£1.28M of new investment to help reduce unnecessary workload for teachers has been announced by the Education Secretary Kirsty Williams.
The funding will support the creation of new school business managers in eleven local authority areas.
The two year pilot will see groups of primary schools having a school business manager to provide dedicated support for head teachers and teachers so they can better focus on raising standards and the needs of pupils.
School business managers can help organise and run a range of non-teaching activity in a school, from finance, administration and procurement, freeing up head teachers and staff to focus on leadership and teaching.
The project is part of a range of Welsh Government actions to help address teachers’ concerns over their workload, including a new guide launched today on how teachers can reduce unnecessary activity, with advice on planning lessons, marking and assessing and collecting data.
Education Secretary Kirsty Williams said: “I am delighted to announce funding of almost £1.3m to fund new school business managers to take on some of the non-teaching responsibilities. This will free up heads and teachers to focus on what matters most – their pupils.
“We are working closely with the profession to help teachers be the best they can be for the benefit of pupils. I want to get the basics right and let teachers get on with teaching so we can continue to raise standards.
“Reducing unnecessary workload and enabling teachers to spend more time supporting pupils’ learning is so important. The resources developed with unions and others and published by Estyn today will help ensure that workload issues are considered and we will continue to take action in this area.”
The Welsh Government is supporting these new pilot projects by providing funding of £642,000 over a two year period which will be match-funded by local authorities for a total £1,284,000.
Local Authorities receiving funding include:
- Vale of Glamorgan
- Cardiff
- Carmarthenshire
- Powys
- Swansea
- Rhondda Cynon Taf
- Torfaen
- Conwy
- Anglesey
- Monmouthshire
- Caerphilly
Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union, said: “The NASUWT has been at the forefront of campaigning on teacher workload across the UK for many years and has been in continuous dispute with Welsh Government on the issue since 2011.
“This guidance is a first step along the road to providing teachers with the professional agency to exercise control over their workload. This is something that has been sadly lacking in the past.
“Of course, the effectiveness of the guidance will require school leaders, local authority school improvement officers, consortia challenge advisors, school inspectors, government officials and other relevant personnel within the education system in Wales to demonstrate due regard for the responsibility they have in managing and reducing the workload of teachers in compliance with the statements on the poster and the concertina cards.”
Rex Phillips, NASUWT National Official Wales, said: “With over 40,000 concertina cards and 3,000 posters going into schools after today’s launch, there should now be no misunderstanding on what teachers ‘should’ and ‘should not’ do and what the Welsh Inspectorate, Estyn, requires for school inspections.
“The NASUWT expects the posters to be displayed prominently in every staffroom in every school and welcomes the decision to distribute the concertina card to every teacher.
“This initiative will provide teachers and, where necessary the NASUWT, with the ability to take to task those who would continue to place unnecessary workload burdens on teachers in terms of daily or weekly lesson plans, marking and feedback to pupils and data collection – three of the biggest drivers of excessive workload.”
