Harris Federation teachers speak of being at “breaking point” over workload

Teachers working for schools within England’s second-largest academy trust are at “breaking point” over workload, one of them warned as a collective letter from more than 1,000 staff members was presented at the chain’s headquarters.

One of two teachers to speak on behalf of the signatories said that many colleagues were “often working 12-hour days” at school, and that “many have said [that] workload is unmanageable alongside family life”.

Teachers were living in “constant fear of support plans and additional work being piled on if all their students don’t make ‘average progress,’” this teacher warned.

Another teacher, speaking as National Education Union reps from Harris secondary schools and sixth forms gathered to present the letter, told me that its academies were not getting the funding they needed for the pastoral and behavioural support for the often disadvantaged pupils that they educated.

The detail

Education Uncovered reported on Friday that the collective letter had been signed as NEU members seek to put pressure on Harris, which controls 55 schools in and around London, to improve their pay and conditions.