Agenda item

James Kerr, NUT, will give a short presentation.

5.1       The Scrutiny Manager introduced the report and welcomed James Kerr, NUT committee member and teacher at Sydenham School.

5.2       James Kerr, representing the NUT, circulated a copy of Coventry’s Fair Workload Charter, and presented his views as follows:

·         Recruitment problems were more acute in London than in the rest of the country due to the high cost of living.

·         NUT members cited workload as the biggest issue, ahead of cost of living.

·         According to a DfE survey in March 2016, some 82% of responses said that workload was unmanageable.

·         Impossible workloads had a human cost to physical and mental health and to relationships both inside and outside of school.

·         Teachers staying up late to mark were unlikely to perform to their best ability in the classroom.

·         Teachers who were able to cope with their workload and have time and energy benefitted the children.

·         Workloads were being driven up by:

§  Accountability measures and pressure to meet targets
performance related pay

§  Class size

§  Funding cuts

§  False economies – cuts led to pressure on staff which led to higher absence which led to spending on cover

§  Employment of consultants and PFI.

·         While the local authority was not involved in the day to day running of schools, Mr Kerr felt that it could learn from other authorities.

·         Coventry and Nottingham City Council had devised Fair Workload Charters (FWC) which served as a kite mark.

·         A FWC in Lewisham would show that the local authority took recruitment and retention of school staff seriously.

5.3       A discussion followed in which the following points were noted:

·           Excessive data collection was a contributing factor to increasing workloads. As many as 6-8 data sets per pupil per subject per year were being gathered. Too much focus on statistics meant that creative, interesting one-off staff were not being pushed out.

·           Performance Related Pay and performance management targets within schools focused on staff outputs and not on the children, and added to workload.

·           Increasing pupil numbers was also a factor, with some A-Level classes having close to 30 pupils.

·           Mr Kerr did not believe the European Working Time Directive was being adhered to and warned that the council as the employer would be liable if a claim was made.

·           The DfE data regarding working hours was across term time only. Hours would be much reduced in holidays, but there would still be some work required in the holidays.

·           Mr Kerr highlighted two tasks which, in his opinion, were not a productive use of time, namely photographing children participating in activities and preparing end of year reports. It was Mr Kerr’s view that if an activity did not benefit the child then stopping it could be an easy workload win.

·           However, there was support among parents and school governors for both photographs and reports.

·           It was highlighted that in England teachers work 20% longer than in other OECD countries, but spend the same amount of time in class.

·           Some staff ‘churn’ was good as it meant that staff were developing and moving on.

5.4       RESOLVED:

1.    That the report and the evidence of James Kerr be noted.

2.    That officers liaise with Teach First to establish what data they could provide that would be helpful to the review.

The time being 9:20pm, it was MOVED, SECONDED and RESOLVED that Standing Orders be suspended to allow Committee business to continue.