Here's how:

As a dedicated teacher, I've experienced the incredible stress and overwhelming workload that comes with our profession. Day in and day out, we're not only responsible for educating and inspiring our students but also for countless other tasks and administrative tasks, making our work-life balance impossible to maintain. This petition calls for a restructuring of the teachers' workweek to help alleviate some of these pressures and create a more effective educational environment for everyone involved.

A quick internet search will tell you that "UK teachers regularly work significantly more than their paid hours, averaging an extra 10-20+ hours per week on top of their contracted time, with many full-time teachers working around 50-60+ hours week."

Currently, teachers are required to juggle classroom responsibilities, other tasks and administrative duties without the designated time to properly manage all these things. Most working extremely long hours. Undoubtedly, agreed sustainable workload limits need to be set (reasonable tasks beyond our normal working hours need limits) and the tasks carried out must be absolutely necessary. Currently, now the situation is that working as a teacher in the forefront of education is getting harder not easier. This has lead and will lead to further increased stress levels, low wellbeing levels and burn-out. Ultimately, this will impact the quality of education that our students receive. It also impacts our families and home lives. It's essential that we, as educators, have the support and resources necessary to perform our jobs to the best of our abilities.

We are proposing a transition to a four-day teaching week where teachers are in front of the classroom, educating our students, followed by a dedicated fifth day to focus solely on preparation, planning or administrative tasks. We propose each teacher in your school will have a different fifth day working on these tasks (or other suitable arrangements can be made by individual schools/year groups etc.) and these tasks should be reasonable and necessary. Each teacher should be suitably covered and the tasks undertaken by the students are sensible, organised, suitable and progressive. This shift would not only reduce personal stress levels for teachers but also ensure a more organised and efficient approach to managing workload. With this dedicated time for administrative duties, teachers can plan, assess, and develop more engaging and effective lessons without the added pressure of trying to fit everything into an already packed schedule, which is certainly unworkable. Currently teachers work long extended hours in their own time including weekends, evenings and even school holidays. If you are a teaching assistant worried about covering the fifth day for your teacher, we would say that it should be the responsibility of your school to organise suitable activities for example quiet self directed learning, group work under supervision, specialist teachers in art, music and PE for example, independent learning, educational games and puzzles. It must ensure staff are fairly and appropriately allocated. 

Implementing a structured workweek that acknowledges the realities of teaching can drastically improve the quality of life for educators while also enhancing the learning experience for students. It is a solution that recognises the dedication and tireless effort of teachers, aiming to provide them the time to recharge and refocus on the quality of education and have decent work life balance. 

Research and evidence from educational systems that have adopted similar approaches have shown positive outcomes, including improved teacher retention rates and higher student performance. By restructuring our workweek, we can create a sustainable model that benefits teachers, students, and the educational system as a whole. Which is great.

Join me in calling on the government, educational policymakers and school leaders to re-evaluate the current structure of the teaching workweek. Let us work together to foster an environment where teachers feel supported and empowered to deliver the best possible education to our students. We hear often that working in education is getting harder not easier, so please sign this petition to advocate for positive change and educational reform that prioritises teacher welfare, respects family time and reaches for further student success.

***Please sign this petition. Please also share it to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, what's app and other social media to help reach it's potential. Thank you.

Petition link for providing links on webpages: https://www.change.org/Teacher-work-life-balance