In response to the DfE’s Conversation guide for workload and wellbeing in schools and academy trusts, we chose to pause as a staff team — reflecting honestly, together, on our practices and culture. This is how we approached it, what we changed, and what challenges remain.
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Reading the DfE’s recent guidance on workload and wellbeing felt familiar — and necessary.
The questions they pose are good ones:
Are your marking and feedback practices meaningful, manageable, motivating?
Is data collection proportionate and purposeful?
Are behaviour recording and parental expectations handled efficiently and fairly?
Do you have a culture that discourages excessive working hours and encourages wellbeing?
These are all things we want to get right.
But while the questions are helpful, it’s how we go about answering them that really matters — and that’s where schools need to translate national guidance into genuine, local conversations that fit the culture and context of their community.
In our school, we didn’t treat the guidance as another checklist to work through. Instead, we used it as an opportunity to pause, reflect, and talk honestly — as a whole staff.
A deliberate pause: space to reflect and rethink
We gave ourselves a half-term last year where we deliberately slowed down our professional development programme and made time for these discussions.
In our Professional Development Meetings (Staff meetings), we invited everyone — teachers, teaching assistants, support staff — to reflect on what we actually do every day and why.
Marking and data collection became key focus areas.
We asked openly:
Is the way we’re marking having the impact we want?
Are we collecting data because it’s useful — or because we’ve always done it that way?
How can we ensure these tasks support pupil outcomes without consuming excessive time?
The power of this process was that it wasn’t about leadership telling staff what to do differently. Yes, we facilitated the discussion — but staff took ownership of the outcome.
By pressing pause and creating space for reflection, everyone felt part of the solution — not simply recipients of new expectations.
That alone addressed a key question in the guidance:
"Does your school have a culture that discourages staff from working excessive hours?"
We do — and it starts with giving staff time and permission to reflect and question.
A working party to build deeper understanding
We also created a working party, led by a deputy, with representatives from every main role in the school.
The purpose was simple: to help all staff understand what each other actually does.
When people grasp the demands of different roles, misunderstandings reduce, kindness increases, and relationships improve.
This small group created empathy and practical suggestions that improved how we work together — a real answer to the question about fostering a positive wellbeing culture.
Performance management: a shift towards flourishing
Our approach to performance management has also changed significantly this year.
We moved away from processes where staff felt obliged to “prove” impact through endless evidence collection.
Frankly, as a headteacher, I know how well my staff are doing — I don’t need folders of paperwork to see it.
Instead, we encouraged staff to use performance management as an opportunity for professional curiosity and flourishing.
They’ve researched niche interests, explored areas they care about, and aligned their work naturally with school priorities.
The result? Greater engagement, genuine development — and far more impact than “SMART objectives” ever delivered.
This aligns perfectly with the guidance’s intent: performance management should be purposeful, proportionate, and promote growth.
The real challenge: behaviour recording and complaints
The section on behaviour management in the DfE document highlights a challenge we know all too well.
While the principle of simplifying behaviour recording is good in theory, the reality is complicated by rising parental complaints — especially directed at headteachers.
We have a duty to protect staff, safeguard children, and ensure we can explain decisions when challenged.
So while we have had open conversations about what’s proportionate to record and how much detail is necessary, the tension remains real.
This is where national guidance can feel disconnected from daily school leadership: what looks proportionate on paper can feel risky when complaints are rising and scrutiny is intense.
Key reflection: ownership matters
Throughout all of this, there’s a golden thread: when staff feel ownership of the conversation, the solutions stick.
The DfE’s questions have value — but the real impact comes from how schools choose to answer them.
In our case:
Staff worked with us to simplify marking and feedback.
Staff streamlined data collection with leadership support.
Staff embraced a new approach to performance management that allowed personal growth.
Staff deepened mutual understanding through the working party.
This wasn’t just about workload reduction — it was culture-building.
A challenge back to policymakers
So here’s what I’d say in reply to this guidance:
The DfE’s questions are a helpful starting point. But their effectiveness depends entirely on whether schools can create time, trust, and confidence to address them properly — together.
Reducing workload isn’t about tweaking a policy.
It’s about giving staff agency, listening to their insights, and respecting their lived experience.
Pressing pause as leadership practice
My challenge to fellow leaders is simple:
When did you last press pause?
When did you last create the space for your staff to reflect honestly on what’s working and what isn’t — and help shape the answers?
Workload, wellbeing, culture: these aren’t abstract ideas.
They’re the collective experience of your staff, every day.
And when you slow down, listen well, and share ownership, you find that staff themselves often bring the most thoughtful solutions — because they live the reality every day.
That’s what our pause gave us.
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