‘I went into this job to teach children but most of the time I am doing paperwork...’

PHYSICS teacher Sion Amlyn works a seven-hour day then goes home and works for another three to four hours, sometimes until after midnight during busy times.

The 46-year-old father-of-two will work two hours every morning during the upcoming two-week Easter Break and also works for around two hours every Sunday afternoon planning lessons and marking pupils’ work.

Mr Amlyn, who has taught at the same high school in North Wales for more than 20 years, often works through his lunch break helping pupils revise or with homework.

He says the extra hours do not generally benefit pupils but are caused by a mountain of paperwork which started after devolution.

“During the school day you can’t do paperwork because you are teaching,” said Sion.

“So all the work like preparing lessons, checking pupils’ progress, feeding into departmental reviews and marking have to be done at home.

“I leave home at 7.45am to get to school by 8.30 and leave around 4pm. How much I work in the evening varies, but at its worst I start work at 8.30pm and go on until half past midnight. It does vary but it is constant. I went into this job to teach children but most of the time I am doing paperwork.

“Teaching is way down the list. It’s a travesty. Teachers are public servants and should be accountable but there is so much political pressure. The pendulum has swung too much. You can’t sneeze without having to write an evaluation.

“Before devolution it was much better. I shudder to say that because I am a fan of devolution but education has become too political.

“Once we had ownership of our own education system, now everyone seems to know the best way forward. They bring in experts who come and go and teachers are left to pick up the pieces.

“We are enthusiastic about the new curriculum but we don’t know what it is going to look like and to make it work we must be given the time and tools.”