Teachers should not have to risk their physical and mental wellbeing in order to do their job

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‘A combination of excessive workload and increased disrespect from pupils mean I cannot continue teaching,’ says one reader (Getty/iStock)

James Moore’s article on teacher stress was most timely, as I am currently having to decide whether to take voluntary redundancy or to apply to work part time in the comprehensive school where I teach.

A combination of excessive workload and increased disrespect from pupils have led me to conclude that I cannot continue in teaching with my workload, as it stands. Sure, I get nice long holidays, but there is quite often marking to do or new syllabuses to prepare for.

One of the biggest factors in excessive workload is marking pupils’ exercise books, which is no longer a simple tick system but involves setting targets so that pupils can “close the gap” in their learning and make further progress. This means that marking a set of 30 exercise books now takes me three and a half hours. Multiply that by seven or eight for the number of classes taught by a classroom teacher and that gives you some idea of the workload involved. When I arrive home in the evenings I go upstairs to the study and recommence work, and this frequently includes Friday evenings.

Many of the teachers leaving the profession are extremely experienced (I have taught chemistry for 20 years) and such expertise cannot be instantly replaced. There is the potential if a newly qualified teacher arrives who is a subject specialist, but it is not unknown for the gap to be filled by a teacher in the school who is not a specialist in the subject. As a result, pupils’ attainment decreases, with an impact on the judgements made by Ofted (Estyn here in Wales).

However, although many teachers leaving the profession are experienced, there are also younger teachers leaving. They try teaching for a few years and then decide they would rather have a better work-life balance.

I love my job, and the feeling when pupils enjoy their lessons and choose my subject at A level or at degree level, or do better in their GCSE or A level examinations than expected, is wonderful. I feel very sad to be considering taking the step of leaving, but I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that my physical and mental wellbeing is more important. The crisis in teacher recruitment and retention needs addressing urgently by tackling our workload.

Name supplied
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Laura Dawson
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