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• Heads need to monitor performance and planning (possibly by inference) but should not be asking for it to be handed in week by week from all staff.


• Planning in advance for a whole week would not necessarily be good practice as teachers may need to re-appraise the later part of the week on the basis of initial progress.


• Inspectors will challenge heads who waste teachers' time.






... at school level


You can also make improvements in your own school. Kari Anson, NUT Rep at Ladygrove Primary School in Telford, explains how she changed expectations at her school.


"When I started, the tradition was to hand in a week's numeracy planning in advance. As a newly qualified teacher not wanting to rock the boat I duly fulfilled this request, which involved hours planning five differentiated lessons that never got taught!


"I would teach Monday's lesson, but due to my lack of experience, my pitch and expectations were often not reflective of the class. I would frequently need to change my lesson from Tuesday onwards.


"I regarded this as good teaching because I was responding to pupils' individual needs, based on my marking. But I was wasting hours of numeracy planning because I had to do it again each day. If my books were ever scrutinised there was no way the work in the books and my planning would tally.


"In my second year of teaching I became the NUT Rep, and one of the first things I wanted to address was this workload issue. I explained to the Head Teacher the wasted hours. He consulted other members of staff and they generally supported me.


"It was immediately agreed we could provide an overview of objectives we intended to cover throughout the week, but specific details - such as how we'd deliver, who would receive adult support and close-the-gap marking - could be omitted because we wouldn't know them in advance.


"This has reduced workload for all staff and improved children's attainment. Teachers address gaps in individual pupils' mathematical knowledge, as opposed to simply following a plan that has taken hours to write but glosses over areas that require additional input.


"I know I'm lucky to work for a supportive head who has a dialogue with staff, but I'm sure there are many more out there! If planning is a workload issue in your school, ask your NUT rep to help you win the battle."


 


 





Good practice


We want to make achieving good planning procedures in all schools a key focus for this term. Look out for an NUT poster being sent to all schools, highlighting a five-point good practice planning protocol:


1. Plans are for teachers' own use, to facilitate delivery of lessons. No particular format or presentation will be imposed.


2. Plans should be stored, re-used and only updated where necessary.


3. Planning jointly with colleagues, or sharing out the work between a group of colleagues, is to be encouraged.


4. It's not necessary to start from scratch each time. Teachers are advised to make use of the abundance of materials already available from the QCDA and other sources, adapting and annotating as required.


5. It is not acceptable for teachers to be directed to hand in lesson plans each week for scrutiny by head teachers.


This is the basis of what we think should be adopted in all schools where members are dissatisfied with current arrangements. Is it 'pie in the sky'? No, it is achievable.






 


Take action


If you want to achieve something similar in your school, discuss your concerns with other members, your NUT school rep and, where applicable, members of other teaching unions.


Put your proposals to your head teacher. The Union will back your efforts to reduce your workload and improve your work- life balance. If you need support, speak to your NUT school rep or your local NUT association/division secretary. (For contact details go to www. teachers.org.uk/contactus.)


Send any success stories and examples of good practice to the Editor of The Teacher at teacher@ nut.org.uk. We can then feature a selection in a future issue of the magazine.

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