£1.3m bid to cut red tape and teachers’ workload
A£1.28m plan to cut red tape in schools and reduce teacher workload is being announced by Education Secretary Kirsty Williams today.
Funding of £642,000 over two years will be matched by local authorities to provide new school business managers in 11 council areas – Vale of Glamorgan, Cardiff, Carmarthenshire, Powys, Swansea, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Torfaen, Conwy, Anglesey, Monmouthshire and Caerphilly.
At the same time the education secretary and the chief inspector for schools in Wales, Meilyr Rowlands, will launch a new guide for teachers on how to reduce unnecessary work. The guide was compiled with help from teaching unions and head teacher organisations, with one describing it as “the first step along the road” to addressing workload.
The joint initiatives come after the first comprehensive teacher workload survey in Wales earlier this year revealed nearly 90% say they are unable to manage their workload
with one in three considering leaving the profession in the next three years.
Results from the National Education Workforce Survey, answered by 10,408 teachers, lecturers and support staff, were described by one union at the time as “a wake-up call” to the Welsh Government.
The survey showed many school teachers work 50 or more hours a week, but spend less than half that time teaching.
A separate National Association of Head Teachers Cymru survey highlighted recruitment and retention of school leaders is affected by bureaucracy and housekeeping.
Last term more than 20 schools in Carmarthenshire alone were without a permanent head, a situation which the profession said was reflected elsewhere.
Now the Welsh Government’s twoyear pilot scheme will see groups of primary schools given a school business manager to provide support to heads and teachers freeing them up from administration tasks.
The business managers will help organise and run non-teaching activity in schools from finance, administration and procurement, giving head teachers and staff time to focus on leadership and teaching.
At the same time 40,000 concertina cards and 3,000 posters on how to reduce teacher workload will be sent to schools.
“The project is part of a range of initiatives to help address teachers’ concerns over workload, including a new guide, also launched today, on how teachers can reduce unnecessary activity, with advice on planning lessons, marking and assessing and collecting data,” a Welsh government spokesman said.
The guide and other materials were drawn up by 16 organisations, including school inspection body Estyn, regional school improvement consortia and unions.
They include a staff room poster and pocket guide highlighting what teachers should and shouldn’t do when planning lessons, marking, assessing and collecting data, as well as clarifying Estyn’s expectations.
Speaking at the launch at Palmerston Primary School, Barry, Kirsty Williams said: “We are determined to give teachers more time to do what they do best: planning and teaching the best possible lessons for their pupils.
“Too often I hear how teachers feel hampered by box-ticking exercises which aren’t focused on raising standards in our classroom. We need to bust some myths on what is required of teachers and be absolutely clear in our guidance.
Meilyr Rowlands, Chief Inspector for Schools, said: “Estyn takes the issue of teacher workload very seriously. I hope this guide helps clarify expectations and help teachers focus their time and efforts on what is most importat – teaching and learning.”
The pocket guide will be sent to every registered teacher in Wales and every school will receive a staff room poster.
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