Principals say they’re bogged down in paperwork

<h2 class&equals;"story-top" style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Principals of primary and intermediate schools says they want to spend less time on administration and paperwork&comma; and 75 per cent of them want to spend more time on educational leadership&comma; up from 59 per cent in 2013&period;<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">These findings are from the New Zealand Council for Educational Research &lpar;NZCER&rpar; national survey of primary and intermediate schools&comma; 2016&period; The results show that around two-thirds of principals worked 56 hours or more each week&comma; and 42 per cent reported high or very high stress levels&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Experienced principals&comma; often in larger schools&comma; were less likely to report high stress levels than newer principals who are often in smaller schools&period; They also seem to have more ability to focus on educational leadership&comma; which may be related to the higher levels of internal support in larger schools&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">The findings show most principals actively seek support for their role&comma; either from paid advisers&comma; their own organisations&comma; or government-funded advice&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">&&num;8220&semi;The government support that principals have for their role is more around the management aspects than educational leadership&comma; with little ongoing formal support for educational leadership after the programme for new principals&comma;&&num;8221&semi; says chief researcher&comma; Cathy Wylie&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">&&num;8220&semi;The findings raise the question of how we develop and support capable leadership in all schools&comma; and how that capability and experience is used within the whole education system&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"article-left-box-wrapper" style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">&&num;8220&semi;Only around a third of principals thought their workload was manageable or sustainable&comma; although 90 per cent of principals enjoy their role&comma; and see gains for their students&comma; teachers and schools from the work they do&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div> <&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"article-left-box-wrapper" style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">The NZCER survey received responses from a nationally representative sample of 349 English-medium state and state-integrated primary and intermediate schools&period;<&sol;div>&NewLine;