A letter from Christine Blower, Acting General Secretary.
Dear Colleague
NUT school representatives have always played a major role in the NUT’s sustained campaign to reduce teacher workload. The Union’s 2008 Conference re-affirmed the objective of reducing workload. This will be pursued alongside the campaign to secure fair pay for all teachers.
The Guidance on Work Life Balance document gives practical advice on simple changes which can be made to the way schools operate – changes with the potential to make a huge difference to teachers’ working lives, without hindering the effectiveness of schools.
Guidance to Head Teachers on Preventing Work-Related Mental Ill-Health by Tackling Stress was published in association with UNISON, UNITE and GMB. Working jointly with representatives of support unions, NUT school representatives are invited to print off a copy of this document and its accompanying letter – from teachers.org.uk – and draw it to the attention of their head teacher. A meeting can then be arranged to discuss how management and unions can work together to tackle stress.
Focusing attention on workload issues now will help ensure that members start the new academic year with the necessary protections in place and knowing what their commitments will be in terms of directed time.
To assist you, a checklist of key workload issues has been prepared which will assist in focusing on specific areas where improvement is needed.
Where reductions in workload cannot be secured by negotiation the Union will support strike action to achieve such reductions, including co-ordinated action over a number of schools. School representatives should contact their division secretary for any advice and assistance they might require to remedy workload problems in their schools.
If there are any other workload issues at your school, not covered by the guidance to which this letter refers, for example, classroom observation or paperwork associated with the Intensifying Support Programme, please contact your division secretary to seek advice.
Workload
Workload has always been a hugely significant issue for teachers. Unacceptable workload is the cause of stress, other mental health issues, ineffective working, difficulties at home and one of the main reasons why so many people leave the profession each year. Workload can wreck lives.
Leicestershire NUT is committed to taking action on workload, and is committed to supporting individuals and school groups for whom workload has become unacceptable.
For too long, teachers' 'goodwill' has been used as an excuse to prop up the school system at the cost of people's health and well-being. Teachers have routinely worked themselves into the ground, and too many Heads have stood back and allowed this to happen, only to complain when things go badly wrong or the teacher decides that they would actually like some sort of a home life.
What are workload issues?
Remember that from September 2003, teachers cannot be routinely expected to undertake what were described as 'administrative and clerical tasks'. This was a list of 21 Tasks including items such as collecting money, investigating pupil absence, collating pupil reports, etc.
Failure to implement these important protections against excessive workload should be reported to your school Rep or the Secretary.
But workload also involves other issues:
- Cover
- PPA
- Leadership and Management Time
- Meetings - number and length
- Calender of Directed Time activities
- Planning requirements
- Monitoring requirements
- Written reports
- Class size
- Marking
- Lunch/break entitlements
- Parents' Evenings
- Performance Management
All these aspects of teaching impact on work-life balance issues and workload, and there are other issues as well.
We know workload continues to be a major issue in Leicestershire schools because we receive the phone calls and emails in the office every day.
The Government has recently announced new measures, which will be brought in next year, to strengthen the enforcement of teachers’ contractual rights. The Government says action will be taken against governing bodies where teachers are not getting these rights.
The NUT welcomes these measures. For the last six years we have criticised the workload agreement for its lack of enforceability. However, there is no need to wait to claim your rights.
- Ten per cent PPA time is a contractual right that the NUT will help you to enforce now.
- Those on induction should not teach for more than 90 per cent of the time in the standard timetable.
- You cannot be required to cover for more than 38 hours in any academic year. The date of implementation for ‘rarely covering’ is 1 September 2009.
For assistance in enforcing your rights, get in touch with the Secreary.
DON’T BE DIVERTED
You tell us that the biggest problems you face are requirements for excessive planning and too many observations. As professionals, all teachers are entitled to make professional judgements and to be treated with professional respect and dignity.
Your Union is putting these concerns to Government.
- Observation
This should not be an open-ended process. It is not acceptable for head teachers to simply ‘drop in’ to classes. The observation process should be clearly structured and kept to a minimum.
- Preparation and lesson planning
The DCSF’s Excellence and Enjoyment: A Strategy for Primary Schools provides good guidelines on planning and preparation in primary schools. We have asked the Government to re-issue the Excellence and Enjoyment guidance and to extend it to secondary and special, as well as primary, schools.
DON’T WORK FOR FREE!
Remember, teachers should not be expected to undertake additional responsibilities without appropriate additional pay. If demands are made on you that you believe to be inappropriate, seek support from the Secretary.
NUT Acting General Secretary, Christine Blower, said:
“The NUT addresses the issues around workload that matter to teachers. If you’re not getting your contractual rights, don’t wait. Contact us and we’ll make sure you get your entitlements. If you’re not already a member, join the NUT – the union putting your priorities at the top of the agenda.”
PROPOSED CHANGES TO ENSURE COMPLIANCE WITH CONTRACTUAL RIGHTS
The Government intends to strengthen the enforcement of contractual rights in schools. The NUT generally welcomes these proposals, and hopes that they will result in fewer teachers not receiving appropriate entitlements. We do have a few concerns that the proposals do not pay sufficient attention to planning and classroom observations, but overall they are clearly welcome.
The NUT's response can be read here.
Check out the information about Leicestershire WAMG on the News/Issues page.
