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February 2006
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TEACHERS’ WORKING TIME AND DUTIES – AN NUT GUIDE
CONTENTS PAGE
INTRODUCTION 3
THE SCHOOL TEACHERS’ PAY AND CONDITIONS DOCUMENT (STPCD)
THE STPCD AND PART-TIME TEACHERS
SECTION 1 – TEACHERS’ WORKING TIME
Discharging Professional Duties
The Teacher Decides
Worklife Balance
Absence
Morning and Afternoon Breaks
Non-Contact Time/Planning, Preparation and Assessment Time
Leadership and Management Time
Headship Time
SECTION 2 – PROFESSIONAL DUTIES
Reasonable Direction
Professional Duties – Teaching (paragraph 73.1 of Section 2 of the 2005 STPCD)
NUT Policy on Schemes of Work and Lesson Plans
Professional Duties – Other Activities (paragraph 73.2 of Section 2 of the 2005 STPCD)
Professional Duties – Staff Meetings (paragraph 73.8 of Section 2 of the 2005 STPCD)
NUT Policy on Meetings
Professional Duties – Assessments and Reports (paragraph 73.3 of Section 2 of the 2005 STPCD)
NUT Policy on Performance Management Bureaucratic Burdens
Teachers’ Professional Duties – Cover (paragraph 73.9 of Section 2 of the 2005 STPCD)
Duties of Head Teachers as They Affect Teachers
Administrative and Clerical Tasks
SECTION 3 – OTHER PROFESSIONAL ISSUES AFFECTING WORKLOAD
Written Documents/Policies/Reports
OFSTED/Estyn
Schools in Special Measures and with a Notice to Improve
Target Setting
National Curriculum and Assessment
The Foundation Stage in Wales
Excessive Class Size
Changes to School Session Times
SECTION 4 - CONCLUSION
INTRODUCTION
The NUT has campaigned tirelessly over the years to seek to establish
effective limits to teachers’ workload. There is no
shortage of evidence about the extent of the problem. Most
recently, the School Teachers’ Review Body undertook a diary
survey to obtain a picture of the average total hours worked by full
time teachers in a particular week in March 2005.
The findings were alarming – classroom teachers in the primary
sector were working on average 50.9 hours per week. The figure
for secondary classroom teachers was 49.3 hours. The figures for
head teachers were even higher, with primary head teachers working an
average of 52.9 hours and secondary head teachers 62.6 hours.
It is against this background of excessive workload and the NUT’s
campaign to reduce teachers’ workload that changes to
teachers’ statutory conditions of service in England and Wales
have been introduced.
These include:
* from September 2003 no requirement to routinely undertake tasks of a clerical or administrative nature;
* from September 2004, a limit of 38 hours on the amount of cover
that can be required of an individual teacher in each academic year; and
* from September 2005 an entitlement to at least 10 per cent of
timetabled teaching time for planning, preparation and assessment (PPA).
The NUT did not sign the Workforce Agreement, because of its emphasis
on the use of unqualified staff to take whole classes. The NUT,
however, is determined to ensure that its members benefit from their
contractual entitlements and to protect their professionalism.
In addition to these recent provisions, teachers’ working time
has for many years been governed by the working time provisions of the
School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD).
This guide includes both a detailed summary of teachers’
conditions of service, as set out in the STPCD, and NUT policy and
advice.
1. Advice and support on any of the issues raised in this guide is
available from NUT regional offices in England, NUT Cymru in Wales or
from the appropriate NUT division.
ACTION SUPPORT
2. The NUT will provide advice and assistance to school representatives
and members seeking to have NUT policy implemented. In most
cases, as a result of negotiations, agreement will be reached.
Where negotiation fails to resolve the problem, and where there is
sufficient support amongst members, the NUT will consider a ballot of
members for industrial action to seek to achieve a resolution.
THE SCHOOL TEACHERS’ PAY AND CONDITIONS DOCUMENT (STPCD)
3. Where the STPCD applies, there is a legal obligation upon school
management to give NUT school representatives access to it. This
is best effected by schools keeping up-to-date copies for reference
purposes. Additional copies can be downloaded from
www.teachernet.gov.uk/management/payandperformance/pay. The provisions
are statutory and schools cannot choose to ignore them.
4. The STPCD contains the statutory requirements for teachers’
pay and conditions for maintained schools in England and Wales and
local authorities and schools must abide by these. It applies to
teachers employed by a local authority or by the governing body of a
foundation or voluntary aided school. Academies and independent
schools may have different arrangements.
5. The STPCD also contains guidance on salaries and conditions of
service issues. Local authorities and governing bodies are
required to have regard to the guidance and a court or tribunal may
take any failure to do so into account in any legal proceedings.
In effect, this means that any school not following the guidance would
need to have good reason not to do so and would need to be able to
justify any departure from it.
THE STPCD AND PART-TIME TEACHERS
6. The NUT is opposed to all forms of discrimination against part-time
teachers. It is often the case that part-time teachers are not
adequately paid in respect of the total number of hours they
work.
7. The School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document’s
provisions on teachers’ working time do not refer directly to
part-time teachers. This is because the part-time nature of the
contract should itself define the limits on working time.
However, because these limits are not explicitly detailed,
uncertainties remain for many part-time teachers who find themselves
called upon to work more hours and receive proportionally less pay than
their full-time colleagues. Any such difficulties are dealt with
by the NUT with reference to the Part Time Workers (Prevention of Less
Favourable Treatment) Regulations.
8. The DfES’s Circular of Guidance on Teachers’ Pay and
Conditions makes clear that the working time obligations of part-time
teachers, including job-sharers, should be defined in their contracts
of employment. Schools and Local Authorities must ensure that
part-time teachers have an entitlement to terms and conditions pro-rata
to those enjoyed by comparable full-time teachers.
9. A detailed NUT briefing note ‘Part-Time Teachers: Pay and
Conditions’, which includes detailed advice on working time
arrangements, is available from the NUT website at www.teachers.org.uk.
SECTION 1 – TEACHERS’ WORKING TIME
10. The provisions described below apply to teachers other than head
teachers, deputy head teachers, assistant head teachers and advanced
skills teachers.
How Many Days?
11. Paragraph 75.2 of Section 2 of the 2005 STPCD states that a
full-time teacher, “shall be available for work” for 195
days in any school year of which 190 days shall be days on which the
teacher, “may be required to teach pupils in addition to carrying
out other duties”. The 195 days shall be specified by the
employer or, if the employer so directs, by the head teacher.
12. The STPCD states that teachers must be available for work for 195
days in any school year. It does not state that teachers must be
present at school for 195 days. There is room for employers and
for head teachers to exercise flexibility.
