The National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers' conference voted to ballot over industrial action to combat bureaucracy. The profession claims it is being overloaded by red tape from endless new Government initiatives, leading to excessive working hours and stress. Here, Philip Shackleton, head of maths at Ladderbanks Middle School, Baildon, gives his personal account of the new bureaucracy

WOULD YOU ask a factory worker to take home some of the manager's paperwork and do it for nothing? I think my colleagues in industry would not dream of asking.

Teachers' pay and conditions are based on the standard 1,265 hours a year with about 1,100 being contact teaching time. Staff meetings and departmental meetings taking another 50, along with parents' nights and training days, a further 50. This leaves about 60 hours for staff reviews, appraisal meetings, special needs pupil meetings and report writing.

The only way any of this work can be fitted into the 1,265 hours is to take contact teaching time, which must detract from the pupils. This teachers are not prepared to do and so they have to do the extra work in their own time.

As a mathematics co-ordinator, the 1999/2000 changes in the National Curriculum have involved me reading the consultation document and applying any changes to my subject planning.

I then have to work with other teachers in the department to ensure changes are understood, find where specialist knowledge is needed and arrange in-house training of those teachers.

I usually do this in my lunchtimes and breaks. Sometimes it may be possible to update plans but more often than not a rewrite is the most sensible option.

Recent introductions on national numeracy have involved many changes in the planning and delivery of lessons. While the improvements in pupils' understanding is very welcome, the paperwork involved in planning is another straw on a well-loaded camel's back.

Much of the load comes from the statutory requirements and administration surrounding the National Curriculum standard assessment tests. Teachers' assessments require some form of testing or mock exams as well as collating information from continuous assessments made throughout the school year.

I need to identify those pupils who need extra time, equipment or support with reading questions. And ensuring that these are available takes further time.

The introduction of performance management has become a requirement. This is to regularise the recording of pupil performance within and across key stages and is a good idea. Alas, it is going to involve a good deal more work.

In my own school I introduced this form of monitoring in mathematics three years ago in view of recent OFSTED inspections. The head and governors welcomed the accountability and evidencing this method brought. But it also brought a good deal of extra work for the mathematics teachers in the department and in collating the overall details.

Much of the above is used in pupil transfer which this year has been increased three-fold for closing middle schools as three whole year groups transfer to upper schools.

Added to all of this the straw which is in danger of breaking the camel's back - performance-related pay.

We are told that the first applications for this must be in this year. As far as middle school staff are concerned it must be done. But with the move to a new school it will be problematic if not impossible to be undertaken by heads who do not know the teacher.

Lastly, we must consider the fact that most middle and virtually all primary school teachers co-ordinate their subjects for no extra pay.

I have undertaken the work involved in heading the maths department on a standard scale salary. This is because there was no extra money in the kitty when I took on the job and I am not an isolated case.

How long can we go on running such key areas based purely on the goodwill of the teachers concerned?

Is it any wonder that as the bureaucratic load continues to increase more and more well meaning and conscientious teachers become ill with stress-related complaints?

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.