DfE Reducing Teacher Workload: school presentations plus Ofsted on workload

Reducing teacher workload in such demanding times may sound like an impossibility. But the live online events hosted by the Department for Education (DfE) will showcase how a range of schools across the country achieved reductions and increased teacher wellbeing as a result, in their work over 2019-2020. Working as part of a collaborative project between the Teaching Schools Council, DfE and the Education Development Trust, school-based colleagues will explain how they went about changing their practice, with time for Q and A.

There is also the opportunity to hear directly from Ofsted about the expectations of inspections and workload.

Only an hour long, with a choice of school presentation from primary, secondary or special school colleagues, these events could also be used as part of a training session or within a department or staff meeting and are timed for this purpose.

Different presentations on different days and times

Two of the 3 events are timed for after school so the whole staff can join in if desired. You will need access to Microsoft Teams to join and we will send you the Teams link to the different break out rooms a few days before the event.

Agenda

The agenda for each event is:

Ofsted presentation: Lee Owston, Deputy Director School Inspection Improvement – 15 minutes presentation; 15 minutes Q and A .

Presentation from a teacher/school leader who ran a successful trial to reduce workload – 15 minutes presentation; 15 minutes Q and A. See programme below.

We’ll direct you to different online breakout rooms to hear primary OR secondary OR special school colleagues. But as the process for change in any setting could be transferred to another you may also prefer to go out of phase.

The full programme for each session is, in addition to the Ofsted presentation:

13 OCT

• Primary - Providing feedback through live marking
• Primary - Not taking marking home - reducing teacher workload in writing and maths to improve teacher wellbeing in Year 4
• Secondary - Mark less, mark better in Maths at KS3
• Secondary - Replacing marking with digital mastery in English (Year 9) and History (Year 8)

14 OCT

• Primary (Infant) - Simplifying and reducing internal communications to relieve workload and increase wellbeing
• Primary - Doing less - developing middle leadership in primary schools
• Secondary - Collaborative planning in KS3 Maths
• Secondary - The effect of using technology to set and mark homework at KS3
• Special - but also applicable to secondary - Coaching to improve the quality of teaching and reduce workload

16 OCT

• Primary - Not taking marking home - reducing teacher workload in writing and maths to improve teacher wellbeing in Year 4
• Primary - Replacing written marking in English with live feedback
• Secondary - The effect of using technology to set and mark homework at KS3
• Special - but also applicable to secondary - Coaching to improve the quality of teaching and reduce workload

FAQs

Q: Can I sign up to all the events?

A: Yes, sign up to as many as you wish to attend on different days. Please be aware that you can only access one presentation at a time.

Q: Will the event be interactive?

A: There will be a chance for Q and A but through the chat function rather than talking so that it can be managed well for everyone.

Q: Can I join if I don’t have Microsoft Teams?

A: Yes, you can use the phone number to dial in, but you won’t be able to see any one or any slides that are used and have to dial in and out of the break out room.

Q: Will slides be available to all?

A: Not all the presenters will be using slides, preferring to talk directly to the participants. Slides will be available to those who attended. However, you can also access many helpful resources from the school workload reduction toolkit.

Q: Are you recording the events so I can listen at a later date?

A: We may record the events and will seek everyone’s permission at the start of the session. Whilst there are no plans to immediately publish the presentations we are looking into how and where to host these in the future.

Q: Can I sign up for more people than just myself?

A: If you want to use a presentation for a group of people, only one person needs to sign up. If you want to access more than one school presentation at a time then a colleague will have to sign up for the event as well.

Q: Will there be any follow up after the event?

A: We want to learn and improve our online work and so will invite you to complete a very short voluntary questionnaire about the event.

How can I contact the organiser?

If you have any questions or need to get in touch with us ahead of the event, please contact us at workload.solutions@education.gov.uk

Keeping you informed (GDPR Statement)

If you provide us with your personal details as part of the registration process, we will use these for the purposes of communicating information about teacher workload and staff wellbeing activities, to inform you of any new developments; invite you to future events or to focus groups. We will also use the information to let you know about associated support for teachers and leaders from our sister teams.

By completing the form you agree to us holding this information and contacting you. You can opt out at any time by letting us know at: workload.solutions@education.gov.uk.

We will do this in observance of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act (2018). We respect your privacy and will only store and use your personal information in strict adherence to the Department for Education's Personal Information Charter.