How do schools and teachers keep their heads above the piles of paperwork that land on their desk? Strategies to lift the burden of bureaucracy have been developed at two schools featured in this programme. Westwood College at Leek Staffordshire and Alderman Jacobs Primary at Whittlesey in Cambridgeshire simply took on more administrators. At Westwood there's one support worker for every teacher, who are then freed from the distraction of office work. The leadership team have delegated accounts and contracts to their business managers. The College formed a cluster with nearby primary schools and took over their finance and administration as well, again helping release teachers to get on with teaching. Alderman Jacobs Primary have a policy of sharing responsibilities. Teachers are glad to gain the experience of organisation so long as they're relieved of office work. ICT is used to support preparation and report writing is made simple with a programme specially adapted by the school.

Video Series: School Matters
Release Date 2009