The aim in this post is simple: tosave you some time somewhere.
Teacher workload is high and has been for a long period. The DofE set up task forces dedicated to looking at workload around planning, marking and data. The aim was to save teachers 5 hours a week. According to the Teacher Workload Survey in 2019, the average full time teacher was working a 52 hour week. Staff in “outstanding” or “requires improvement”/”inadequate” schools worked an average of 1 hour more than staff in “good” schools.
Over 15 years, I have seen various things contribute massively to my workload. I can recall some 60 hour weeks around 2013-2016 to keep up with the volume that was being demanded of me. I can also name examples of where my workload has been significantly reduced. One subject leader massively simplified our marking policy enabling a set of assessments to be marked within 30mintues. It was then replaced a year later with “deep marking” by a different subject leader.
Sometimes as teachers, we can be our own worst enemies in wanting to do our best for the kids. It’s not wrong but when it leads to a place where you can’t envisage an alternative then something needs to be done. Hopefully, the following paragraphs (long post incoming) will give you some food for thought.
There is a “too long don’t read” version at the end for the time-pressed and stressed teacher.
Step 1: Look at your marking and feedback policy
“Ofsted recognises that marking and feedback to pupils, both written and oral, are important aspects of assessment. However, Ofsted does not expect to see any specific frequency, type or volume of marking and feedback; these are for the school to decide through its assessment policy. Marking and feedback should be consistent with that policy, which may cater for different subjects and different age groups of pupils in different ways, in order to be effective and efficient in promoting learning.” (2018)
By far the biggest driver of my marking load in my career has been schools interpreting “what ofsted are expecting to see.” I think that online pressure from teachers, leaders and unions finally culminated in the clarification guidance that quote was taken from. Over the past 15 years, I have been through the following:
Every book every 3 weeks (13 classes of average 28-30 kids = 390 books or 130 books a week).
2 stars and a wish.
Written comments instead of test scores.
Two targets for pieces of work, pupils then respond by redrafting the work which then is re-marked (sometimes referred to as “deep marking”).
Redrafting the redraft until it was perfect.
DIRT lessons after marking has taken place (directed improvement and reflection time) where students respond to feedback given by reproducing work. Students redraft work with purple pen.
Every class produces a piece of writing every half-term (see maths above) which is deep marked.
Every skill assessed every half-term.
Assessments via Formative with mixture of self-marking and teacher marking.
Don’t get me wrong, pupils need feedback and it needs to be timely and actionable. According to Dylan William it needs to be “more work for the recipient than the donor.” I think sometimes in teaching it is almost inevitable it will be the other way around particularly after marking 30 GCSE 150 word practice questions. The “why” of assessing and giving feedback is clear. We do it because we want our pupils to progress and improve their skills. The big question to answer is: “what are we marking and how often?”
Simple solutions:
Sometimes we can get tunnel-visioned and assume that what we are doing is “normal” and “every school does this.” The table below suggests some ways that you can cut down on the marking without compromising on quality.
Every skill every half-term –>
1 or 2 skills every half-term – maybe complete listening and reading in the same lesson.
All year groups complete assessments at end of half-term
Year groups have staggered assessment windows. Year 7 – Autumn 1 – writing Year 7 – Autumn 2 – reading/listening
Year 8 Autumn 1 – reading listening Year 8 Autumn 2 – writing
Year 9 Autumn 1 – speaking Year 9 Autumn 2 – reading/listening
Assessments in all half-terms
Take a break from assessments between Easter and May half-term. You have Y11 Speaking Exams, don’t over-cook your teachers.
Writing once a half-term –>
Writing once a term
End of year assessments –>
Split between end of year and Easter
Every skill every half-term –>
2 skills per half-term – assess speaking while students complete a reading assessment.
Every book every … weeks –>
Live marking as you circulate around class. Divide your class into 3 sections and aim to get them done over a two week period.
Whole class feedback and practice exercises of a particular grammar point
Speaking assessments in KS3 requiring discussion of a photo and a roleplay type scenario
Live marking as you circulate while students practice questions they have learnt over the term. Quick note in books of any pronunciation errors and how to fix e.g. “nacionalidad” = “na thee on alee dad” Beware the backwash/washback effect
Taking home listening and readings to mark
Do it in class. If pupils are unsure if an answer counts then they highlight it and give you the ones they are unsure about.
Verbal feedback stamps
Ditch them if still using. Permission from OSTED here on P17
With the assessments, it is also worth looking at where that data is going and what is being done with it.
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Step 2:Look at your curriculum and resourcing
What we are teaching is important. I think “intent”, “implementation” and “impact” were very well-intentioned and the right things to focus on. Sadly, i think they morphed into some grandiose intent documents and a high need for consistency between classrooms where teachers need to be all teaching the same lesson. I’m not sure that – apart from Year 11 results analysis – impact is getting as much of a look in.
I have taught in schools with shared schemes of work and a shared resources folder that quickly became a unwieldy behemoth containing everything from resources found on TES to worksheets from a scanned OHP acetate (newer teachers you can google that last one). I have taught in a school with a trust produced shared curriculum. I have yet to teach in a school with booklets and visualisers but see it working for our English department.
Some simple solutions to save time:
Shared resources and curriculum can save time.
To all the teachers out there saying “I can’t teach from other peoples’ resources”, I would have agreed with you, once. Now, I have no choice. I make adaptations for my groups and it’s still quicker than planning from scratch.
To any teachers out there saying “I sell my resources so I can’t share” then maybe you don’t need to give everything away but there could be an ECT in your department who just needs a bit of help? Or maybe results in your department might benefit from you sharing? It is also worth taking into account that if the resources are produced on a school owned device or as part of your teaching duties (even if on a home device) then the school owns the copyright.
If you are developing a shared curriculum then resources will likely be only as good as the person producing them. Put your best people on this and try and free them up elsewhere.
If you are developing a shared curriculum then pick one year group to start with, set out the guidelines and a template and make it really good from the start. Within 5 years, you will have a fully resourced curriculum.
If your trust produced curriculum resources end up increasing lesson planning time then the balance is wrong and you probably need to raise this with superiors.
Don’t go creating reading texts and questions from scratch.
A textbook may have already done the work for you.
I’ve got a post coming on AI but this is one of the areas where it can really help. Where most teachers go wrong with AI is that they do not give it clear enough prompts:
I would like a reading text in Spanish
Aimed at a UK teenager studying Spanish
On the theme of …
It needs to include these 8 verbs
Write using the ___ tense.
Try to avoid any stereotypes
Can you add 5 True/False questions
Can you add 10 comprehension questions in English?
It is also worth bearing in mind an AI model like ChatGPT can consume approximately 500 millilitres of water for every 5 to 50 user prompts so if you’re environmentally conscious then be really clear with your prompts).
Weigh up the time investment. Can I (or an AI) produce it quicker than searching the web?
Have a bank of cover work
If you’re ill, you’re ill. Focus on getting better and don’t spend ages on cover work. Here’s two simple ways:
A previous school had a set of textbooks of cultural information about Spain and France. The non-specialists covering often thanked us for this as they didn’t need answers.
The Language Gym textbooks (whilst excellent for teaching) would also be useful for this but make sure the cover teacher also has access to the answer book!
Have self-marking online homework
Whoever works out how to successfully integrate MFL homework websites with programs like SIMs or Bromcom will be the ultimate time-saver and very rich.
Self-marking online homework is a game-changer. Keep it really simple. Have a set completion amount or requisite tasks and reward or sanction accordingly. I have tried saying “spent a minimum of … mins” but that only works if the site tracks activity as engagement rather than the page simply being open. Quick wins here include https://www.samlearning.com/ , https://www.language-gym.com/ and https://www.thisisschool.com/products/languages . There are others but these are ones I have used.
If you are learning vocabulary, keep it simple
Can you use an online platform to track engagement?
Make sure that if using an online platform that students have a week to complete and an option exists for students to do it in school. This then prevents the argument of “the wifi was down” and “I couldn’t do it last night.”
We went through the whole process of printing lists for every student but it’s time-consuming so have them somewhere they can pick them up and reinforce the message that it is their responsibility to do so. Our maths department has a cupboard for past papers and students are used to fetching them. A similar principle could be applied here.
If you are testing it in class then train your class to do it quickly at the start of a lesson.
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Step 3: Look at the extras
Our core business is our timetabled teaching and learning. I couldn’t think of a good word to summarize this next section apart from “extras”. I know most MFL departments will look at the list below and think that’s our bread and butter. I’m also aware there are some very small departments out there of 2 teachers who would love to do this stuff but for various reasons cannot. The aim of the post is to save time so let’s look at ways we can save time with these:
Trips – Do you have a teacher you can train up to help you run the trip? Can you give them various responsibilities? There are plenty of trip planning checklists from the major companies. Can you divide some of the list between you? Would a company save time over planning a trip from scratch? Some schools use homestays, would that beat a hotel?
Y11 Interventions – John Tomsett is an experienced leader and wrote this blog about Year 11 interventions. Now, I don’t deny they can yield rewards but how much time is being invested and how much return are you getting on that investment.
After-school clubs – How much value are your after-school clubs adding? Do they need to run all year or just for a couple of terms?
During the 2013-2015 every book every three weeks phase, I was getting in at work at 7 and leaving at 5 as well as working in the evenings to get the marking and planning done. I know I pulled a number of 58-60 hour weeks. It wasn’t healthy and it wasn’t sustainable so I made a change. I came into work for the time I was meant to start at which was 8:30. I felt better but had to work harder in the time that I had. I was still able to get the work done and no less effective than before.
Simple Solutions:
Do you need to be in the building as long as you are?
The extra hour I was spending before school in 2012-2015 didn’t make me any more productive. I didn’t need to be in for that extra hour.
Could you afford a drop in hours?
A friend of mine has dropped to 0.9 on a two week timetable. One day off a fortnight has been a game-changer for him. It gives him time with family and children that he wouldn’t have otherwise had and fortunately for him the only day the school could make it happen was a friday!
Do you need to protect / ringfence your time?
Since starting teaching, I have always reserved one day at a weekend where I will not touch any work. As a Christian, this was important to me and this has almost always been a Sunday. Occasionally circumstances will force an exception to this but my rule remains at least one day of the weekend is work free.
Do you need to program in some “me time”?
I also made time to play football and badminton once a week in an evening preventing me from doing work stuff on those evenings. There will always be more to do. There will always be more ways to improve that particular lesson. Don’t let perfection become an enemy of good and a drain on your mental and physical wellbeing.
Do you need some accountability?
In schools we hear the word accountability and it normally conjures up negative connotations. Here I’m using the dictionary definition of “subject to the obligation to report, explain, or justify something; responsible; answerable.” In the same way, people tend to keep their gym attendance higher when they have a friend going, do you need a colleague or a friend to challenge you when you’re staying too long? Equally, do you need to be that person right now for someone in your department? On my first day of teaching, I started eating my lunch in my classroom and started looking over my plans for the afternoon. My Head of Department came and took me to the staffroom saying “make it a habit to take your breaks.” Since then I’ve rarely ever worked through a lunch break. Even now with a family and other responsibilities, that habit has carried on. It can be done.
Look at the wider load
As a teacher, you have responsibilities as a form tutor and may have taken on other things as your career has progressed. These were probably right especially if you are looking at gaining the kind of experiences required for promotions. It is worth reviewing things like this every now and again. It occurs to me that I have seen two very experienced teachers retire in my career and each of their jobs were replaced by 2-3 separate TLRs. Just because you are the person doing it, it doesn’t have to always be you. Prior to Peter Capaldi’s Doctor’s regeneration he says this:
“Oh there it is silly old universe, the more i save it; the more it needs saving. The treadmill. Yes I know, they’ll get it all wrong without me!”
I think most teachers can identify with this. The more you do; the more it seems need doing. If you need to leave something because you are stressed, overworked or struggling then it is not weakness. It is a sign that something needs to change. One year, I started work as a Head of Year, which was a job i had been aiming at for a long time. The previous year I oversaw the work with trainee teachers and liaising with the university. I knew by Christmas that one had to go and I couldn’t do both. I approached a senior leader who agreed that two jobs done well was best for the school and we decided upon my replacement together. That replacement was then able to use the experience as part of their interview for a Head of Department role a year or two later. Laying stuff aside for a time might be what you need.
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Step 5: Look at your school – can they change things?
“We’ve always done it that way” is a phrase you often hear in schools. There are ways to reduce workload and give some flexibility back to staff. Sometimes you need to see the alternative or the next steps to be able to describe it to someone. Here are some things schools are doing that you may benefit from:
Period 5 PPA from home – If you have a P5 PPA you leave early. It is assumed you will do the work anyway and that any doctor / dentist / MOT / service appointments could be booked in that time.
P1 PPA from home – If you have a P1 PPA and no tutor times or similar then basically it’s the reverse of the above but at the start of the day.
Personal day. Give up 5 lessons worth of cover for a once a year personal day (booked in advance). This is done in another school locally and is on an opt in basis.
Reports – Can you shorten the reports writing process?
Parents evenings – Can you do hybrid parents evenings? Can there be a mix of online appointments and in person ones? Do they need to be the same day?
Step 6: The final question: Impact vs Effort
One thing I wish I had learnt about earlier was looking at the impact I was having rather than the effort I was expending and this probably was worth a section in itself but instead probably leaves you on the biggest question: are my efforts having the impact that I want them to have? If not, what needs to change?
TLDR Version
Focus on making marking / feedback policy manageable and not time consuming.
Cut down on assessments, plan them so they don’t all come at once.
How can you save time on planning and resourcing of lessons. AI and textbooks can play a role here.
Keep systems for homework, vocabulary learning and follow up really simple.
What are you doing outside of school? Can you protect time for yourself? Can you help others?
Everyday MFL 