted 2016). The partnership comprises over 200 maintained schools and academies across 19 local authorities in London, Kent, Essex and the southeast of England. Since the …
Making marking work: Marking and feedback at Reinwood Junior School
The impetus for change Our school, a larger than average primary school located in the west of Huddersfield, had been reflecting on how we give feedback to pupils in light of the independent review group report on marking and reducing …