From ditching performance targets to allowing teachers time off – hear how a multi-academy trust is overhauling its policies in a bid to tackle workload and improve the well-being of its teaching staff.

Jonny Uttley, chief executive officer at The Education Alliance – a trust based in the East Riding of Yorkshire – speaks to NAHT assistant general secretary James Bowen about the need for accountability reform, their workload charter and the steps they’re taking to reduce teaching tasks, boost retention and bring about improvements for staff and students.

What does a really good school staff absence insurance policy look like? How can schools support staff well-being and lower absenteeism? What does having an ethical approach to school absence provision mean?

In this coffee-break edition of the School Leadership Podcast, you’ll hear Holly Harding, chief operating officer of the non-profit Education Mutual, answer these questions and explore the benefits of NAHT Wellness and Protect for NAHT members and their schools.

Find out more at ⁠www.naht.org.uk/NAHT-Wellness-and-Protect⁠.

Whether it's synthetic phonics, the curriculum or school inspection, how are our education policies actually made? Why do they often fail the sector they are intended to serve? And how can we make sure the people actually delivering education to children in schools have a say in what's decided?

This episode examines the state of education policymaking in England and how we could improve it. NAHT assistant general secretary James Bowen is joined by Nansi Ellis, an education policy consultant and former assistant general secretary at the National Education Union, and Gareth Conyard, co-CEO of the Teacher Development Trust and a former Department for Education senior civil servant. Their book Improving Education Policy Together: How it’s made, implemented, and can be done better, published by Routledge, is available now.