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 …
Reducing teacher workload
We are working to remove unnecessary workload for teachers and leaders, so they can focus on teaching and their own development.
The articles are written by education professionals and show how they are reducing workload in their own settings.
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 …
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 …
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 …