Workload

When teachers were asked about workload, 44,000 responded. Teachers work 50-to-60 hour weeks, often starting at 7am, often leaving after 6pm, and often working weekends. 90% of teachers have considered giving up teaching because of excessive workload, and 40% leave the profession within 5 years. There are teachers out there working 90 hour weeks.

For a school, there are great benefits to leading the way on reducing workload. Teachers who aren’t exhausted teach better. They contribute more over a longer time period. They are far happier to invest time in building trusting, caring, affirming relationships with children. They stay calmer in difficult confrontations, and are less likely to be short-tempered in everyday interactions. They support and encourage each other better. New teachers improve faster, veteran teachers stay longer, and everyone works smarter. A school that pioneers healthy work-life balance is more likely to attract teachers to join – and little matters more in a school than recruiting and retaining good people.

The Developing Experts curriculum solution is all about reducing workload for teachers while supporting them to develop their subject knowledge; enabling them to teach science with confidence!