Workload Advisory Council Update, no.1, 19 Feb 2020
The first meeting of the Workload Advisory Council was held on Tuesday 18 February.
QTU members were represented by Beck Humphries – a classroom teacher from Barcaldine SS, Peter Darben – a classroom teacher from Cavendish Road State High School, Andrew Thompson – principal of Redlands Special School, and Kate Ruttiman, QTU Deputy General Secretary (all pictured right).
The department’s representatives on the council include Deputy Director-General (Corporate Services) Jeff Hunt, Deputy Director-General (State Schooling) Peter Kelly, Acting Assistant Director-General (State Schools Operations) Danielle McAllister, and Assistant Director-General (Human Resources) Dion Coughlin.
The council discussed a number of issues including:
The implementation of SATE – members of the WAC committed to providing examples of the workload imposts of SATE. As part of the Certification Agreement Implementation Committee (CAIC), the department has been requested to inform schools eligible for additional TRS what hours will be provided in semester two to support the SATE roll-out. This will enable schools to use these hours in semester one, if this is deemed the best time to support the implementation of SATE in the school, confident that the hours will be reimbursed in semester two.
Instrumental music teachers and instructors – the WAC agreed to maintain a watching brief on the implementation of the MoA and joint communiqué and their impact on workload for IMIs and IMTs
Principal health and wellbeing – the council was advised that the strategy was close to completion. The QTU believes that for the strategy to have a positive impact it is also necessary to address school leaders’ workload. It was also stated that principal wellbeing is not solely the responsibility of the individual, but also a system responsibility.
Accountability measures such as annual performance reviews, new processes associated with RAIS payments, school reviews, and Day 8 returns, were identified as potential workload issues. While work has already commenced around school reviews, other accountability issues will be considered between council meetings. The department indicated that it believes that the Day 8 process can be improved, and it will commence a review following the completion of the 2020 Day 8 audit process.
NCCD and ICPs – the impact of the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD) on the role of HoSES was explained. There was a call for transparency regarding the funding of the NCCD and clarity about the recording of students with verified and other disabilities.
The impact of inclusion on the workload of classroom teachers and heads of programs, including the need to develop resources for students on ICPs and different resources for students with other learning disabilities, is significant. While no solutions were discussed at the WAC, these issues, including other matters such as the collection and use of teaching data and reporting/contacting parents, were identified as being expectations of the profession that have not been accompanied with additional resources or time.
School behaviour management processes – a number of issues raised by principals, deputy principals and heads of department regarding the new processes were discussed. The department committed to continuing to work with principal members to provide more streamlined exemplars. They will also consider elements of the student disciplinary absence (SDA) process that impact on workload.
Duties of teachers, heads of programs and school leaders – the QTU provided the WAC members with a document from the Australian Capital Territory which identifies the duties of a teacher and articulates what a teacher must do, what a teacher will contribute to and what is not a duty of a teacher. The QTU has suggested that a document similar to this developed for each classification in the Queensland jurisdiction may assist in addressing workload.
Making submissions to the WAC
It is anticipated that a web form process will be used to collect submissions to the WAC. Work is currently being undertaken, with the council hopeful that submissions will open before the end of term 1. These submissions will be reviewed to identify consistent themes and issues that impact on workload. The council will then make determinations about what issues will be adopted and reviewed and will provide advice on how workload may be addressed.
Workload activities between Workload Advisory Council meetings
As the WAC meets quarterly, the members agreed to continue to work on addressing workload issues (including those discussed at the first WAC meeting) and others as they are identified between meetings.
Authorised by Kate Ruttiman, General Secretary, Queensland Teachers' Union
21 Graham Street, Milton, QLD, Australia, 4064