Reducing teacher workloads

I'm Josh Creek — a Teach First ambassador turned Managing Senior Software Engineer, combining my expertise in education and technology to simplify teachers' lives. Hathorsoft creates intuitive tools that save teachers time and improve student outcomes. From lesson planning to assessment, my solutions are shaped by classroom experience and built with cutting-edge tech.

I'd love to hear from you if you have any ideas or requests for ways that I can reduce your workload!

Why am I doing this?

I started Hathorsoft with a simple mission: to reduce teacher workloads and raise standards for students.

As a Teach First graduate, former Computer Science teacher, and software engineer, I've lived both sides of the equation. I know how tough teaching can be and how tech can bridge the gap. My journey began in the classroom, automating spreadsheets and apps for my colleagues. Now, I use my skills to build scalable, accessible tools that genuinely help educators.

My Story

When I was at University I co-founded a company (JEMS Technology Ltd.) and developed an individualised learning product, Ticklo, which won national Microsoft awards. Ultimately we encountered insurmountable barriers to entry in the education market and I stepped down as a director in late 2013.

After University I became a teacher through the Teach First Leadership Development Programme and taught Computer Science in schools across London. I found that teachers, especially trainees, had a lot of demands on their time, and my coding skills enabled me to start making automated spreadsheets and apps to reduce the workload of myself and my colleagues.

Eventually I made the decision to leave teaching, primarily as my students were relying on me for careers advice, which I was ill-equipped to give them as I'd never had a career as a software engineer. Now, that is no longer the case. I have a senior post, and regularly mentor and coach more junior developers.

I have never lost sight of my roots in Education and as an educator, and when the events of 2020 put even more strain on teachers and students, I felt it was time to put my coding skills to good use and start taking my plans to make software to improve teachers' lives and raise standards for students more seriously.

When I was in primary school my teacher introduced us to the stories of the Ancient Egyptian gods, and I was absolutely fascinated. This fascination persists today, and led to the name Hathorsoft, after Hathor, the goddess of, amongst other things, kindness. The core aim of Hathorsoft is to improve the lives of those using our software. Every piece of education software we provide is intended to achieve both a reduction in workload for teachers and an improvement in standards for students.

Where possible our software is provided for free, but our costs are deliberately low to make it easier for teachers who wish to use it to do so, without spending their precious departmental budget. I remember all too well spending my own money on glue sticks and pens, and that's not something I wish to see perpetuated.

While initially all our software is based on my own experiences in the classroom, I'm well aware that different teachers have different needs, which is why Hathorsoft is open to requests and suggestions - if there's something you wish someone would write software for then let us know, and we may well do it!

I hope that the software we have created helps you. Please feel free to reach out if you wish to share your experiences.