13. A head teacher cannot direct a teacher to undertake duties on any
of the 170 calendar days, 171 in a leap year, not specified as working
days by the employer.
14. The NUT believes that there should be no variation from the working
days specified by the employer for schools generally or within
individual schools without consultation with the teachers
concerned. NUT members facing variations which do not meet with
their ready agreement should consult the Union.
15. Paragraph 75.3 of Section 2 of the STPCD states that a full time
teacher, “shall be available to perform such duties at such times
and such places as may be specified by the head teacher…for 1265
hours in any school year,” those hours to be “allocated
reasonably” throughout those days in the school year on which the
teacher is required to be available for work. It is important to
remember that the 1265 hours is an absolute maximum and that teachers
do not have to be directed to work right up to that limit.
Flexibility Within Limits – A Summary
16. To summarise, under the terms of the STPCD, as indicated above, the
contractual working time of teachers is subject to specific limits:
the number of days on which teachers shall be available for work in any school year is 195;
the number of days on which teachers may be required to teach pupils is 190, i.e. 5 days as non-contact;
teachers cannot be directed to undertake duties on any of the 170
calendar days, 171 in a leap year, not specified as working days by the
employer – this includes holidays and weekends; and
the number of hours within which teachers can be directed to
undertake teaching or other professional duties is subject to the
absolute limit of 1265.
17. Under the STPCD, the 195 specified days do not have to be identical
for all teachers in the school. If they are different, however,
individual arrangements must be made for the time to score against the
1265 hour and 195 day limits.
18. These limits must not be exceeded. Members who are called
upon to undertake directed time which would exceed these limits should
consult the Union as soon as the situation arises or, preferably, seems
likely. It is essential that schools keep accurate records of the
demands upon their teachers, in terms of directed time. In
advance of each academic year teachers should be provided with a
directed time calendar or diary, setting out their commitments in terms
of teaching, PPA time, leadership and management time and
meetings. NUT members should contact the Union if they believe
that they are likely to exceed 1265 hours of directed time or pro-rata
if part-time. An example of such a calendar is set out below.
Example of a directed time budget for a full-time classroom teacher in the primary sector without the responsibilities
Please note this is simply an example. The way in which the time
is allocated for different aspects of a teacher’s working day
will clearly vary between schools. What is important is that the
issue is given careful consideration and that the total directed hours,
including contingency time, does not exceed 1265 hours. Note that
the teaching time figure is what remains after PPA time has been
allocated. Prior to the introduction of PPA time, teachers in
this school taught for 22.5 hours per week. Their allocation of
PPA time is slightly over 10 per cent of this figure.
Use of Hours
Number of Hours
per Year
Registration
½ hr x 190 days
95
Mid-Session Break
¼ hr x 190 days
47½
Teaching Time 20 hrs per week 760
(4 hrs x 190 days)
PPA Time
2½ hrs per week
95
INSET days
5 hrs x 5 days
25
Supervisory duties
30 mins x 190 days
95
(includes 10 minutes before the
start of the morning session,
5 minutes at either end of the
lunch break and 10 minutes
at the end of the school day.)
Parents meetings and 3 hrs x 4
days 12
Open evenings
Staff meetings 1 hr x 38 days 38
Other duties of the
25 mins x 190 days
79 hrs 10 mins
Teacher (e.g. individual
pupil issues)
TOTAL
1246 hrs 40 mins
Contingencies (a cushion of 19 hrs
40 mins 18 hrs 20 mins
time available for unforeseen
circumstances.)
Note that the head teacher in this school has not allocated 1265 hours
of directed time to this teacher. A cushion of just over 18 hours
has been reserved for emergencies and unplanned events. It is
only if the teacher is directed to work during this cushion of time
that the 1265 hour limit will be reached.
19. Head teachers have the power to direct teachers in the school on
every one of the 195 specified days to undertake duties, “at such
times and in such places as specified”. This is the
significance of the word “directed”. Hours devoted to
all such duties qualify as directed time and count towards the overall
limit of 1265.
20. Thus teachers may accrue hours of directed time and reach the limit
of 1265 hours within fewer than the 195 days when teachers must be
“available” for work. In these circumstances, head
teachers, according to DfES advice, may conclude that an individual
teacher or group of teachers need undertake no duties on one or more of
the 195 days, in recognition of the professional duties undertaken at
other times. This has particular relevance to the deployment of
the five non-contact or INSET days, some of which can, subject to staff
agreement, take place in ‘twilight sessions’ after
school. For example, a session beginning at the end of a school
day and continuing until 6pm could count as half a day’s INSET.
21. Time spent in these sessions will accrue and score against the 1265
hours. The teachers involved in these sessions cannot be required
to attend on all of the five non-contact days if such a requirement
would mean exceeding the 1265 hours limit.
Discharging Professional Duties
22. Paragraph 75.7 of Section 2 of the 2005 STPCD requires that a
teacher undertakes to work, “such reasonable additional hours as
may be needed to enable him, sic, to discharge effectively his
professional duties.” This includes, in particular, the
marking of work carried out by pupils assigned to him, the writing of
reports for those pupils and the preparation of lessons, teaching
materials and teaching programmes”. Although this may be
time spent doing work under the general direction of the head teacher,
it is not “directed time” within the 1265 hours.
The Teacher Decides
23. Paragraph 75.7 of Section 2 of the 2005 STPCD provides that the
amount of time for professional duties beyond the 1265 hours of
directed time, “shall not be defined by the employer”
24. The teacher will decide, under paragraph 75.7, the number of
additional hours necessary and where and when such duties will be
performed.
25. Neither the place where the work is undertaken nor the number of
hours required to discharge the teacher’s professional duties
under paragraph 75.7 and outside the 1265 hours of directed time can be
determined by the head teacher, the governors, any relevant voluntary
body or the local authority.
26. The duties undertaken in additional hours will be those that are
necessary for the individual teacher and which can be undertaken by
that teacher alone. They include marking and preparation, will
relate solely to the teacher’s own teaching, and will exclude
activities which require the involvement either of staff or
pupils. They will exclude duties that the teacher is required to
undertake at a time determined by the head teacher, which would be part
of directed time.
27. This element of the STPCD is not a licence for head teachers to
require teachers to undertake additional work or activities outside
directed time. Though evidently this is work done as part of the
teacher’s whole job, and is a consequence therefore of general
direction by the head teacher, the time spent on professional duties
cannot be subject to the head teacher’s specific direction.
All work undertaken in this period of non-directed time must be
determined by, and be relevant to, the teaching commitments and duties
of the individual teacher.
