ONE recently-published report that may have escaped the attention of holidaying heads last month was the Price Waterhouse Coopers workload study.
This report, commissioned by the Government as a way of heading off the unions’ workload action last spring, is one of the most realistic descriptions of teaching ever produced - at least as far as classroom teachers are concerned.
Heads who believe they are fully aware of the demands they make on staff would be well-advised to spend some time with the report, not least because its authors say that: “Many headteachers appeared never to have considered their staff’s workload as an issue for them to be concerned with.” Only 12 per cent of the heads interviewed for the report claimed to have an active work-life balance policy or to think strategically about workload issues.
The report is on the management page of the Department for Education and Skills’ website www.dfes.gov.uk
