@darynsimon My wife has been working all day today, since about 9am, with maybe a two hour break. She’s still working now.

@darynsimon That's it, in a nutshell. If we clocked in and clocked out on all the hours beyond contact time (time in class with the chn) then our pay would be massive. The problem is: we're doing way too much beyond contracted hours. Unsustainable.

@darynsimon Neither should support staff. We need to look after everybody in schools, it’s just too much. Lots of my team are leaving this summer, some really experienced staff due to work/life balance and their mental health. It seems like there’s nothing I can do :(

@darynsimon And retention - the Government throw money at new teachers…what about those of us who have been going for 28years? All we get is squeezed and gradually pushed out, replaced with new teachers who get paid loads to train and walk away after 3-5years…

@darynsimon I agree, but not long returned from mat leave, joined SLT, new head and we're trying to get ready for September... I know that it isn't sustainable, but I also know this bit won't last forever!baby goes to bed and I'm back on the laptop working, baby naps, I work. Nearly summer

@darynsimon And none of this, we can't do anything about it. Plenty of schools are. Yes the government could help, but change begins at school level. There are things every single school could do today to reduce workload. Do it.

@darynsimon @joeb_EY What concerns me, though, is that this has been said since I started teaching 30 years ago. And teachers are still working far too hard.

@darynsimon #JoinAUnion

@darynsimon @joeb_EY Just wrote about a connected thene - education and reflective spaces, regular time when there is no rush, urgency etc all links to well-being, personal & professional development in a chaotic sector atm

@darynsimon The only differences between my 45 hr week in 1994 and my 60+ hr week now are requirements for overly detailed lesson plans, trawling the net or creating 3 levels of differentiated work for each lesson, plus silly additional tasks demanded by slt which have no effect on pupils!

@darynsimon If we only worked directed time, not a lot would ever get done

@darynsimon I was a teacher from 1975 to 1988. I worked most evenings and all day Sunday to prepare quality work for my classes. However, the workload has increased dramatically since then and I have every admiration for teachers who stick with the profession despite everything.

@darynsimon Unfortunately this can be said of too many professions. Reductions in resource but not demand and dedicated staff have led to individuals increased workloads.

@darynsimon From someone who *literally* spent all weekend marking mocks - I agree.

@darynsimon I’m in the job 25+ years and have always had work outside hours, some more than others but this last 10 years has been mental, the last 2 so stressful. I’m a full time teaching principal and my principal role is mostly out of hours.

@darynsimon This is why after 10yrs teaching I switched career to shift work 🚑 Workload manageable in yrs taught boarding & independent day sch. However, it was unsustainable in high sch & FE once cuts to funding started to really hit in 2012 on. Sci class size rose in FE to unmanageable😞

@darynsimon Nearly a yr since leaving teaching; I'm wondering why I endured yrs of 50-60hr weeks, a culture of never good enough from Govt, Ofsted, DfE, some SLTs and parents. Long holidays, free weekends? Nope, worked during many days of those. Increasing imposition of scripted lessons, too

@darynsimon The problem is as well, in many schools the ridiculous overworking is seen as a badge of honour. 60-70 hour working weeks are unsustainable. The answer of 'but it's for the children' is not ok.