Worklife Balance
28. Head teachers are required to ensure that teachers experience a
reasonable work/life balance (paragraph 60.3.1 ‘Management of
Staff’, Section 2 of the 2005 STPCD refers). The head
teacher has a duty to maintain, for each teacher, a reasonable balance
between work carried out in school and work carried out
elsewhere. Head teachers also have a duty to have regard to the
desirability of teachers at the school being able to achieve a
satisfactory balance between the time required to discharge their
professional duties and the time required to pursue their personal
interests outside of work. There is no requirement that all the
available hours and days must be called on. Indeed in many cases
of teachers with substantial marking and preparation responsibilities,
heads should adjust their demands on directed time.
Absence
29. Teachers cannot be required to make up any directed time not worked
as a result of absence through illness, or absence for any other
reason.
Morning and Afternoon Breaks
30. Morning and afternoon breaks count as directed time. A small
proportion of the staff might be on duty on a rota basis but, in an
emergency, staff would be expected to respond and clearly they are
available for work at such a time.
Travel To/From Work
31. Time spent in travelling to or from the place of work is not
included within the 1265 hours, except in the case of peripatetic
teachers or those who work at a split-site school.
Mid-Day Break
32. A teacher cannot be required to undertake midday supervision and
“shall be allowed a break of reasonable length either between
school sessions or between the hours of 12 noon and 2.00
p.m.”. Paragraph 75.6 of Section 2 of the 2005 STPCD
refers. Any teacher who volunteers to undertake mid-day
supervision is entitled to a free school lunch.
33. Head teachers, deputy head teachers, assistant head teachers,
advanced skills and fast track teachers are also entitled to a break of
reasonable length, but the STPCD is silent on the issue of whether such
staff can be required to undertake midday supervision. NUT policy is
that midday supervision should be undertaken by lunchtime
supervisors.
34. The NUT’s view of the “break of reasonable
length” is that teachers should have an entitlement of at least
one hour when they cannot be required to undertake duties, attend
meetings or remain on school premises. The lunch break cannot be
included in the 1265 hours of directed time.
35. NUT members are strongly advised not to attend meetings convened by management during their lunch break.
Non-Contact Time/Planning, Preparation and Assessment Time
36. As of 1 September 2005 all teachers with timetabled teaching
commitments have a contractual entitlement to planning, preparation and
assessment (PPA) time, set as a minimum of at least 10 per cent of a
teacher’s timetabled teaching time. (Paragraph 76.1 to 76.5
of Section 2 of the 2005 STPCD refers.) This time counts towards
the maximum 1265 hours of directed time. Any teacher who is
already in receipt of more than this amount of time must not have
his/her existing allocation reduced to 10 per cent. Paragraph 88
of Section 4 of the 2005 STPCD refers. PPA time must be allocated
in blocks of no less than 30 minutes and should take place during the
time in which pupils are taught at the school and must not be bolted on
before or after pupil sessions. PPA time must not be used for
provision of cover. Newly qualified teachers are entitled to a
reduced teaching timetable, equivalent to no more than 90 per cent of
the time other teachers without management responsibilities spend in
the classroom. Such teachers are entitled to PPA time, equivalent
to 10 per cent of their reduced teaching timetable.
The NUT’s position on the use of support staff
in relation to PPA time, along with general advice on the
implementation of PPA time, is set out in the NUT guidance document
‘Planning, Preparation and Assessment Time; Leadership and
Management Time’, available from the NUT website at
www.teachers.org.uk. It is important to note that teachers do not
have a duty to set or mark work for support staff who cover their
classes while they are taking their PPA time.
Leadership and Management Time
37. There are major issues of workload affecting the Leadership
Group. To already onerous burdens have been added; their direct
responsibilities for responding to OFSTED school self-evaluation forms;
any new requirements in relation to the ‘Every Child
Matters’ agenda; responsibilities with respect to TLR staffing
reviews; monitoring the application of school policies; and taking on
excessive additional workload as a result of having to respond to
funding shortfalls for PPA time.
38. Every teacher with leadership and management responsibilities is
entitled to Leadership and Management Time. This includes members
of the leadership group and those outside the leadership group with
some form of leadership and management responsibility, including
subject leaders and coordinators, heads of department, SEN coordinators
and advanced skills teachers. Unlike PPA time, there is no
minimum entitlement but the NUT would expect schools to provide
adequate amounts of time, commensurate with levels of
responsibility. For such teachers with a teaching timetable,
Leadership and Management Time must be allocated in addition to PPA
time.
39. Further information on Leadership and Management Time is contained
in the NUT guidance document ‘Planning, Preparation and
Assessment Time: Leadership and Management Time’, available from
the NUT website at www.teachers.org.uk.
Headship Time
40. Head teachers must have dedicated time to lead their schools as
well as manage them. From September 2005, governing bodies are
expected to ensure that head teachers have ‘dedicated headship
time’.
41. The amount of ‘headship time’ is not specified in the
STPCD but reference is made to those head teachers with significant
teaching loads defined as those who teach for more than 50 per cent of
the school timetable. As of September 2005 head teachers’
teaching load should be reduced by 10 per cent in order to provide PPA
time. Dedicated leadership time should be allocated in addition
to time for PPA.
SECTION 2 – PROFESSIONAL DUTIES
43. This section lists teachers’ professional duties as currently
set out in the STPCD. It also includes details of NUT policy
which relates to those duties. Italics are used to indicate the
professional duties of teachers as they appear in the STPCD.
44. The School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Review Body has
suggested in its 2005 report, that there should be a reconsideration of
the value of including lists of duties within the STPCD. The NUT
will seek to protect members’ interests and the professionalism
of teachers.
The letters DT are placed against the duties
identified below which may only be required within the specified 1265
hours of directed time. The unmarked duties may be undertaken
either within the specified 1265 hours (including PPA time) or during
additional hours under paragraph 75.7 of Section 2 of the 2005 STPCD.
Reasonable Direction
45. The STPCD sets out the professional duties of teachers. They
are to be carried out, “as circumstances require” under the
“reasonable direction of the head teacher”. It would
not be reasonable for any teacher to be required to undertake all of
the duties set down below.
Professional Duties – Teaching (paragraph 73.1 of Section 2 of the 2005 STPCD)
46. In each case having regard to the curriculum of the school, the professional duties of teachers include:
planning and preparing courses and lessons.
Note that other than the guaranteed minimum of at
least 10 per cent of each teacher’s timetabled teaching time for
planning, preparation and assessment is included in directed time;
Paragraph 73.1.1 of Section 2 of the 2005 STPCD refers.
NUT Policy on Schemes of Work and Lesson Plans
47. Medium-term planning should involve all staff in a key stage or
phase working together to ensure coherence and curriculum
continuity. Individual teachers should not be expected to produce
such plans independently. Joint guidance on planning from OFSTED,
the DfES and QCA can be downloaded from
hhtp://www.teachernet.gov.uk/docbank/index.cfm?id=3179 and provides
useful background to the NUT’s guidance.
