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 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 subsidised by the school.
• Training opportunities for all staff: EEF, NPQ suite, National College of Teachers, Subject Associations, First Aid, guest speakers etc

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 don’t 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.
• Longer term absence is usually undertaken by the Headteacher.
• 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.
• Music lessons provide additional PPA time for most Teachers.

Administration

• Assessment frequency with data drops and analysis have been reduced to 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.
• 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 bought in 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.

Future plans

• End of year report writing support will be in place.