Best Practice

Thirteen whole-school approaches to reduce staff workload

Workload Teaching staff Whole-school issues
Schools have a duty to protect the work/life balance of staff, including by keeping workload to reasonable levels. Helen Webb offers 13 strategies to help senior and middle leadership teams achieve this
Working it out: Around a third of teachers and school leaders are experiencing signs of burn-out and we have lost around a tenth of the teaching workforce in the last two years - Adobe Stock

I don’t need to tell you – but I will. Our teachers are stressed and too many are still leaving the profession.

Education Support’s annual Teacher Wellbeing Index (2024) shows that 49% of teachers and 55% of senior leaders report unsustainable workloads and 45% of teachers and 54% of senior leaders have a poor work/life balance.

Concerningly, 35% of teachers and 39% of school leaders are experiencing signs of burn-out. And workforce statistics show that in the last two years, we have lost roughly 1 in 10 of our qualified teachers.

Developing school cultures that value work/life balance and that support and empower staff to manage their workload more effectively is becoming increasingly necessary – and it is achievable.

Register now, read forever

Thank you for visiting SecEd and reading some of our content for professionals in secondary education. Register now for free to get unlimited access to all content.

What's included:

  • Unlimited access to news, best practice articles and podcast

  • New content and e-bulletins delivered straight to your inbox every Monday and Thursday

Register

Already have an account? Sign in here