48. It is not reasonable to expect teachers to write new plans for
every group or cohort of pupils. Plans can be stored and revised
and, often, only minor amendment is necessary.
49. Plans can be photocopied from the relevant QCA or other curriculum
documents or downloaded from the internet. It is quite acceptable
to annotate, highlight, date and amend these.
50. Planning is the professional responsibility of all individual
teachers, who can use medium-term plans by taking into account the
particular needs of their class or groups.
51. Plans should be ‘fit for purpose’. They should be
useful to individual teachers and reflect what they need to support
their teaching of particular classes. Other teachers should be
able to understand the plans.
52. Plans should be kept to a minimum length. They can be set out
in the form of bullet points or notes, including how learning
objectives will be achieved. This is a matter of professional
judgement.
53. Plans are working documents and do not need to be beautifully
presented or copied out for others. Separate weekly and daily
lesson plans are not necessary. As the OFSTED, DfES and QCA
guidance says, for medium-term planning, ‘QCA schemes of work
contain the detail you need for each subject’. Annotations
or post-it notes can be used to convert medium-term plans into lesson
plans.
54. Teachers should use their professional judgement on whether to use
non-mandatory schemes of work. Any use should be determined by
the application of the professional judgement of the teacher concerned.
55. Plans do not have to be very long or complex. They should be
updated only when necessary and not more than once a year. NUT
members, applying their professional judgement, should determine
whether reporting back on lessons involves undue bureaucracy and, if
so, to decide whether or not to decide to continue with such practice.
56. With the exception of some children with specific needs or special
educational needs, lesson plans for individual pupils are not
necessary.
DT teaching “according to their educational needs”, pupils assigned to the teacher;
setting and marking pupil’s work – school and homework,
other than the guaranteed minimum of at least 10 per cent of each
teacher’s timetabled teaching time for planning, preparation and
assessment which is included in directed time;
assessing, recording and reporting on the development, progress and
attainment of pupils, other than the guaranteed minimum of at least 10
per cent of each teacher’s timetabled teaching time for planning,
preparation and assessment which is included in directed time.
Professional Duties – Other Activities (paragraph 73.2 of Section 2 of the 2005 STPCD)
57. The professional duties of teachers include:
DT promoting the general progress and well being of
individual pupils and of any classes or groups of pupils assigned to
them;
DT giving guidance and advice on educational and social matters and on careers;
DT making records and reports on pupils’ personal and social needs;
DT communicating and consulting parents;
DT communicating and co-operating with outside bodies or individuals; and
DT participating in meetings arranged for any of the purposes described above.
Professional Duties – Staff Meetings (paragraph 73.8 of Section 2 of the 2005 STPCD)
58. The professional duties of teachers may include:
DT participating in meetings at the school which
relate to the curriculum or the administration or organisation of the
school, including pastoral arrangements.
Attendance at meetings can only be required in the context of
STPCD. Meetings must be within the 1265 hours annual maximum of
directed time and within the 195 days when the teacher is required to
be available for work.
NUT Policy on Meetings
59. The Government issued advice in 1998 addressing the issue of
meetings in the context of management convened meetings other than
those arranged for the purpose of communicating with and consulting
parents:
“Well-run meetings are essential to the
internal management of and communications of a school. Schools
need to have flexibility to determine the pattern and number of
meetings. These are matters for sensible professional
judgment. But schools do need to establish a pattern of meetings
that is fully justified”.
60. In its December 2004 report ‘Remodelling the School Workforce
– Phase 1’, OFSTED commented on the number of meetings
teachers were required to attend during the year and noted that it was
rare for anyone to ‘review the rationale for this significant
investment of time’.
Making Meetings Effective
61. The Union believes that it is the responsibility of those who call
and direct meetings to organise the meetings with proper attention to
sound time management.
62. Meetings must be “well-run”, having a clear
focus. Only those staff whose presence is essential should
attend. Agendas must be prepared and circulated in advance.
There should be clear options for decisions.
63. Only recommendations or action points should be recorded, rather than full minutes.
64. The prioritisation of issues should enable all essential business
– including items of urgency – to be covered adequately
within a limited time.
65. Meetings should not be called simply to conform to a pre-arranged
calendar. Each meeting should have a purpose and should terminate
when that purpose has been achieved.
Limiting the Number of Meetings
66. Adherence to these principles facilities the achievement of NUT
policy in respect of meetings. The NUT believes that meetings
should last no more that 60 minutes, being held on no more than an
average of one evening per week during a term, with a maximum of two
evenings in any one week.
67. Evening meetings, may be conducted in a single session or
sub-divided sessions for teachers in pre-defined groups but in the
NUT’s view the total duration should not exceed 60 minutes on
that evening.
68. Where the pattern of meetings includes two meetings in a particular
week, the NUT’s view is that there must be one week without
meetings to ensure that the average of no more than one meeting a week
is maintained. Parents’ consultation evenings are not to be
included in the averaging. See section below on Parents’
evenings.
Agreeing the Pattern
69. It is the head teacher’s duty to ensure that the overall
workload of each teacher, made up of directed time and time as defined
under paragraph 67.7 of Section 2 of the STPCD, is reasonable.
Meetings are the main consumer of directed time outside the pupil
day. It follows that effective management of time allocated to
meetings is central to the head teacher’s obligation and will be
of significant benefit to teachers. The use of calendars to
record directed time will assist in this respect. See paragraph
18 of this document for further information and an example of a
directed time calendar.
70. Head teachers must consult their teaching staff on the pattern and
number of meetings. The pattern and number of meetings should be
agreed, within the limits explained above.
71. Attendance at meetings should be required only of staff who are
involved in, or affected by, the business at hand. If evening
meetings involve movement between groups or venues, the time for
movement must be included within the 60 minute maximum.
72. Attendance at meetings can be required only in the context of the
STPCD. Meetings and parents’ consultations must be within
the 1265 hours annual maximum directed time within the 195 days when
the teacher is required to be available for work. Teachers cannot
be required to attend meetings during their lunch break. Where
meetings do not start immediately at the end of the school day, any
‘trapped time’ before the meeting starts should count as
directed time.
Pre-School Briefings
73. Pre-school briefings, prior to the pupil day, have become a feature
of the organisation of some schools. Some teachers may consider
them unproductive and not supportive of their preparation for
teaching. Other teachers consider them helpful in ensuring good
internal communication with limited disruption.
74. The NUT will provide support to NUT members who do not wish to take
part in pre-school briefings which they believe to be
unnecessary. The school briefings must be included in any pattern
of meetings and directed hours.
75. Time devoted to pre-school briefings should be within the 60 minutes maximum for meetings.
76. Pre-school briefings are subject to the criteria in the
Government’s Circulars on Bureaucracy in Schools as regards
justification, purpose, attendance and procedures.
Parents’ Evenings
77. Evenings for parental consultation have a different structure and
purpose to other evening meetings. They cannot be limited to a
maximum of 60 minutes. They should be few in number during the
school year. They must be included in any agreed pattern of
meetings.
78. If, in any week, there is one parents’ evening, then in that
week there should be no more than one further evening call on teachers,
whether for parental consultations or otherwise.
79. Parents’ consultation evenings should not be taken into
account when calculating whether there will be more than one evening
meeting per week averaged out over a term. They are, however,
subject to the limit of no more than two evening meetings in any one
week.
Attendance at Meetings/INSET: Part-Time Teachers’
80. Part-time teachers often experience problems in relation to
attendance at activities outside the classroom, such as staff meetings
and INSET, on days when they do not normally work. Many part-time
teachers find that their head teacher expects them to attend all staff
and parents’ meetings and all INSET days. Where this is not
taken into account in the terms of their contracts then part-time
teachers are likely to find that their salaries do not reflect the
actual time which they work in comparison to full-time teachers.
81. Due to other commitments, part-time teachers may be unable to work
on those days when they do not teach. The NUT believes that head
teachers should respect this position. Head teachers may not
direct teachers to work in circumstances where such a direction would
be unreasonable.
82. For professional development reasons, part-time teachers should be
offered the opportunity to attend all INSET days, including those which
take place on days when they do not normally teach. Where they
agree to do so, they should receive additional pay. Failure to
allow part-time employees the opportunity to attend training available
to full-time employees is unlawful.
83. The NUT supports the right of part-time teachers to access the full
extent of professional development opportunities available to their
full-time colleagues. Where part-time teachers attend INSET on
days when they do not normally work, their total contractual working
hours should be reflected in their salary. Where this is not the
case, part-time teachers should be paid on a supply basis for attending
INSET on days when they do not normally teach.
Further guidance on how part time teachers’
contacts should be set out is included in the NUT briefing
document. ‘Part-Time Teachers: Pay and Conditions’,
available from the NUT website at www.teachers.org.uk.
Professional Duties – Assessments and Reports (paragraph 73.3 of Section 2 of the 2005 STPCD)
84. The professional duties of teachers include:
providing or contributing to oral and written assessments, reports and
references relating to individual pupils and groups of pupils.
NUT Policy on Writing Reports
85. NUT members should not be expected to write more than one report on
each pupil in each academic year. Reports include written
documents and proformas with tick boxes. Unless the reports are
computer-generated, the targets for the maximum number of words should
be:
* whole reports: 400 words
* individual subjects: 40 words
86. Members are reminded that they should not be routinely required to
collate and photocopy reports following changes to the STPCD in
September 2003.
Professional Duties – Appraisal, Further Training, Educational
Methods, Discipline, Health and Safety (paragraphs 73.4, 73.5, 73.6 and
73.7 of Section 2 of the 2005 STPCD)
87. The professional duties of teachers include:
DT participation in arrangements for the appraisal of their own performance and that of others;
DT reviewing, from time to time, their individual methods of teaching and programmes of work;
DT participating in arrangements for their further training and professional development as teachers;
DT advising and co-operating with the head and other
teachers on the preparation and development of courses, materials,
teaching methods and on assessment and pastoral arrangements;
DT maintaining good order and discipline amongst pupils; and
DT safeguarding the health and safety of
pupils both when they are authorised to be on the school premises and
when they are engaged in authorised school activities elsewhere.
NUT Policy on Performance Management Bureaucratic Burdens
88. The NUT will not accept:
the allocation to team leaders of unreasonable numbers of
reviews. The NUT proposes a maximum of four, but all reasonable
attempts to allocate a smaller number should be made.
the setting of more than three objectives for each reviewee. It is recommended that no objective should exceed 40 words.
the setting of inappropriate objectives. No member should agree
to objectives that would lead to unreasonable burdens or be
unachievable.
rigid performance targets linked to pupil results;
attempts to impose more than one Performance Management observation per year on any teacher;
attempts to impose classroom observations lasting more than 60 minutes;
increases in class size/reductions in support time caused by the
reallocation of staff time in order to facilitate any aspect of
performance management;
attempts to impose requirements to complete documentation in relation
to performance reviews outside the NUT’s recommended classroom
observation checklist; and
attempts to set classroom observations at times with which reviewees disagree.
Teachers’ Professional Duties – Cover (paragraph 73.9 of Section 2 of the 2005 STPCD)
89. The professional duties of teachers include:
DT supervising and “so far as is
practicable”, teaching any pupils whose teacher is not available
to teach them.
There is, however, an absolute limit of 38 hours on the amount of
time for which a teacher can be required to provide cover each
year. The only exception is where a teacher is employed wholly or
mainly for the purpose of providing cover.
The 38 hour limit applies to all teachers, including head teachers,
those on the leadership spine and ASTs, whether on permanent, fixed
term or temporary contracts. It applies on a pro-rata basis to
part-time teachers.
Head teachers are required to seek to ensure, as far as practicable,
an even spread of cover throughout each term. They also have a
duty to ensure that cover is shared equitably among all teachers.
Notwithstanding the introduction of the 38 hour limit, paragraph 46
of Section 4 of the 2005 STPCD, recognises that covering for absences
is not an effective use of teachers’ time and that schools should
continue to aim for a situation where teachers, other than supply or
cover teachers, only rarely cover for absent colleagues.
Detailed NUT advice on the operation of the 38-hour cover limit is
available in the document ‘Guidance for NUT School
Representatives on the Introduction of the Annual Cover Limit and
Guaranteed Planning, Preparation and Assessment Time’. This
is available on the NUT website at www.teachers.org.uk.
Gained Time
90. During the academic year, particularly in the summer term, teachers
with examination classes are often released from some of their
timetabled teaching commitments as a result of pupils being on
examination or study leave. This time is known as ‘gained
time’. The 2005 STPCD, Section 4, paragraph 57, makes it
clear that if teachers are directed to cover during gained time, it
must count towards the 38 hour limit. There are, however, certain
activities which a head teacher can reasonably direct a teacher to
undertake in ‘gained time’. Paragraph 56 of Section 4
of the 2005 STPCD lists these activities. They are:
developing/revising departmental/subject curriculum materials,
schemes of work, lesson plans and policies in preparation for the new
academic year. This may include identifying appropriate materials
for use by supply staff and/or cover supervisors;
* assisting colleagues in appropriate, planned team teaching activities;
* taking groups of pupils to provide additional learning support;
* supporting selected pupils with coursework;
* undertaking planned activities with pupils transferring between year groups or from primary schools; and
* where the school has a policy to release staff for CPD during
school sessions, gained time may be used for such activities.
