Jonathan Roe CEO
This is the first blog piece in a series, written by members of the Thrive Development Team, that will shine a light on the Thrive Teacher Workload Charter. Alongside our headteacher team, we have devised 11 statements that will help manage workload so that great teachers still have the energy at the end of a challenging week to be great family members and great friends. From the get-go, I should say that we are greatly indebted to the work of Jonny Uttley and the team at The Education Alliance for inspiring us to state our position explicitly.
New teacher, new dad
I had been teaching for two years when I became a dad. When I look back at that time I wonder if the pressures of workload, particularly planning and marking, affected my enjoyment of the arrival into the world of this amazing person. I also wonder how well I juggled what seemed to be the competing demands of family and work. I wanted to be a great teacher and felt the responsibility of giving my class the best possible learning experience acutely, and I also wanted to be a great dad. It was a steep learning curve in both departments. On reflection, I don’t think I got the balance right and I don’t think my employer helped me.
What was my coping strategy?
I didn’t do what others were doing, marking and planning for most of Sunday, effectively working a six day week. I set out to avoid this. My solution was to stay at work as late as I could on a Friday to finish all the marking I needed for Monday. Of course, I had to contend with those pesky caretakers always jangling their keys far too early, wanting to get home to their families! Once home, I would take part in bathtime and bedtime rituals, grab something to eat and then set about writing (longhand!) all the planning I needed for the week ahead. I promised myself that I would finish this task before I went to bed, typically midnight, often later, and then I would have the weekend available to myself, family and friends.
My plan didn’t work
As I’m recounting this version of the end of a working week, I can feel long-held resentment building somewhere in my chest. Why? For four reasons. Firstly, in effect, I was still working a six-day week if you tot up the hours. Secondly, I was planning lessons at my most knackered and least creative and subsequently had to amend my plans later in the weekend. Thirdly, after a long week at work and, and after five hours of sleep, I was in no fit state to enjoy the weekend. Finally, this way of planning and marking didn’t seem to make any difference to my pupil’s learning, but it did enable the headteacher to say to outside scrutiny when it came that all lesson planning had been reviewed (not that I ever received any feedback; it was read, it was filed!)
Doing a better job at Thrive
Comparing the responses of Thrive teachers to the responses given in DfE surveying, the percentage of teachers responding positively to questions about issues of workload (admin, behaviour, data, planning and marking) is 42% for England's teachers, across Thrive it is 69%. This is pleasing, but there is more to do.
We have collaborated with Heads to create our Teacher Workload Charter, aiming to give schools a framework of 11 areas in which we should be doing all we can to manage, and wherever possible reduce, teacher workload. Our ambition is to allow teachers to feel that when they work in a Thrive school they can still be a great family member and a great friend. In this series of blogs we will answer the questions:
Who and what is marking and feedback for?
Who and what is lesson planning for?
How can we maximise the potential of AI?
How can assessment and data collection be made manageable?
How well do we listen to staff feedback?
Are quality assurance processes developmental?
Are professional development processes effective?
How can we manage school communications, especially email?
How do we prepare for inspection?
How do we plan and pace necessary change?
Why do we follow nationally agreed guidance?
We aim to enable a Thrive teacher to be a great teacher without losing themselves in the process.
And when we get it wrong, because we will, we invite colleague feedback.
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