Mothership

3/3/2018

Back in September, I was fortunate enough to be invited to present at Learning First Greenwich. And such was the structure of the day, that not only did I get to experience delivering my own workshop, I also got to attend another. I chose to attend the Department for Education update on Tackling Teacher Workload.

It was at this workshop that I learnt there is an entire sub-department of the DfE dedicated to reducing teacher workload! Astonishing! Did you realise this? Because I didn't.

I was aware of the Workload Challenge - a survey that some equally geeky friends and I had taken part in, and I knew that there had been some reports created as a response, but I wasn't aware that it was all led by a specific group of people whose job it is to make our profession more manageable.

For many, I can already hear the groans, and see the eye-rolls; a destructive cynicism that things can't get better. Fortunately, I hope to never work with you, because I have great faith that we can evolve and adapt in this ever-changing educational landscape, to make proper sense of research, to make the best decisions for our young people.

Part of the work of this department, is now to host seminars on what can be done to improve outcomes for young people, without worrying damage to the health of people working in this sector. With such a focus on retention of teachers, it really is paramount that we take opportunities like the introduction of this team with great enthusiasm. So that's what I did - I attended one of their courses, and I would encourage you to engage too!

I'll share more of my learning another time. For now, take a quick read of the recommendations, and contribute, rather than complaining how hard your job is.

You could also download the summary poster below: