THE bad news for Estelle Morris from teachers at Thorpe St Andrew college, on the leafy fringes of Norwich, is that workload problems will take more than a diktat on paperwork to solve.
Quite simply, it is going to need more teachers - lots more teachers - and that, one way or another, will cost money.
Paperwork plays a part though, as newly-qualified English teacher Sharon Morter puts it, a lot is “time-consuming but necessary”. Nigel Youngman, her head of department, says: “Writing reports is essential, but collating them isn’t.”
Martin Ruddock, head of social studies at the specialist sports college, is only half joking when he suggests blocking up the school letterbox.
Teachers are scathing about the Education Secretary’s suggestion that they would have longer to prepare if they let assistants take some classes. Mr Youngman says the idea is “frightening”, while Ms Morter adds: “It’s the classroom experience that’s so rewarding.”
The call for more backroom staff leaves head Ian Clayton, with a tricky political balancing act. Since he took over in March, he has appointed half-a-dozen welfare assistants, secretaries and technicians, and admits he needs more.
“But if I have extra money, I have to strike a balance between hiring a secretary and a teacher. The priority is always the kids - I have to convince myself and colleagues that it will benefit classroom practice.”
And there’s the rub. Because teachers agreed the one thing that would make their jobs easier would be more teachers.
“Smaller classes, fewer lessons - we can only do that with more teachers,” says head of sixth form David Walker. He believes the 1,700-pupil school is 30 teachers short compared to 10 years ago.
How to bring them in? A more flexible pay scale, rewarding good teachers earlier (both Mr Youngman and head of maths Nicola Hill have yet to reach the threshold) would help. “Superb” young teachers are coming through, but they’re not staying.
A limit on hours would also be welcome. “Our non-contact time is vital,” says PE teacher Juliet Hall. But staff are sceptical about a 35-hour week. No one would stick to it, Mrs Hill says, and parents, who already think teaching is a cushy job, would resent it.
One last point: are teachers their own worst enemy? There is a sneaking suspicion that colleagues would ignore the limit anyway. As Mr Youngman puts it: “I have the bizarre job not of motivating staff to work harder but stopping them doing too much.”
