Our Wellbeing & Workload

We are fortunate to work with a fabulous group of colleagues who take joy in working with our children and with each other.  We understand that colleagues will want to progress in their careers, and we wish them the greatest success with this, however, we try our best to look after everyone in our work family whilst they are with us.  Here are some of the measures we take to achieve this balance.

Flexible and considerate working conditions

• Holiday opening is positioned around staff requests and consensus.
• Staff social events
• Collecting our own children from school is encouraged and accommodated where possible.
• Staff are strongly encouraged to attend close family events which include sports days, Nativities, Service Parade Days etc.
• The school year is planned ahead of September to support work/home organisation.
• Staff are strongly encouraged to respond to emails at a time convenient to them.
• Staff have free access to school age childcare before and after school when working.
• Staff children have priority access to activity clubs.
• All staff are invited to all INSET days. Teachers are obliged to attend.  HLTA contracts include additional days and salary so these members of staff attend all INSET days.
• Free access to CareFirst is subsidised by the school.
• Training opportunities for all staff: EEF, NPQ suite, National College of Teachers, Subject Associations, First Aid, guest speakers etc.
• Staff must not spend their own money on school resources.  Our school is resource rich with an excellent purchasing power for everything that is needed.
• An integration of AI across the school to reduce workload where appropriate.
• Summer 2024: the refurbishment of the staff room into a homely and welcoming lounge space.
• Summer 2024: the creation of a dedicated PPA room.  The ‘Prep Room’ houses a comfortable but professional work space close to the photocopying facilities.

Hours worked

• PPA can be taken from home unless ECT support sessions are planned.
• Teachers work the hours to suit their lifestyle; there are no minimum hours in school before or beyond the school day.
• Teachers do not undertake break duty cover.
• Teachers do not undertake lunch time cover or have any requirements during lunch.
• Teachers no longer cover clubs for absent colleagues (children attend Busy Bees).
• Short term absence cover is usually undertaken by HLTAs who know our children well.
• Longer term absence is usually undertaken by the Headteacher who knows our children well.
• Directed hours have a healthy ‘cushion’ of 30-50 hours unallocated each year.
• Teacher meetings are limited to one a week of no longer than 60 minutes.
• Significant report writing support is in place and works well.

Administration

• Assessment frequency with data drops and analysis take place 3 times per year.
• Reporting to parents has been reduced to termly with a significant reduction in the requirements for completion.
• Marking and feedback has significantly reduced by involving more pupil assessment, verbal feedback and more emphasis on pinpointed planning.
• Newsletters do not include Teacher input as daily Tweeting keeps parents informed in a less onerous manner.
• Curriculum newsletters have been replaced by curriculum overviews which are no longer produced by Teachers.
• All display boards are now backed in hessian which needs changing every few years rather than paper which grows tired and needs changing frequently.
• The number of display boards in classrooms, and the schedule to update them, has been significantly reduced taking on average 3 hours over the year.
• Book and resource audits no longer take place.
• All teachers and HLTAs have their own laptop and iPad which aids flexibility.
• Resource ordering has been simplified with more procurement choices available.
• Shopping for DT is not undertaken by Teachers.
• A faster photocopier has been procured.
• Educational visit enquiries and quotes are managed by the School Office.

Planning

• Accelerated Reader, TT Rockstars, MyMaths, Phonics Tracker etc are used to track and assess pupils which reduces Teacher admin time.
• Twinkl memberships save time with resourcing for all Teachers and HLTAs.
• The HEPS curriculum aids teacher planning through well organised and previously used resources.
• KS2 children have a high quality purchased guided reading scheme which has significantly reduced preparation time.
• The curriculum vision was founded as a team with everyone being responsible for its implementation.
• Curriculum review day takes place in the spring term to ensure there is sufficient time to procure new resources and to plan when it is convenient to the Teacher.
• Short term planning is not submitted unless an analysis is required or a concern has been raised. It is not required in a standardised format.
• We have a dedicated media hub which houses 32 PCs which fully function due to a regular and reliable service contract with Huish Episcopi Academy.
• The school has a large school field and school hall where PE and many other activities take place.
• Our Coronation Room is a dedicated room for DT and houses work surfaces, tools and sufficient cookers for a class or 32 children.

Future plans for 2024-25

• ‘Pink Weeks’ will take place once each half term.  Regular meetings and clubs do not take place during these periods.  These have been scheduled during weeks where analysis shows us that staff often feel the strain or can become ill.
• We will open our school library in Autumn 2024 which will create an alternative workspace for staff and children.