By Gavin Mackintosh-
School leaders have been using recommended school kits effectively in taking decisive action to reduce teacher workload, according to new research out today.
The long history of stress experienced by overburdened teachers in Britain is undergoing a significant shift towards a more positive trend of effective management of excessive workload in schools. The finding suggests that teachers in Uk schools are now better equipped to handle the challenges that normally accompany the profession, bringing with it improved states of mental health for both teachers and pupils.
A survey of 836 school leaders and over 1,000 classroom teachers revealed that 94% of leaders reported reducing workload related to marking, compared to 88% at this time last year. More than three-quarters (78%) reported they had reduced workload related to planning, compared to 71% last year.Almost half of leaders surveyed (46%) reported they were already making use of the Department’s Workload Reduction Toolkit, a series of online resources to help school leaders crack down on unnecessary workload, in the first year they’ve been available.
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The news provides greater hope of an improved level of education to pupils as teachers previously burdened with heavy work load have more time to focus on developing students without the extra stress normally associated with planning. The Department has worked with Ofsted on its new inspection framework, which will be implemented in September 2019 It is designed to have a strong focus on reducing teacher workload, and consider staff workload as part of the leadership and management judgement.
The three-stage process of the toolkit has reportedly been instrumental in helping leaders effectively manage their workload challenges, from the first stage of identifying where changes need to be made to the third stage, which is evaluating the impact of those changes. At our school, we have cut workload significantly, particularly around marking, where teachers were able to cut their burden by 75%.
Education Secretary Damian Hinds said:
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”The number of hours teachers work, particularly on unnecessarily burdensome tasks outside the classroom, was the very first issue I wanted to tackle when I took on this role.
So it’s hugely encouraging to see school leaders having the confidence to do away with those unnecessary tasks that are stopping teachers from doing what they do best.
The results of the TALIS survey published last month show there is still a long way to go to address all of the frustrations I regularly hear from teachers and heads. However, I intend to continue my battle to reduce teachers’ workload and back schools who make sure they are doing everything they can to reduce the number of hours teachers are spending on non-teaching tasks.
Since being published, the Workload Reduction Toolkit – which includes materials to support schools on data management and curriculum planning – have been viewed nearly 250,000 times and downloaded more than 158,000 times and was updated in March with new content.
The Secretary of State has today written to all local authorities and academy trusts today to ask for their support in addressing workload issues throughout the school system and remind them of their responsibility in reducing data burdens on schools.
The Education Secretary’s letter to local authorities and academy trusts builds on his pledge to help school leaders reduce teachers’ workload in the Recruitment & Retention Strategy, published in January 2019
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