Late last year, I asked DfE for a list of the roles it says schools must and the roles it says schools should have.
As I documented in these pages six weeks ago, it didn’t go well; they had the information but wouldn’t share it because it was already ‘reasonably accessible’.
On the grounds that they were stretching the definition of ‘reasonable’ to breaking point, I appealed.
You will be unsurprised to learn that my appeal has been turned down. I am. But I’m a headteacher: tenacious, and skilled at turning challenges into a learning opportunities.
When I initially got in touch with the department, it was via their ‘contact us’ link. I just wanted help to ensure I was meeting my statutory duties, and I was asking for something simple (not unlike the website compliance list the department already provides).
But instead of a human exchange, departmental bureaucracy chose to handle this as an FOI request. I can’t help but wonder if that was to avoid answering.
Either way, it is very clear to me now – and it must be to them – that a department that has ostensibly been committed to reducing workload since 2018 has no handle at all on what they are asking of us.
My appeal was simple: rather than causing additional workload, could they please just share the information?
Naively, I thought pointing out how long it would take someone to find the information themselves might lead to an easy, tangible opportunity for workload reduction. Sadly not.
“We have provided you with the links to the sources relevant to your request.”
Well, no, because ‘attendance champion’ – the reason I was motivated to ask in the first place – is still not available on any of these links.
“The advantage in doing so is that the information in these links will be updated should the guidance change in the future.”
What would it tell us about workload? Or don’t they want to?
Okay, but how hard would it be to update the list as roles change? What would that tell us about workload? And how useful might such a list be for the DfE to monitor its own impact? Or don’t they want to?
“The information requested is not held by the Department in the form you have requested.”
Fine, but what’s the workload implication of one DfE staffer making that list for all of us versus all 20,000+ headteachers each doing it for themselves?
Then a thought struck me: Rather than argue, why not model the prime minister’s vaunted public sector AI revolution?
So that’s what I did. I trained ChatGPT’s attention on the links provided by DfE and asked it to list all the roles required of schools. It returned five statutory and 10 non-statutory roles, none of which was ‘teacher’, let alone an attendance champion. I any case, I do more that 15 myself, so I immediately knew it was wrong.
And to be fair to it, it did too. It noted that DfE recommends “additional positions to enhance the quality of education and student wellbeing”. Ah-ha! List those then please.
List two proffered 15 non-statutory roles. Up from 10, but wait! “You missed sustainability lead. What else did you miss?”
Came list three, with ten further roles. “Please produce a comprehensive list, including attendance champion, which you also missed.”
List four contains 29 roles, but can we be sure that’s everything?
In short, no. “To ensure that you have the most up-to-date and accurate list, I recommend reviewing any recent DfE publications.”
So much for the AI transformation.
But even assuming this is it, 29 roles? In a small school, the head could easily be 17 of them in addition to, you know, leading the school. I’ve taken on five new ones in the past year alone, and ‘someone’ will no doubt soon have to be breakfast and wraparound lead.
When was the last time all these roles were evaluated for impact? What was the last one to be removed? I am supposed to ensure my policies don’t add workload. Who is doing that for me at the DfE?
Undeterred, I asked AI what the department could do to reduce workload. Top of that list: streamlining administrative tasks. Second: Reducing bureaucracy.
But what does AI know? Anyhow, I’m off to update the percentage of Year 6 children who use a range of swimming strokes effectively on my Sports Premium reporting form.
Hey, ChactGPT!
