Ed Sec looking to reduce teacher workload to avert strikes (England)

[noblegiraffe]

The Telegraph is reporting that Gillian Keegan has instructed the DfE to look into ways to reduce teacher workload to avoid strike action, because the government is still refusing to look at pay either this year or next.

Apparently teachers spend 22 hours a week teaching and 29 hours a week on non-teaching tasks according to research by Ofsted in 2019.

Suggestions to reduce this include 'websites that mark answers for you in maths' (Are there any maths departments without a subscription to one of these already?), and stopping trying to quantify progress for Ofsted.

Better suggestions would be:
Scrapping Ofsted graded inspections and replacing with safeguarding checks
Increasing the number of qualified teachers (improving pay would help here) to reduce workload for experienced teachers who have to plan/support/pick up after supply or unqualified teachers
Guaranteed minimum one PPA per day (this would need more teachers, see above)
Funding CAMHS and stopping expecting teachers to do this job
Funding SEN provision properly

www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2023/02/15/teachers-workloads-could-cut-bid-halt-strikes-schools/ (paywalled)

For some students, I genuinely don't believe mainstream is the answer.

I think, in some ways, inclusion has been sold to parents as "best" because it is often "cheapest".

In some cases, isn't specialist education that can truly meet needs, and provide an appropriate peer group etc, better?

And for some students, it's simply the size and business of mainstream that is the issue- and that really would take a huge amount of funding to change!

When I was at primary in the 80s it had about 360 students. My secondary had 900. Those were considered big. The increase in average school size (without buildings increasing significantly) has a lot to answer for.

Yes, our official capacity is something like 1200 students, but we currently have 1300 + on role. It's partly due to other local sixth forms closing, and taking basically everyone who applied for the sixth form this year- leadership are doing things differently for September- but that may leave students without a suitable post 16 place locally.

We've got nearly double the number of students my secondary was built for. Corridors are a nightmare despite best efforts of SLT.

Find me a PRU where 3 A Levels and a UCAS application can be done?

As far as I'm aware, PRUs go up to age 16? I can't see any reason why, post-16, there would be an obligation on LAs to provide suitable education for pupils kicked out of sixth form.

Yes, my current school is mostly a relatively new build with lovely, wide corridors. I've worked in much older buildings where corridors and in some cases stairways were awful.

If it's intimidating to me as an adult (albiet a lot smaller than a lot of 16yos) then it must be terrifying for a lot of students.

There were actually plans to open a new secondary locally next year, to ease some of the pressure on some local schools, but they seem to have been quietly shelved.