Academy trust workload agreement
Example
School details
School name: The Ascent Academies’ Trust
Location: Sunderland
Phase: Multi-academy trust focusing on special educational needs
Number of pupils: 130 to 200
Contact details: Email CEO Carolyn Morgan at cmorgan@ascenttrust.org
Impact and outcomes
The agreement sets out what teachers and support staff can expect from the academy and the trust they work in, in relation to their workload. It also sets out what leadership should do to manage workload.
Staff at Ascent can expect:
- a fair and reasonable workload
- high quality training and professional development opportunities that meet the needs of individual members of staff
Background from Carolyn Morgan, CEO
It is clear from national surveys and Ascent Trust’s own fact finding, that excessive workload is a major obstacle to schools across the country being able to successfully recruit and retain the best teachers and support staff.
We developed our academy trust workload agreement to support better recruitment and retention of teachers and support staff.
Ensuring fair and reasonable workload
How the Ascent Trust ensures fair and reasonable workload:
- the executive leadership team has a commitment to reducing work hours (above and beyond 1265) for all teachers. We also carry out a Trust review of Teaching Assistant contractual hours and duties
- we ensure that the appraisal of all staff includes a workload review.
- we take supporting actions to ensure employers exercise their duty of care to employees regarding workload, including heads of academy
- we review the Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP) reports and meetings, with Ascent (rather than local authorities) providing the lead on systems and procedures
- we have a working party to review curriculum planning systems across the trust, with the intention of reducing workload
- we ensure that Ascent completes a workload impact assessment before any new trust policies, reports or initiatives are introduced
- we ensure that policy requirements are reasonably deliverable within contracted hours for non-teaching staff
- we regularly review the workload charter with all staff
How individual academies within the trust ensure fair and reasonable workload:
- the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) states and plans the allocation of directed time with staff
- by publishing and adhering to termly calendars where possible
- the SLT guarantees to staff that any major changes initiated by the Trust will be planned on an annual basis
- by setting clear expectations policies for marking, feedback and assessment
- the SLT and business review the support needed by teachers to reduce their admin duties
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