This piece is written by Jonathan Roe Thrive’s CEO, and is the ninth in a series that shines a light on the Thrive Teacher Workload Charter. Along with our headteacher team, we have devised 11 statements that will help manage workload so that great teachers still have the energy to be great family members and great friends.
So much is said about AI that is worrying - especially around the potential to reduce workforces, not just workload. But for now, let’s go with the assumption that learning will always work best when real adults interact with real children in places of care and concern called schools. So the real focus of our attention at the moment is encapsulated in this quote from Rumman Chowdhury “Responsible AI is not just about liability — it's about ensuring what you are building is enabling human flourishing.”
That is why we are interested in ensuring that we are engaging with the AI revolution, and using it to enhance interaction, improve the quality of our work, and save us all time.
Our first steps
In June Dave Kemp gave guidance to staff on a coordinated way in which we can encourage an AI journey - for all things ‘wordy’ using Gemini (Google’s largest and most capable AI model), and for all things ‘pictorial’ Canva (massively used for high quality visuals, presentations, reports, lesson planning). Since then - and this is the key feature of the AI environment - along has come another great Google tool NotebookLM with its facility to synthesise information from a wide range of sources, and how it can turn its outputs into podcast style content for easy listening.
The benefits of staff interacting with such tools are immense. A primary teacher opening Gemini and prompting ‘Create a report of a family day out to the Humber Bridge suitable for a reading age of 8 in 200 words and list key vocabulary’ results in:
A Family Adventure at the Humber Bridge
Last weekend, our family embarked on an exciting adventure to the Humber Bridge Country Park. We packed our picnic basket, grabbed our binoculars, and set off to explore this stunning natural wonder.
The Humber Bridge is a truly awe-inspiring sight. It's one of the longest single-span suspension bridges in the world, towering over the River Humber. As we approached the bridge, we could feel its sheer size and power. We walked along the foreshore, gazing up at the bridge's intricate structure and marveling at the engineering marvel before us.
The Country Park is a hidden gem, offering a diverse ecosystem and breathtaking views. We followed a winding trail through the woods, spotting a variety of birds, butterflies, and other wildlife. The air was filled with the sounds of nature, creating a tranquil and peaceful atmosphere.
We found the perfect spot for our picnic, overlooking the vast expanse of the Humber Estuary. As we enjoyed our sandwiches and drinks, we took in the panoramic views of the bridge, the river, and the surrounding countryside. It was a truly magical moment.
After our picnic, we ventured further into the park, exploring the fascinating sculptures scattered throughout the woods. These unique artworks added a touch of whimsy to the natural beauty of the area. We also enjoyed a leisurely stroll along the clifftop, taking in the fresh sea air and the exhilarating feeling of being so close to nature.
Our day at the Humber Bridge Country Park was filled with wonder, excitement, and a deep appreciation for the natural world. It's a place where families can create lasting memories and connect with each other. We can't wait to return and explore more of this incredible destination.
Key Vocabulary: towering, magnificent, suspension bridge, estuary, wildlife, picnic, breathtaking views, nature reserve, sculptures, tranquil, exhilarating, engineering marvel, panoramic views, diverse ecosystem
Then prompt Gemini ‘Create a quick quiz of 4 questions including an inference question’ and teacher gets:
Quiz: A Family Day Out at the Humber Bridge
True or False: The Humber Bridge is one of the shortest suspension bridges in the world?
What kind of bridge is the Humber Bridge?
Where did the family have their picnic?
How did the family feel about their visit? Give two quotes to support your answer.
Interacting with Gemini at this level took less than a minute. How long would that have taken previously? An hour or more?
Secondary teachers have the added benefit of being able to embed their exam board curriculum details into their prompts, giving a level of precision that is really powerful.
Using Canva gives a similar experience, and used frequently, these tools learn about the user speeding up the process even further.
The workload saving here is clear and obvious, that’s why we are encouraging the use of Gemini and Canva for all staff. Keeping it fairly tight at the moment ensures that we all develop at a similar pace and maintain high levels of security as most of the tools we use within the Google environment, our natural home. Of course, we are not using these tools with any personal data, but in time this will come once we are sure that AI tools are secure. Other tools that we are currently evaluating are Claude, DALL-E and Perplexity.
The time saved can be used in two ways. It can mean that more time can be spent doing more meaningful work, and it could also mean that we do less work and give more time to friends and family. Every technological leap forward promises less time spent working - but hardly ever delivers on this promise - it’s up to us.
Next steps
Training: In March 2025 Julia Mitchell and Dave Kemp have booked Dan Fitzpatrick ‘The AI Educator’ for two days of training covering everything from getting started as a classroom practitioner, to thinking strategically about AI from a leadership perspective and what the future holds for teaching and learning. We are opening this event to colleagues beyond Thrive - if you are in the Hull area and you would like to attend please email events@thrivetrust.uk.
Learning: Dave Kemp is meeting with key individuals across Thrive to evaluate and support the use of AI, hearing about what is new, and what the current benefits and pitfalls are.
Google Workspace
For many years we have been a Trust that sits within the Google Workspace environment. The benefits to this are huge, and from a workload perspective, chief among these is the ease of collaboration across Thrive, and the sharing of resources. I know from current feedback in the recent staff survey how valued this is. Teachers sharing lesson planning across a network of schools is a no-brainer, why wouldn’t we all want to be as good as the best? The time savings here are also huge.
Having said this, we must safeguard against the model of a teacher as a compliance robot. I think this was partly behind Sir Kevan Collins’ recent comments at the CST conference reported by Schoolsweek under the heading I've never seen teachers more enslaved. I heard these remarks first hand and my memory is that Sir Kevan’s special complaint was that the profession, if it’s not careful, will put graduates off joining if they feel that the job will be one of being a curriculum delivery robot. My response to this genuine concern is that teachers should bring their humanity and personality to the role, especially in the classroom where the quality of the interaction between adults and pupils is key. So I would recommend teachers using Google Workspace to beg, borrow and steal from the best across Thrive - and then bring their personality, humour, care and compassion to the task of designing and delivering bespoke, high quality lessons to a class that only they truly know.
Being cloud based, Google Workspace is a very secure system. Having as much of our work cloud based has to be the central plank of our IT strategy. Cloud based solutions are backed up in multiple locations and hidden behind great security. We read with concern about schools falling foul of ransom cyber attacks. I haven’t read of any of these being Google Workspace based schools, which helps us sleep more easily in our beds.
Summary
AI is already reducing workload, let’s embrace it and make sure we don’t fill up the time saved with more work.
We are looking to Dan Fitzpatrick ‘The AI Educator’s training in March to take us the next pedagogical and strategic steps.
Maximise the opportunities for collaboration and sharing that Google Workspace provides, within high levels of cloud based security.
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