EXCESSIVE WORKLOAD
Conference fully endorses the Executive’s decision to refuse to accept or to sign the Government’s School Workforce Reform Agreement, which it believes to be the most hostile attack ever on the professional status of teaching. Conference believes that the position of the Union is overwhelmingly supported by our members and by large numbers of those who work in schools who are represented by other unions. The ‘Agreement’ will do little to reduce teacher workload, but will undermine the entitlement of pupils to be taught by a qualified teacher.
Conference notes that almost two years of talks to reduce teacher workload have now failed. Teachers’ overall working hours remain as high as ever, recruitment and retention of sufficient teachers remains critical and the use of unqualified staff is a bankrupt response to the failed policies of the Government.
Conference considers that the changes now proposed by the Government and supported by the other teachers’ organisations, to the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STCPD), are inadequate. Conference believes that the absence of limits to teaching time and to overall workload and of any guarantee of marking and preparation time during the timetabled teaching day and the cosmetic work-life balance clauses mean the proposals will not remove the excessive workload experienced by teachers.
Conference believes that the approach recommended by the School Teachers’ Review Body, in its report on teacher workload, provided a more effective framework for the necessary amendments to the STPCD and that the Government’s failure to implement key proposals within that Report has undermined the potential for making real reductions in teachers’ workload.
Conference condemns the Government’s proposals, through amendment to regulations, to legitimise and encourage the use by schools of “support staff” to teach whole classes, thereby denying children access to teaching by qualified teachers, to which they should be entitled, diluting the profession and threatening the employment of teachers in sufficient numbers to improve teaching and to raise educational performance.
Conference condemns the failure of Government to provide adequate and additional funding for the reduction in teachers’ workload; a failure which is further evidence of the inadequacy of the proposals supported by the other teachers’ organisations.
Conference therefore determines to put in place a strategy that will:
a) be effective in reducing teacher workload to reasonable levels so that teaching is an attractive and sustainable profession;
b) ensure that all pupils and students are taught by a qualified teacher; and
c) defend teachers against the impact of damaging elements in the ‘Agreement’.
Conference condemns the Government’s exclusion from talks of those organisations which disagree with its approach and welcomes the commitment by the National Employers’ Organisation for School Teachers (NEOST) to include all teachers’ organisations in further talks.
Conference recognises that the NUT is at the centre of protecting and promoting the teaching profession, now and in the future.
Conference instructs the Executive to:
(a) submit such amendments to the draft STPCD and the draft S133 regulations consistent with the policies of the Union, to ensure reduced workload for teachers and protect the professional status of teaching;
(b) seek agreement with employers, locally and nationally, to ensure that:
i) excessive workload is removed from teachers,
ii) teachers’ professional roles are protected, and
iii) teacher numbers are increased;
(c) act to ensure that the application of any changes to regulations and to the STCPD do not threaten the number of teaching posts and the employment of teachers, including part-time and supply teachers, and to sanction action under Union rule, where the objectives are not achieved;
(d) send to members additional guidance, within the protection afforded by the Union’s ballot on bureaucratic burdens, protecting them from any additional workload arising from the application of any Government measures, regulations and guidance arising from the Agreement, including
i) limits to teachers’ overall working time in line with the agreement in Scotland,
ii) limits to the time spent on planning to discharge professional responsibility,
iii) a refusal to undertake work, the purpose of which is, to facilitate the role of support staff employed to undertake specified teaching work, as set out in the draft S133 regulations,
iv) or where support staff are being used to replace teachers.
(e) initiate an action strategy to reduce existing teacher workload, including the following elements (balloting members where necessary to comply with legislation and the Union's rules):
i) no-cover action after one day of unexpected absence, and immediate no-cover action where absences are known in advance (with no detriment to existing local agreements);
ii) refusing to submit short term planning for inspection by headteachers or other managers;
(f) give guidance to members on how to initiate the Union’s class size action policy as a way of reducing workload;
(g) encourage members to audit the impact in their schools of any changes to the STPCD and regulations;
(h) continue to maintain co-ordination with the TUC and relevant affiliates in order to seek maximum support for the Union’s objectives and support the establishment of permanent contracts and appropriate salary and career progression for all school support staff;
(i) seek maximum support for a joint campaign by the TUC and all teachers’, support staff, parents’ and governors’ organisations, for additional funding for this and the next two financial years in order to meet the needs of schools and the education service; and
(j) develop a framework to achieve progressive reductions in teachers’ overall working hours, including action strategies to limit teaching time and guarantee a specified allocation of planning preparation and assessment (PPA) time during 'teaching time’. The framework should also define appropriate levels of technical and/or administrative support for all teachers.