THE recent workload negotiations were welcomed by nearly everyone in the primary sector. The long overdue teaching review hammered out hours and priorities and started handing the classroom back to the teachers. The ease with which this process was carried out was dependent, as ever, on the skills of those involved. It was also dependent on the models presented by local union representatives and the directorates.

In some schools the episode passed without comment while in others the seeds of bad feeling were sown for the first time. At no point did primary headteachers believe that their job was instantly going to become more manageable. Neither did they expect that the secondary-dominated education system would be strong enough to finally recognise parity of resourcing and salaries. Sometimes natural justice does not occur easily.

However, naively as it now appears, we did expect a place on the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers. We also expected that dedicated management time would become a professional right and that we would be part of the local negotiating groups soon to be set up in local authorities.

Well dream on, because so far this picture is depressing. By some strange mechanism heads have been manoeuvred out of the SNCT and lip-service is being paid to tackling the crisis surrounding their management time. The most open comment so far is that the allocation of management time will continue as status quo. The absurdity of this statement is not realised until it is pointed out that management time is not allocated to most primary schools and never has been.

In most authorities the hours needed to run our increasingly complex systems have to be taken from the staffing allocation. It is always a nightmare trying to balance the needs of class sizes and school structures against the increasing demands of the management workload. Surely it is time for management hours to be taken out of the staffing complement?

This sizing operation should also review the structure of the primary school management team in the light of the 5-14 curriculum and the current expectations of the service. Many heads have huge remits. No one person is able to carry out all the demands of a modern primary school. A realistic structure must be negotiated and it is imperative that there is management support even in the smallest school.

Schools welcome the involvement and interest of parents but again the head invests a considerable amount of time in attending meetings. In a small primary school there would be a commitment to about five school board meetings and seven PTA meetings per year. Attendance may involve teaching staff and yet none of this time may be taken from the now exhausted 56.5 collegiate hours.

The 22.5-hour week to be established by 2004 offers an opportunity to introduce specialist teachers. This would not only support the management of the school but would reduce the workload of teachers and provide more manageable teaching remits. A comprehensive review of the 5-14 curriculum must also be initiated.

And still, after asking for all of these drawbacks to be reviewed, there is yet another responsibility which comes knocking on the primary head’s door. There are very few teachers available to cover absence. In some authorities schools do not have funding to cover absence. In others they must fight as first come is first served.

So forget strategic management. Everything planned for that hour, day or week must be shelved the minute a teacher is absent as the needs of the pupils come first.

Primary heads are a moderate group. We prefer to avoid confrontation and we are not belligerent. However, times are changing. The campaign for parity of salaries is being furthered through an industrial tribunal.

QC advice is being sought on a number of issues. Information about the diversity of practice across Scotland is being collated so that our conditions of service are not further eroded. We will be watching carefully to ensure that we are represented on local negotiating committees as promised by the Minister for Education.

There is much disquiet both nationally and locally. We are looking to the future for the next generation of heads and, if we need to fight, then now is the time to do so.

Kay Hall is vice-president of the Association of Head Teachers in Scotland.