From The Point: Korowa tackles burn out

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Korowa timetabler tackles burnout

Educator workload is an issue at Korowa Anglican Girls’ School, as it is in all schools. But staff and leadership, led by timetabler (and IEU member) Alisha Brown, have come up with what could be a ground-breaking response.

They are trialling a year-long system whereby once per fortnight, every full-time senior school teacher gets the first two periods and the last two periods free of duties. During this time they are to be considered ‘unavailable’ and have no obligation to attend the workplace.

That’s two blocks of free time for teachers to use as they wish. Off-campus or on. No questions asked.

The trial is being rolled out in the senior school first. Stage 2 will occur in the junior school; Stage 3 will cover part-time employees and Stage 4 general staff.

The initiative commenced after a review of all full-time teacher timetables, which might be an initiative other schools can consider to combat workload pressures and staff burn out.

HR Director Susan Coates worked closely with Alisha to devise the trial. She answered our queries about how this new initiative came about and how it will work.

Korowa Anglican Girl’s School.

What prompted the idea to ‘free up’ teachers’ timetables?

Korowa is invested in working with our staff to provide flexibility in the workplace where possible. Due to the nature of teaching and the restrictions in the school day such as the timetable, student supervision and duty of care, there are limits to the flexibility available to a teacher. As a trial in 2024, we have allocated two periods (doubles where possible) to full-time senior school teachers where they don’t need to be on site. They are free to arrive late or leave early on these days.

For junior school teachers, the current timetable restricts this – but further exploration of this initiative will try to free up a single or double period each week for junior school teachers. At present, all junior school teachers have been allocated one period per fortnight during period six. However, it is the school’s aim to make the distribution of “unavailables” as equitable as possible in future timetables.

What was involved in moving from a concept to a trial?

Once the timetable was completed, a review of all full-time teacher timetables was undertaken to address flexibility in the timetable cycle. An announcement to staff was made to explain the initiative and to provide a forum for discussion.

Have there been any unseen negative consequences so far?

Overall, the consequences have been minimal. The disparity between senior school and junior school is an ongoing cause for concern which the Principal, Head of Junior School and School Operations Coordinator are continuing to work on.

How have teachers responded?

Teachers have responded very positively, expressing gratitude and appreciation to the Principal for the trial. Junior school teachers have expressed their desire to have the same flexibility as their senior school counterparts.

What were some of the barriers making the implementation difficult?

At Korowa, our Senior School Mentor groups (homeroom) occur after recess, making it easier for Senior School teachers to have unavailable periods scheduled for Period 1 and 2 and/or Period 5 and 6. In addition, teachers are expected to be on site for the commencement of recess and not leave the grounds until the end of lunchtime. This ensures that we have adequate staff onsite for yard duties and emergency yard duty covers.

Covers for emergency classes (extras) are also timetabled and ensure that a reasonable number of teachers are available at all times throughout the day. This was factored in when allocating the unavailable times.

Stage 1 is for full-time secondary teachers. Why not start with part-timers?

Phase 1 has a focus on full-time teachers as they are on site Monday to Friday for full days and have limited time at the end of each day to undertake personal administration compared to part-time teachers. Part-time teachers already have a level of flexibility in their working week due to the nature of their employment and timetables.

What makes it hard to implement for junior school teachers?

In the junior school, it is preferred that literacy and numeracy classes occur in periods one and two, which limits the ability to allocate unavailables for classroom teachers at this time. Classroom teachers take their release time when specialist classes such as PE, Art, Languages and Music are run. As Korowa specialist teachers work across both the junior and senior school, there are limits to the number of classes that can be timetabled in the junior school in periods 5 and 6.

Could this solution actually place more pressure on teachers to perform the same work in less time?

We trust our teachers to manage their workload in a way that best suits their needs. Should they prefer to work at home during these times or work at school, that is an option they can make for themselves. The purpose of ‘unavailables’ is not to take away planning time, but to provide some flexibility about how staff choose to use their planning time in a way that best suits the individual.

What about meeting days? Are these off-limits?

All periods marked as unavailable fall on non-meeting days and teaching staff are expected to attend all relevant meetings as per normal school procedure.