A short thread on wellbeing and being realistic about workload:
First, I think my workload related wellbeing credentials are clear. I frequently rail against excessive policies, bad behaviour and unsupportive schools. My dept do no comment based marking. We provide centralised 1

resources (at great personal time-expense). I share all these for free online. We do not write reports and any data processingis done by me. I have been over my timetable this year (significantly) to help others in the department have some breathing space.
If anyone in my team 2

are struggling, I try to help them as best I can, often removing tasks or taking them on myself. Having said all that, there is obviously a limit. Having a six period day in your timetable is perfectly reasonable. It's normal. It's part of the job. Sure, having a week full of 3

them is not normal, and not reasonable, and I wouldn't expect it. But if your teaching hours were normally distributed you would definitely have a six period day. Maybe two or three in a row. Obviously I'd love it if this never happened, but it's the reality of a normal 4

secondary's timetable.
This isn't the thing we should be complaining about. It isn't holding back staff wellbeing in a widespread sense. Toxic work environments, excessive workload, pointless tasks, observation culture, bad behaviour, no support, no professional development: 5

these are the things which are a problem. By focussing on things that we can't change (and shouldn't need to), we lose capital and ammunition for focussing on the stuff that we can and should change. /end