Schools across an expanding multi-academy trust have stopped writing reports to parents, reduced marking and cut back on data collection as part of a trust-wide attempt to reduce teacher workload.

The Co-op Academies Trust has carried out a staff-led review across schools to identify areas of unnecessary work that could be eliminated.

The MAT asked 20 members of teaching and non-teaching staff from across its schools in Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, Merseyside and North Staffordshire to take part.

The report recommended abolishing written reports to parents, reducing the number of data collection points to a maximum of three a year, lessening planning and marking requirements and introducing an out-of-hours email policy.

These recommendations are now being carried out in schools across the trust in the North and Midlands.

Frank Norris, director of the Co-op Academies Trust, said: “I don’t profess that we have solved all the workload concerns that led to us setting up the review.

Reducing teacher workload

“But we’re a lot closer than we were a few years ago and I am delighted to see colleagues taking this forward.

“I now see it on the agendas at staff meetings. Schools holding staff drop-in sessions. New more relaxing staffroom spaces and we’re talking about mental health more than we ever have. I am convinced that through co-operation we’ll see even more creative and impactful ways to reduce workload.”

Instead of written school reports, Co-op Academies says its schools now provide parents with “all the pertinent data together with a brief template explanation of what the numbers mean, whether it be progress, attainment, behaviour or other pastoral issues”.

Schools are taking different approaches to emails being sent after 5pm.

A spokesman said that some of the 18 academies in the Co-op trust have produced “etiquette guidelines” to ensure that emails are written in such a way that they do not always require a response.

He added that many schools have blocked the “all staff” button to ensure information is only sent to those that need it.

Mr Norris said it was a challenge to introduce policies that are acceptable to everyone.

He added: “I have a terrible habit of sending emails out of hours and although I don’t expect an answer immediately, I think some people do feel obliged to respond.

“Feedback suggests this is a problem across our academies and I know some have tried to embargo emails outside of working hours but with mixed results.”

Earlier this month a new Department for Education report warned that “surprisingly few” academy trusts had a strategic focus on reducing teacher workload.

The report by Toby Greany, a professor at the UCL Institute of Education/University of Nottingham, found that larger MATs were less likely to have standardised approaches to the issue.

The research included a national online survey of more than 500 core team members and headteachers in MATs and teaching school alliances, and 23 detailed case studies of MATs.

It concluded: “Surprisingly few MATs and federations have a strategic focus on reducing staff workloads.”

In the survey, 16 per cent of core team members and headteachers in MATs said their organisation had a “mostly standardised” approach to managing teacher workloads.

By contrast, 43 per cent of core team members and 63 per cent of heads said their academy trusts left the issue up to individual schools. 

The news comes as the DfE continues to make tackling teacher workload a key priority in a bid to improve recruitment and retention.