Is the paperwork/admin workload mental everywhere?

[sky1010]

I'm very curious as I am a fairly junior teacher (NQT last year) and did my training in the same school I have been working at since I qualified. I am primary by the way.

I am set to spend every day until the caretaker kicks me out after school this week printing off personalised targets, guillotining them, glueing them on to specific coloured card and sticking them into 120 books.

So far this week I have had collate and print out a few sets of raw data, fill in a massive CPD document (we get these often) and I have a display that needs changing. We have learning walks every week that require self assessment and filing afterwards. I also have to do daily logs for my TA, to make sure they have done everything property.

These targets though...they are refreshed half termly after each assessments, so many will be pulled out in a few weeks. I had a bit of a sulk on when I was sticking the last few down.

It got me thinking, is it like this everywhere?

This isn't really a rant about workload: I know the pressure and accountability is massive everywhere- but are there schools still out there where paperwork is the bare essentials and admin tasks are minimal? A particular sector, or even another country?!?

Our TAs are only paid until 3 and aren't allowed to do anything paperwork related so it does really all fall down to me.

If these mythical schools exist....how do you find them? I am still developing my 'craft' and want to be the best teacher I can be but I spend my life filing and gluing and cutting up things.

It's not even a 'back after Christmas thing', it happens all year round!

[sky1010]

Interesting. Thank you for your response.

[bumbleclat]

Mine isn't anywhere near as bad as that I think my head is quite an intuitive leader and just trusts her staff, no learning walks none of this time wasting stuff she just trusts that we do a good job and leaves us to spend our time on good teaching.
Maybe look for a new school with better management.

[IoraRua]

I'm in Ireland. We have nowhere near as much paperwork, and yet somehow our kids are educated, amazingly...I dread our system becoming like yours.
I am boggled at the stories my friends who went teaching in London come back with.

[Arcadia]

I'm not a teacher but echo what bumble says about good head teachers. There seems to be great morale at my daughter's school, the head is fantastic and really looks after her staff.

[icklekid]

I think it depends on how a school is doing- generally less pressure and 'checking up' in a good or outstanding school in my experience where as leadership in a unsatisfactory or school in special measures have to evidence what they are doing to improve and often that does lead to increased observations. You don't say what age you teach but perhaps try ways to get children to do some of the work eg sticking targets in themselves?

I think half termly targets, evidence for assessment and displays are going to be the required most places...

[sky1010]

The displays need to be changed twice a term though and are inspected for whether or not it meets blooms taxonomy, with new backing and border each time.

This takes up an entire after school week, twice a term, when you allow for running around getting colour printing.

I would ask the chn to stick targets in but my book scrutiny feedback will be quite bad if they stick them in dodgy and I'll have to go back and rip it out anyway.

[sky1010]

School is outstanding for practice and leadership

[MrsUltra]

with new backing and border each time
scrutiny feedback will be quite bad if they stick them in dodgy and I'll have to go back and rip it out anyway

and this is categorised as outstanding leadership???
what on earth difference does this make to the DC learning?
What a waste of time for a qualified professional, when a cheap work experience person could do borders and sticking

[annandale]

So if the children stick a piece of paper into a book wonkily you will get told that you.... what, haven't got them to achieve spatial awareness targets or something? Meaning that you have to restick them yourself?

What....?

[sorry not a teacher, as perhaps you can tell]

[clopper]

Well your workload sounds nuts! Get out of there, seriously. Are you in an academy? We have a lot of paperwork but nowhere near that amount of pointless 'busywork'. I agree with euphemia that it is not for the pupils' benefit. We have had some staff meetings lately where Bloom was mentioned, it is clearly the latest fashion or educational buzzword. We all know that all these things are in anticipation of ofsted and the pursuit of an outstanding grade,rather than any educational benefit. Get out now and have a work life balance, there are still a few schools where this is possible ( admittedly not many!)

[wanderingwondering]

I may be out of touch but I didn't think teachers were supposed to be cutting and sticking and putting up displays (administrative and clerical tasks) any more?

[wanderingwondering]

oh, seems I AM out of touch!

[sky1010]

Hmmm, some bittersweet responses. It's nice to know that I am not BU by having a bit of a sulk.

We have lots of visitors from different schools in all of the time, so the displays are really for adults who come by, I suppose. Perfect books are probably for show as well.

I am just not doing my best in observations, no concerns everything fine, but I want to be shit hot and outstanding and everything but I just can't see it happening. I don't have time to do lovely differentiated word banks and independent tactile activity boxes that they promote in teacher training.

I just thought this was the case everywhere. I knew it would be pretty mad before I went into the job.

[wanderingwondering]

Seriously-life is too short. Do what you can and focus on what is best for the children.

[annandale]

Has anyone checked whether the parents are actually expecting 'perfect' books, and what that means to them anyway?

[clopper]

Ask yourself this, is it better to be outstanding and have no life and a nervous breakdown or would it be better (for you and the pupils) to be consistently pretty good. These judgements are subjective snapshots of individual lessons. I think we are losing sight of the important things in primary education and so are some head teachers.

[sky1010]

Clopper-

I want to do outstanding, fun lessons. But to be outstanding I would have to neglect all of this paperwork to differentiate as much as I could and plan interesting lessons.

At the moment, I am not being consistent and not meeting my own personal goals because of the paperwork.

I don't want to be a teacher with the best displays and neatest books AND the most fantastic lessons- I'll settle on the lessons but the truth is, I can't.

If I put all of my effort into lessons (as I'd like to)- I'd be pulled up for my displays being out of date or late to hand in the latest staff CPD piece. They wouldn't see my practice, they'd see someone who is scatty and disorganised and I would end up being observed to high hilt and have a black mark against my name.

[annandale]

There have been a few of these threads discussing the specific admin requirements in certain schools and nearly all of it sounds insane, with specific blocks put in place to any obvious ways to eliminate some of the steps. The thread about photocopying things onto green paper will live long in my memory for the Kafkaesque setup created in the school to maximise wasted time and resources for an absolutely minimal outcome.

I'm relieved to see that if you can get a job in Scotland or Ireland, you will be allowed to work on being an outstanding teacher, rather than an outstanding administrator. I hope you do, and that you tell the head teacher why you are going.

[sky1010]

The kids work is up there too, but it needs to be 'interactive' so if it was an English display for descriptive writing I would have the kids description from the lesson, but I would have design stuff like a big word bank and WOW words and 'can you describe __?' so children passing by can 'participate' in the display.

That only takes an hour of my time to bash that out but it's running around getting printing and the dreaded cutting and sticking...

[noblegiraffe]

I'm secondary and that sounds bonkers. I don't know what the normal expectation is at primary, but at my DS's school I know his teacher has got at least some of the same displays up that she had in September, and last year some of the displays were the same all year, laminated so they didn't look tatty.

He's Y2 and I'm pretty sure he doesn't have any targets stuck in his book. It's a good school with excellent results, and staff seem to have time to organise trips and interesting activites.