1. All Work and No Play? Finding a Work/Life Balance
Aims for the session:
To reflect on how well you are balancing work and other priorities.
To consider work/life balance strategies suggested by other teachers.
Share strategies and create an action plan in order to move forward and achieve more balance.
Teachers’ Standards Focus
Need to be healthy in order to teach well.
Rachel Lawrence and Gil Brandt

2. Pairs to Fours
What is challenging about having a work/life balance as a teacher?
Record some challenges on the post it notes. One idea per post-it.
Rachel Lawrence and Gil Brandt

3. Pairs to Fours Pair: Share your post-its with a partner.
Discuss similarities and differences.
Rachel Lawrence and Gil Brandt

4. Pairs to Fours
Four:
Match with another pair, pool your ideas and identify common challenges.
Feedback to room.
Rachel Lawrence and Gil Brandt

5. Pairs to Fours
Walk round the room and visit each station write down your own suggestions for each challenge.
Share ideas.
Rachel Lawrence and Gil Brandt

6. Articles Rachel Lawrence and Gil Brandt
Read and discuss the two articles.
Rachel Lawrence and Gil Brandt

7. Articles Rachel Lawrence and Gil Brandt Feedback to the group.
Rachel Lawrence and Gil Brandt

8. Articles Rachel Lawrence and Gil Brandt Further reading:
Rachel Lawrence and Gil Brandt

9. Workload Challenge Rachel Lawrence and Gil Brandt
Government Workload Challenge :
Year
Content
Link
2015
Analysis of Teacher Responses
Report
2016
Review groups looking into: planning, marking and data
Rachel Lawrence and Gil Brandt

10. Workload Challenge Rachel Lawrence and Gil Brandt
Highlights from marking review group
Two things are clear. Nobody intentionally sets out to create unnecessary workload, and everybody involved in education – from Government ministers to classroom teachers – has a role to play in reducing burdens.
“There is little robust evidence to support the current widespread practice of extensive written comments and so we propose an approach based on professional judgement.”
Marking should help to motivate pupils to progress. This does not mean always writing in-depth comments or being universally positive: sometimes short, challenging comments or oral feedback are more effective. If the teacher is doing more work than their pupils, this can become a disincentive for pupils to accept challenges and take responsibility for improving their work
“To change practice in schools and classrooms, we think there are two challenges: • Embedding the principles of effective marking in all schools; and • Challenging the ‘false comfort’ of deep marking.”
Rachel Lawrence and Gil Brandt

11. Take Back Control: Saying No
Read the articles
Things to consider/discuss:
Are you comfortable saying no to work or leaders?
Do you know when you should be considering turning down work?
Is this going to be a useful strategy for you?
Rachel Lawrence and Gil Brandt

12. Take Back Control: Saying No
Practice in pairs:
Take it in turns to role play a scenario where a more senior manager asks you to take on more work and say “no” using some of the principles we have read/discussed.
Example scenarios (feel free to make up your own):
A deputy head is asking you to takeover a weekly after school intervention group for year 10.
Your HoD suggests a time frame you think is unfeasible to mark and record data for year 11 mocks.
A mentor asks you to cover a year 8 lesson once a week during your PPA because she has a meeting with another participant at that time.
Rachel Lawrence and Gil Brandt

13. Any Pair that would like to Share?
Take Back Control: Saying No
Any Pair that would like to Share?
Feedback
Further reading on saying, “no”:
Rachel Lawrence and Gil Brandt

14. Prioritisation and Check Lists
Rachel Lawrence and Gil Brandt

15. Prioritisation and Check Lists
Prioritisation Matrix
ABCDE Method
Task:
Write a to do list for the upcoming week
Use one prioritisation tool we have suggested or one you already use yourself to prioritise your tasks
Write to do list
Label each item A-E in order of priority
Reflect
Execute
Rachel Lawrence and Gil Brandt

16. Take Back Control: Saying No
Next Steps…
Create an action plan:
Choose one thing you wish to implement into your routine that will improve balance.
Write a detailed list of all the steps you need to make this happen.
Ensure to include a mechanism to keep yourself accountable and check that you have achieved your goal.
Rachel Lawrence and Gil Brandt