Tackling work related stress through Action Short of Strike Action and other initiatives Sarah Lyons, Principal Officer – Pay, Conditions and Bargaining The National Union of Teachers

How stressed are teachers in England and Wales? Teaching consistently listed in top 3 occupations with highest levels of work related stress Stress is top concern for safety reps working in education – cited by 90% in TUC survey NUT 2014 workload survey – 90% had considered leaving in last 2 years Teachers working on average 54.4 hours per week

Typical quotes from our 2014 workload survey ‘I’m fed up seeing my colleagues near to breaking point and there isn’t a week goes by where I don’t see someone crying’ ‘I love teaching but it is breaking me’ ‘ I have no ‘me’ anymore and for the children I love to teach, this is devastating, I will not do this for life, I simply cannot’

More quotes from our 2014 workload survey ‘Even if I stopped sleeping and eating I wouldn’t be able to get everything done. I love teaching but sadly working with the children seems to be the least important thing’ ‘I have no family life. I take Saturday off but otherwise work 7.30am til 6pm in school and another one or two hours in the evening. I work all day Sunday’

What is the impact of this? Nearly three quarters of school leaders having trouble recruiting teachers – many say this has got worse A third of teachers joining the profession leave within five years Government consistently failing to recruit enough trainees Female primary and nursery school teachers have a heighted risk of suicide

Action Short of Strike Action (ASOS): What’s it about? Limiting workload Refusing to participate in tasks which do not support teaching and learning Ensuring that members receive their contractual entitlements Reclaiming professionalism Resisting excessive accountability

ASOS First Steps Use the NUT Online Stress Survey NUT has offered a national online stress survey since 2016 Questions centred around HSE management standards: demands, control, support, relationships, role and change Address issues such as workload, inspections, behaviour, work-life balance, stress symptoms So far, been completed by nearly 1000 members and used in 70 schools 92% respondents cite workload as cause of stress 77% cite management style Lack of support from management, pupil behaviour and Ofsted pressure also have significant impact

What does ASOS allow members to do (or not to do)? Members can collectively decide to not submit lesson plans to members of the senior management team Members can choose to send and respond to work related emails only during the working day Members can refuse to cover for any absence To escalate to strike action where necessary

Is the strategy making a difference? Yes, there have been gains - Less interference in lesson planning Fewer/more achievable performance management objectives Fewer lesson observations Fewer meetings

Example 1 Felixstowe Academy Introduced a punitive observation policy instead of using the nationally agreed version Members were unhappy, realised that this was a collective issue A threat to take strike action led to the reinstatement of the original policy

Example 2 City Heights Academy - London Members subject to short notice ‘walk-through’ observations known as ‘Raising Achievement Boards’ (RABs) These were not meant to be about assessing individual teachers but a teacher was put onto a ‘support plan’ following a RAB Members refused to co-operate with RABs and strike action was threatened

Example 3 Maesmarchog Primary School - Neath Excessive scrutiny and mismanagement by school leaders and local authority caused stress to staff and pupils Members threatened strike action Management style improved, teachers were trusted and subject to less scrutiny

Example 4 Oulder Hill Secondary School - Rochdale Three concerns (unacceptable pay policy, unreasonable appraisal targets and excessive monitoring of pupil data) Members had a meeting and agreed to enter into a dispute about these 3 concerns Members refused to accept appraisal objectives and to carry out tasks linked to pupil data tracking After 1 month, concessions led to the settlement of the dispute

Example 5 Primary School - Trafford New head teacher introduced weekly scrutiny of children’s work books, lesson plans plus weekly lesson observations and new performance management tool and a new curriculum! Members had a meeting and agreed to start ASOS Head teacher didn’t back down, continued to threaten members so they took strike action took place in February 2017 Head teacher asked to leave, new head teacher in place, workload agreement negotiated and staff now happy

What are the challenges? Requires a strong union group The ballot protecting members will expire on 1st September 2017 Without the protection of the national ballot, school ballots will be necessary which can slow down the process

Thank You Any Questions?