Kathy Francis, head of art at Fairfield high, Hereford, believes the workforce agreement is flawed but has to admit that it has freed up time for her to teach more.
She still works an average of 49 hours a week but said: “I can achieve more.”.
“Because of the agreement I have been able to employ a permanent teaching assistant who can do the admin I used to have to do. She does things like prepare the classroom and school displays.
“It has enabled me to spend more quality time teaching. For instance I can do a textiles class on Tuesday afternoons after school now because I do not have to do marking then.”
However Mrs Francis said: “I don’t agree with all the tasks that have been delegated. I need to keep control over some. I like to manage my own budget. It’s OK for the English department which only has to order books but I need to know what stock I have.
“More funds are needed too, so that teaching assistants can be employed for longer hours. If they could be here for an hour after the school day ends they could do more tasks.”