Duties of Head Teachers as They Affect Teachers
91. The STPCD sets out the professional duties of head teachers, some of which directly affect the duties of teachers.
* Head teachers have a duty to provide teachers with information
they need to carry out their professional duties effectively.
* Head teachers have a duty to maintain relationships with
organisations representing teachers and other persons on the staff of
the school.
* Head teachers have a duty to ensure that all staff have access
to advice and training appropriate to their needs in accordance with
the Local Authority or governing body’s policies.
* Head teachers have a duty to ensure that the duty of providing
cover for absent teachers is shared equitably among all teachers in the
school, including the head teacher, taking account of their teaching
and other duties and of the desirability of not using a teacher at the
school until all other reasonable means of providing cover have been
exhausted.
* Head teachers have a duty, under paragraph 25 of Section 4 of
the 2005 STPCD to ‘have regard to the desirability of teachers at
the school being able to achieve a satisfactory balance between the
time required to discharge their professional duties…and the
time required to pursue their personal interests outside
work’. This is known as the ‘work life balance
clause’. See also paragraph 28 above.
Tasks Not Included in the Professional Duties of Teachers
Administrative and Clerical Tasks
92. Such tasks are not part of the professional duties of a
teacher. Paragraph 73.12.3 of Section 2 of the 2005 STPCD
specifies that teachers are not required routinely ‘to undertake
tasks of a clerical or administrative nature which do not call for the
exercise of a teacher’s professional skills and
judgment’. A list of such tasks is contained at Annex 5 to
Section 2 of the 2005 STPCD and is set out below. This list
should is indicative only. Teachers cannot be routinely required
to undertake any clerical tasks not just those on the list of examples
set out below.
* Collecting money from pupils and parents.
*Investigating a pupil’s absence.
* Bulk photocopying.
* Typing or making word-processed versions of manuscript material and producing revisions of such versions.
* Word-processing, copying and distributing bulk communications to parents and pupils.
* Producing class lists on the basis of information provided by teachers.
* Keeping and filing records, including records based on data supplied by teachers.
* Preparing, setting up and taking down classroom displays in accordance with decisions taken by teachers.
* Producing analyses of attendance figures.
* Producing analyses of examination results.
* Collating pupil reports.
* Administration of work experience but not selecting placements and supporting pupils by advice or visits.
* Administration of public and internal examinations.
* Administration of cover for absent teachers.
* Setting up and maintaining ICT equipment and software.
* Ordering supplies and equipment.
* Cataloguing, preparing, issuing and maintaining materials and equipment and stocktaking the same.
* Taking verbatim notes or producing formal minutes of meetings.
* Co-ordinating and submitting bids, for funding, school status and the like, using contributions by teachers and others.
* Transferring manual data about pupils not covered by the above into computerised school management systems.
* Managing the data in school management systems.
93. NUT advice is that teachers should exercise their professional
judgment in deciding whether a particular task requires their
input. For example, it is up to individual teachers to decide
whether putting up and maintaining displays is a task which involves
their professional skills and judgment, or whether it is an
administrative task that should be transferred to support staff.
The time saved by the transfer of administrative and clerical tasks
should not be replaced by additional teaching time.
In respect of the September 2003 changes to the
STPCD, the NUT advises members to limit workload by applying the
Government’s ‘key questions approach’:
(a) Does the task need to be done at all?
(b) Is the task of an administrative or clerical nature?
(c) Does it call for the exercise of a teacher’s professional skills and judgement?
If the answers to (a) and (b) are ‘yes’, and the answer to
(c) is ‘no’, then the task should be transferred from
teachers.
SECTION 3 – OTHER PROFESSIONAL ISSUES AFFECTING WORKLOAD
94. Set out below is NUT advice on a variety of other professional issues which impact upon teachers’ workload.
Written Documents/Policies/Reports
95. Documents should be kept to the minimum length necessary.
Professional judgement should be applied in determining the length of
the document. A reasonable amount of time must elapse between
requests for contributions to school documents.
96. The NUT believes that members should not be expected to write or
rewrite policies, unless they are provided with model policies.
97. The NUT believes also that members should not be expected to write
more than one report on each pupil in each academic year. See
also paragraph 85 above on Assessments and Reports.
OFSTED/Estyn
98. Schools should not opt for, or be subjected to, pre-OFSTED/ESTYN
practice inspections. Where these inspections take place, no
preparation additional to teachers’ normal workload should be
undertaken. NUT members should not produce policy statements or
substantial documentation specifically for inspection.
“OFSTED neither requires nor expects teachers to engage in extra
work of any sort because of a forthcoming inspection.”
(OFSTED Framework for Inspecting Schools 2003)
“It is important that schools do not feel that they have to
produce documents or analysis specifically for the inspection.”
(Estyn Guidance on the Inspection of Secondary Schools 2004)
99. OFSTED and Estyn inspectors must not do anything which would
encourage teachers to prepare or plan material especially for the
inspection. The NUT will pursue cases where OFSTED or Estyn
inspectors or local authority advisors place unnecessary demands on
members.
100. School self-evaluation procedures, where they have been subject to
thorough consultation with teaching staff for the purposes of school
development, can be valuable. Both the school’s own
self-evaluation procedures, and the methods used by each school to
respond to OFSTED school self-evaluation forms should not, however,
lead to additional workload for teachers.
101. NUT members should not be expected to be involved in excessive data inputting into the OFSTED self-evaluation form.
Schools in Special Measures and with a Notice to Improve
102. In England, schools under special measures, or with notice to
improve, do not face standard OFSTED inspections, but are expected by
HMI to implement action plans. In addition, schools categorised
as “under-achieving” must submit further national test data
and any analysis they have undertaken to OFSTED. They may also be
visited by HMI. All these demands create additional workload for
teachers. NUT school representatives in such schools should refer
to NUT regional offices for advice where they believe they are facing
excessive demands in these circumstances.
103. In Wales, schools with notice to improve are expected to work with
the local authority to address these. About 12 months after the
publication of the report, Estyn will undertake an inspection visit to
the school and decide whether to remove it from the list of schools
with notice to improve, whether it shows the capacity to improve or to
consider placing the school in special measures. NUT school
representatives in such schools should refer to the NUT Cymru office
for advice where they believe they are facing excessive demands in
these circumstances.
