Thank you to all those that have taken part in the workload parties over the past six months.
Below is a summary of what we’ve achieved, upcoming changes and details of longer-term projects.
You said, We listened May 2023
| You said | We did |
| More subject leadership time required | 36 extra non-contact days/Primary school: for subject leadership time enabling colleagues time for evaluating and planning |
| Too many data drops | Data drops reduced from three to two: Advent and Pentecost only |
| Too much monitoring | Monitoring: the DPS team removed the time spent on observations and focused their time on other evaluating activities i.e. Book Looks/Subject Leader conversations etc |
| Not enough time in school for planning | Planning: the DPS team developed and shared subject leader exemplar planning with Primary colleagues |
| Network meetings not well planned over the year | Blocked Network meetings: these were blocked over a two week period rather than being scattered across the term |
| More time for well-being | Well-being Afternoon for all staff @ the February Inset day |
| CPD opportunities for Support staff | Support staff ‘Workshops’ on the Well-being day @ the February Inset Day |
| You said the following needed to be addressed | We are working on for September 2023 |
| Workload Charter from the Trust | In development |
| Online compliance CPD too long and wordy | Through a robust procurement process, a new provider has been contracted for Sept 2023. Implementation to take place this term with Super Users |
| Time within the school day to complete compliance training | Head teachers have been asked to ensure the time is given for all staff to complete Safeguarding Training during the September Inset day |
| Too much time spent on feedback and marking and has the greatest impact on work/life balance and little impact on pupil progress | The Primary and Secondary Assessment steering group have worked on a Toolkit which will be available from Sept 2023 |
| Out-of-hours emails were an issue for some staff | We are introducing Communications Guidance which sets out the Trust expectations around communication including protocols for emails |
| Difficult conversations with parents take up a lot of time | Produced a Trust-Home-School Agreement which some schools are already using but will be in place for all schools from Sept 2023 |
| Pupil behaviour is taking up a large amount of teacher time | Provided information about ELSA Training at a reduced cost. Also highlighted the opportunities for Forest School CPD. We are also looking at setting up ‘enhanced’ provisions within schools |
| Writing on CPOMs was taking up too much time | The DSL Steering group delivered training to all DSLs at the Lent term Network. One page guide being produced to support ALL staff |
| Themes | Upcoming in the next 12-24 months |
| Performance Management | Across the diocese there is move towards focusing on improving individual CPD to further upskill the workforce |
| MIS Systems | We are looking at whether some of our systems can be merged i.e. data/behaviour/registration etc |
| Support staff cover for teachers | We are looking at how to recompense support staff for cover time |
| Too many after school meetings | In the Lent term 2023, we have piloted daytime networks and are looking at the practicalities of this for 2023-24 |
| Support for increased parental engagement | We are looking into training for support staff within schools for different types of role i.e. Family Support workers/ELSAs/Forest School leads; this is part of our inclusion strategy |
This is not an exhaustive list and we will continue with the working parties to further develop the initiatives above and introduce new initiatives that come from the further staff surveys.
