Headteachers and school leaders in Wales will end their long running work to rule after accepting a new workload agreement, alongside the improved pay offer already accepted by teachers. NAHT Cymru members in leadership roles in schools have been in dispute with the 22 local authority employers since February and began an action short of strike on February 1 this year.

A ballot of members has now seen 74% of school leaders in the NAHT agree to accept an improved offer and workload agreement with employers. But the union said budget cuts and a recruitment and retention crisis continue to “plague” schools.

Teachers ended their separate strike earlier this year when they agreed the pay offer and you can read more about that here.

Read more: Teachers gave evidence about the funding crisis in schools and what they said is terrifying

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The agreement sees school leaders in Wales get:

• A 6.5% uplift to pay and allowances (2022/23), a one-off payment of 1.5%, plus an additional 5% uplift (2023/24).
• The 2022/23 pay offer was increased from the initial Independent Welsh Pay Review Body’s recommendation of 5%, and the 2023/24 uplift of 5% was increased from the IWPRB’s recommendation of 3%. This uplift, as well as the one-off payment for 2022/23, was the first time the Welsh government had gone against the IWPRB’s recommendation.
• An additional £30m (2022/23) and £21.3m (2023/24) to local authorities to support teachers’ pay awards.
• The introduction of a digital workload impact assessment.
• A Welsh Government review of reporting requirements for schools and pupil referral units
• Revision of the information Estyn requires schools at the pre-inspection stage

Read more: Teachers gave evidence about the funding crisis in schools and what they said is terrifying

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During their action short of strike school, which will now end at midnight on November 17, heads and school leaders who were NAHt members refused to:

• Facilitate any unsolicited school visits
  
• Participate in and/or respond to any/all consultations, surveys, projects, meetings, webinars or data requests from the LA, consortia or Welsh Government
• Take part in calls or emails before 9am or after 3pm
• Attend meetings after 5pm
• Engage with school inspectorate Estyn beyond statutory requirements

NAHT Cymru national secretary, Laura Doel, said: “The action taken by school leaders this year has deliberately protected the delivery of education, but exposed a host of challenges facing schools that had for too long gone unnoticed. Teachers’ and leaders’ pay has been eroded by a decade of below inflation pay awards.

“Lack of funding put schools in an impossible position where they were having to make redundancies to balance the books. School leadership had become a cottage industry of evidence gathering, data collection, report writing and form-filling, which detracted from their core purpose of leading teaching and learning in our schools.

“Our action provided the evidence base on which to mount an unquestionable campaign to increase pay and bring in additional funding. The workload agreement, predicated on reducing bureaucracy and focusing attention on what makes a real difference to the lives of children and young people, is down to our action.

“An improved pay offer and some additional funding, alongside a review of the education consortia, coupled with the workload agreement, has satisfied the asks of the profession. We look forward to bringing the ambitions of the agreement to fruition.”

But she said schools still face “a great many challenges” including budget cuts and a recruitment and retention crisis which “continue to plague delivery”.

Paul Whiteman, NAHT general secretary, said: “Industrial action should never have been needed to achieve a settlement that is acceptable to our members and which benefits children and young people in Wales too. The additional funding secured through this action is a lifeline for schools, and the new workload agreement vital for freeing teachers and leaders up to concentrate on what really matters: the delivery of a first-class education for all.”

NAHT starts negotiations on the 2024/25 pay offer this month.

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We are pleased that NAHT members have ended action short of strike. This is good news for pupils, parents and teachers.

“We would like to thank unions and local authorities for engaging in a positive way in negotiations. Good progress has been made on addressing workload issues, but there is more to be done. We look forward to continuing positive discussions.”