Target Setting
104. Excessive target setting, including setting and reviewing targets
in schools, is a problem for many members. As part of assessments
of pupils’ learning, members will necessarily set
objectives. This should be distinguished from the setting of
targets for whole school purposes. The setting of targets,
including benchmarking for such purposes, should not take place more
frequently than once a year, unless teachers to whose classes the
targets apply seek to change those targets.
School Governors
105. NUT members should not undertake administrative work for school
governing bodies. Unless they are teacher governors and wish to
contribute voluntarily, NUT members are advised not to contribute to
the writing of the school prospectus/governors’ annual report.
Bidding for Grants
106. Members are advised not to become involved in monitoring the
application of external grants, nor in writing bids, unless such
activities are included within their job description.
Professional Development Portfolios
107. Members need to maintain a brief record of the professional
development they have undertaken, but a complicated portfolio is not
necessary.
Special Educational Needs
108. Members should not be expected to write from scratch Individual Education Plans.
National Curriculum and Assessment
109. Under the provisions of the 2005 STPCD teachers are protected from
being required to transfer test results to OMR forms and from being
required to complete the application forms required to request
additional time for completion of the end of Key Stage tests.
Teachers should also not be required to undertake administrative work
in relation to test papers for pupils, for example, emboldening text or
diagrams. (See paragraph 105 on Administrative and Clerical
Tasks.)
Teacher Assessment
110. In determining a National Curriculum teacher assessment level,
teachers should need to refer only to a minimum level of
evidence. Where members believe that teacher assessment
arrangements cause bureaucratic burdens, they should contact their NUT
regional office, or in Wales, NUT Cymru.
Key Stage 1 Tests in England
111. The arrangements for assessment at the end of Key Stage 1 require
the National Curriculum tests and tasks to be used to inform teacher
assessment. Only teacher assessment levels are reported
nationally.
112. Decisions on the allocation of subject levels for the purposes of
teacher assessment should rest with the professional judgement of each
teacher. Teacher assessments are based on teachers’ overall
knowledge of each child’s progress. In determining a
National Curriculum teacher assessment level, NUT members should need
to refer only to a minimum of evidence.
113. Decisions on when National Curriculum tests and tasks should be
taken should involve teachers’ professional judgement in
consultation with their head teachers. The best interests of
children in each class should inform those decisions. It is the
school’s decision on when tests and tasks should be taken, not
that of the local authority. It is important that head teachers
reach agreement with Year 2 teachers about when the tests and tasks
should be taken. The head teacher will need to take the wider
interests of the school into account. The teacher will have the
closest knowledge of the needs of their class.
114. Moderation arrangements should not increase the demands on teachers, compared with existing auditing arrangements.
115. No NUT member should be expected to attend an additional meeting
at the end of the school day for the purposes of moderation. Such
meetings should be arranged during the school day with the supply cover
provided.
116. NUT members should not be expected to produce additional material
for the moderation process. The DfES/QCA guidance makes it clear
that schools are not expected to, “compile special
portfolios”, for the moderation exercise. The NUT believes
that local authority moderators should seek agreement with head
teachers and Year 2 teachers on whether further information, such as
“teachers’ current plans and classroom displays and/or a
brief discussion with individual children”, is necessary.
Key Stage 2 and 3 Tests in England
117. External markers conduct all marking of the end of Key Stage 2 and
3 tests. Teachers are not required to be involved in this
process. In addition, there is no statutory requirement on local
authorities to audit Key Stage 2 and 3 tests. Teachers are not
required to undertake any voluntary audit activities that a Local
Authority might seek to introduce.
At the Foundation Stage in England
118. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority’s (QCA)
Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage is the core reference
document for supporting the learning and teaching of children, from age
3 until the end of the reception year.
119. The expectation within the guidance is that the literacy hour and
daily maths lessons should be in place by ‘end of the reception
year’ and not throughout the reception year.
120. OFSTED, in their guidance to inspectors emphasises that in the
Foundation Stage “evaluation must focus on quality and impact,
whatever method is being used by the teacher”.
Foundation Stage Profile Assessment
121. How the Foundation Stage Profile is used is a matter for
teachers’ professional judgement. The Profile booklet is
not a statutory document. Provided that assessment is recorded
against the scales and reported to parents and the local authority,
schools will have met their statutory requirements. NUT members
are not required to use any or all of the Profile booklet.
122. Teachers are required to seek contributions to the Profile from
parents on any relevant aspects of their child’s
development. This should be integrated with settings’
existing practice: there is no requirement for additional meetings to
be held. The NUT’s guidance to members in relation to
meetings, see paragraphs 58-79 of this document, applies to meetings in
connection with the Profile.
Moderation
123. Moderation of the Profile is a statutory requirement and local authorities are responsible for the moderation process.
124. Moderation of the Profile is not about auditing marketing, but
about helping teachers identify what they should observe when the
assessment criteria are being fulfilled. There is no need for
teachers to collect moderation evidence for each child.
Reporting Arrangements
125. Completed profiles must be shared with parents, in any format the
school chooses. Profiles can be used as the required written
report at the end of the reception year but each school is free to
decide whether to share the actual scores with parents.
126. NUT members are advised not to complete more than one written
report per pupil a year. See paragraph 85 of this document.
The Profile should form part of that report.
Optional and Progress Tests in England
127. Optional tests at the end of Year 3, 4, 5, 7 or 8 are already in
place in many schools in England. As the description suggests,
they are optional. Head teachers have the option of deciding
whether or not to use the tests. There are no external marking
arrangements for the optional tests, such as those in place for the
statutory, end of Key Stage 2 and 3 tests.
128. In addition, the DfES expects pupils who enter secondary schools
with attainment below National Curriculum Level 4, or who are
‘insecure’ at Level 4 in English and mathematics, to take
progress tests. The progress tests are the same as the statutory
end of Key Stage 2 tests and will, therefore, change each year.
Progress tests are available in English and mathematics but not in
science. They will be marked by external markers in the same way
as Key Stage 2 end of Key Stage tests. The use of progress tests
is optional to each secondary school.
129. If progress tests are used then school funding allocations can be
used to pay external markers or to pay for supply teachers to cover
teachers marking the tests. Members are advised to ask their NUT
school representative to request what external support, either of
supply cover or as external marker support, is available for the
marking of the optional or progress tests.
130. The NUT believes that decisions on the use of optional and
progress tests should be a matter for consultation between head
teachers, teaching staff and, in particular, Year 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8
teachers. Members may find the factors set out below a useful
checklist in considering whether the optional and progress tests bring
additional bureaucratic burdens. The factors are:
* whether staff consider that the tests will bring educational benefits;
* whether implementation is consistent with existing school policies and practice on assessment;
*whether it would be appropriate to release sufficient school personnel
to undertake responsibilities for test administration and marking;
* whether sufficient accommodation can be found within the school
to implement the tests alongside other demands on space, including
other internal and external testing and examination arrangements;
* whether any benefit which might be accrued from implementing the
tests would be sufficient to warrant the loss of teaching time; and
* whether existing responsibilities allocated to teachers can be
replaced by identified time for implementing and marking the tests.
131. Where the above criteria are not met, the NUT will support members
who do not wish to carry out the optional and progress tests.
132. Where optional tests take place, NUT members should not be
expected to mark the tests unless sufficient time has been allocated
within their schools’ timetabled teaching day, to enable marking
to take place without members receiving additional workload. NUT
members should also not be expected to use the optional and progress
tests in addition to similar tests devised within the school.
133. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) sends schools in
England a minimum number of copies of the optional tests, with the
advice that they can photocopy the materials or purchase additional
copies from the QCA. Under the relevant provision within the 2005
School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (paragraph 73.12.3
of Section 2), teachers are protected from being required to carry out
bulk photocopying. See paragraphs 105-106 on Administration and
Clerical Tasks for further information.
“Booster”, Revision and Other Additional Programmes
134. Decisions on the use of ‘catch-up’ programmes should
arise from consultation with teaching staff on the specific learning
needs of relevant pupils. Decisions on whether the
‘catch-up’ programmes are appropriate for pupils who speak
English as an additional language, for example, should involve
appropriate staff, such as Language Support teachers. See Section
1 on ‘Teachers’ Working Time’
135. NUT members should not be required to teach ‘catch-up’
programmes at lunchtimes, during morning sessions, before the start of
the school day, during twilight sessions or during school hours where
this represents an increase in their number of contact hours.
136. In addition, schools in England have been encouraged by the
Government to establish Easter school for pupils, particularly for
“borderline” pupils. The NUT points out that
participation by teachers is entirely voluntary.
National Curriculum Assessment in Wales
Key Stage 1 Tests
137. End of Key Stage 1 tests were abandoned in November 2001.
Key Stage 2 and 3 Tests in Wales
138. Key Stage 2 tests are no longer statutory in Wales. The
tests are provided to schools on a non-statutory basis, supported by
arrangements to externally mark the tests, where schools wish this to
be done. Arrangements will also be made to provide optional tests
in 2006, but external marking will not be offered to schools. A
new style of test, which focuses on skills, will be developed and
introduced in Year 5.
139. At Key Stage 3, the tests will become non-statutory. In 2006
only, optional external marking will be available for the statutory
tests.
140. The NUT believes that decisions on the use of optional tests
should be a matter for consultation between head teachers and teaching
staff. For the criteria to be followed, see the section above on
Optional and Progress Tests in England. Where the tests are used,
following consultation with staff, NUT members should not be expected
to mark the tests unless adequate and specific time has been allocated
within the school timetable with the appropriate cover.
141. Statutory Teacher Assessments will remain at the end of Key Stage
2. In Key Stage 3, they take place a term earlier and will be
accompanied by the new moderation and accreditation arrangements.
In both Stages, an additional INSET day to enable teachers to
familiarise themselves with the new arrangements will be made available
in 2005/06 and 2006/07.
142. The NUT is concerned that workload may increase as a result of
establishing the new arrangements. Teachers, however, have
already had a decade of experience in making assessments based on
‘best fit’ professional judgements against the National
Curriculum scale, and in doing so have had access to materials produced
by ACCAC to promote consistency. In proposing to abolish the
tests, the Minister and the Daugherty Review Group recognised that
teachers’ judgements are consistent.
143. Members are advised that all professional development relating to
the changes in National Curriculum assessment should take place during
working time, with cover provided as necessary. NUT members
should not be required to attend such training outside schools hours.
144. NUT members should not be asked to cover for others who are
released for training unless either the time lost is compensated for
elsewhere in the school timetable in the same week or there is
agreement on other arrangements. Where difficulties arise, advice
and support should be sought from the NUT.
The Foundation Stage in Wales
145. The Foundation Stage in Wales encompasses pupils from age 3 to age
7. It is based on a less formal approach to learning through
practical play. The intent, as it develops, is to introduce it
nationally on a ten-year rolling programme.
146. The development of new assessment arrangements, especially the
skills tests for Year 5, will be taking this development into account.
Class Sizes
147. The NUT’s policy objectives and aspirations with regard to
class sizes which it regards as educationally desirable are set out in
the NUT’s Minimum Staffing Establishment policy. This is
available in the Conditions of Service Section of the Union’s
website at www.teachers.org.uk. The NUT has also set figures for class
sizes which it regards as excessive and requiring reduction.
Excessive Class Size
148. All teachers are aware of the impact of large classes on their
overall workload. Support is available from the NUT for
negotiations to reduce class sizes. Where such negotiations are
not successful, industrial action will be considered by the NUT if the
class sizes exceed the limits set out below.
* 26 pupils in the case of nursery classes with one teacher supported by an appropriately qualified nursery assistant.
* 27 pupils in the case of reception classes.
* 24 pupils in the case of mixed age classes.
* 20 pupils in the case of practical classes.
* 15 pupils in the case of classes of pupils needing particular small group or individual attention.
* 30 in other cases.
Changes to School Session Times
149. In England, governing bodies of community, voluntary controlled or
community special schools are obliged to follow the procedure set out
in the Session Times (England) Regulations if they wish to make changes
to the time of school sessions.
150. Under these regulations, the governing body is required to consult
all teaching and non-teaching staff at the school, as well as the head
teacher and local authorities before taking any further steps.
151. Where a governing body is proposing changes which effect the times
at which the school day begins or ends, then the governing body must
give at least 3 months’ notice to parents and staff and the
change can take effect from the beginning of the school year.
Where a proposed change affects only the time of the end of the morning
sessions, or the start of the afternoon session, consequently affecting
the length of the lunch break, the governing body only has to give 6
weeks’ notice and the change can take effect from the beginning
of any term.
152. Where any proposals are put forward which will lengthen the
working day for teachers’ there will clearly be workload
implications. Teachers may lose part of their lunch break (see
paragraph 32-35) or there may be implications in terms of total
directed time worked (see paragraph 16). In such circumstances,
support from divisions or regional offices/NUT Cymru will be available.
SECTION 4 - CONCLUSION
153. Wherever necessary the NUT will act to ensure that these
guidelines are applied and to protect members from excessive workload
demands. Members in England experiencing problems, whether on an
individual or whole school basis, are advised to contact their NUT
division, or regional office. Members in Wales should contact NUT
Cymru. Where issues cannot be resolved through negotiation and
where there is sufficient support among members in any school, the NUT
will not hesitate to ballot members for industrial action.