Administrative and Clerical Tasks
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.
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.
FAQ
1. Who sets my pay rates and conditions of service?
Maintained schools - these include Community, Voluntary Aided (VA), Voluntary Controlled (VC) and Foundation schools.
These are sometimes called Local Authority schools. Pay rates are set by Government through the “Blue Book”. Conditions of Service come from the Blue Book, the Burgundy Book, and local agreements between the Local Authority and the Unions.
6th Form Colleges
These schools have their own pay and conditions (the Red Book). Conditions of Service are very similar to those in maintained schools.
Centrally employed staff
These include:
centrally-employed teachers employed under the same pay and
conditions of service as those in maintained schools
some local authority officers (e.g. advisers, strategy consultants
employed under Soulbury pay and conditions
Soulbury staff
These are paid to Soulbury pay scales. Their conditions of service are almost identical to local government staff.
Independent schools
These have their own contracts covering both pay and conditions of service.
2 What are the resignation dates for schools? (maintained schools, 6th Form Colleges, centrally employed teachers)
Teachers’ contracts end at the end of term (except for specific temporary or fixed term contracts which may have alternative end dates). The resignation dates for each term are as follows:
Autumn Term: resignations must be received by the employer by
October 31st. (for Headteachers this is September 31st) in order to
leave on December 31st.
Spring term: resignations must be received by the employer by
February 28/29th (for Headteachers – January 31st), to finish 30th
April. The Spring Term is deemed to end 30th April.
Summer Term: resignations must be received by the employer by
31st May (for Headteachers – 30 April), to finish 31st August.
In exceptional individual circumstances the NUT can sometimes negotiate different release dates or resignation dates.
3 Where can I find salary details?
Maintained schools & centrally employed teachers: NUT diary, Salary cards issued each year, NUT main web site – www.teachers.org.uk
6th Form Colleges: NUT diary, NUT main web site – www.teachers.org.uk
Soulbury: NUT main web site – www.teachers.org.uk
Independent schools: from the employer
4 What is Directed Time? (maintained schools, centrally employed teachers, 6th Form Colleges)
Teachers (except Leadership Grade and ASTs) can only be required to be available for work on 195 days during the year (5 without pupils/students), and for 1265 hours of DIRECTED TIME allocated reasonably across those days.
Directed Time includes teaching and other professional duties, such as non-contact time, registrations, meetings, playground duties. It is the time where the Headteacher can direct the teacher as to WHAT is to be done, WHERE it is to be done and WHEN it is to be done.
All teachers should know what their Directed Time obligations are. This should be provided each year, with the annual calendar.
For schools and centrally employed teachers the unions have agreed the following with the Local Authority:
Included in Directed Time
· Teaching
· Registration
· Assembly
· PPA time
· Additional Non contact time
· Leadership & Management Time
· Break time
· 10 minutes before the start of morning session, 10 minutes at end of afternoon session, 5 mins at end of morning and start of afternoon sessions – for orderly reception and dismissal of pupils.
· All staff & departmental or Key Stage meetings etc – includes staff briefings before morning school if longer than the 10 minutes referred to above
· Parents Evenings, including trapped time between end of school day & PE
· PAD days
· Travel between sites in a split site school
· Peripatetic travel
Not included in Directed Time
· Lunch times – no teacher can be directed to attend any lunch time activity
· Any work on Saturdays, Sundays, Bank Holidays – no teacher can be directed to attend on those days
· After school clubs – these are voluntary
· Travel to and from school (except where additional journey required e.g. part time teacher)
5 Can I be made to attend meetings or do duties in my lunch time? (maintained schools, centrally employed teachers, 6th Form Colleges)
No – you cannot be required to attend any meeting, or carry out any specific task or duty at this time. All teachers are entitled to a reasonable break between morning and afternoon sessions. For those on Leadership Grade, the break might not be the school lunch time. This time does not count for Directed Time.
6 Can I be made to carry out extra-curricular activities such as clubs, after school or at lunch time? (maintained schools, centrally employed teachers)
No. These are outside your work as a teacher. You may volunteer to run such activities but cannot be required to do so. Running a club or society should not be part of a Performance Management objective.
7 Can I be required to work on a Saturday? (maintained schools, centrally employed teachers)
No. The Pay & Conditions Document (Blue Book) for school teachers is quite clear. No teacher, including Head teachers, covered by these regulations can be required to work on a Saturday, Sunday or Bank Holiday.
8 What is my sick leave entitlement? (maintained schools, centrally employed teachers, 6th Form Colleges)
In your first year of teaching you are entitled to full pay for 25 working days and after 4 calendar months you are entitled to 50 working days on half pay.
In the second year of teaching you are entitled to full pay for 50 working days and half pay for 50 working days.
In the third year of teaching you are entitled to full pay for 75 working days and half pay for 75 working days.
In the fourth year of teaching you are entitled to full pay for 100 working days and half pay for 100 working days.
The sick leave entitlement runs from April 1st until March 31st. An absence due to illness which runs across these dates is counted against the year ending March 31st.
9 Should I set work if I am sick?
No. If you are off work because of illness then your Headteacher cannot make you set work for your class. If you decide to set work then this would be at your discretion.
Question; “Is there anything we can do to stop students verbally abusing teachers and TA’s? It seems to be getting worse.”
Answer: Yes. Your employer has a duty of care to protect you. Staff affected should always complete a “Violence to Staff Incidents” form when such incidents occur. Copies are available in every school-if not, contact us immediately.
Question; “I have been subjected to absence monitoring procedures. What are they and why are they used?”
Answer: Absence monitoring procedures set out details of sickness reporting requirements in schools. More controversially, they include a procedure to be followed when absence levels have begun to cause concern to school management. In many cases, this will arise when a particular “trigger point” in terms of number of periods of absence or total days’ absence have been reached.
The NUT does not accept that widespread abuse of sick leave arrangements is taking place in schools and does not, therefore, consider that there are good reasons for the introduction of absence monitoring procedures into schools. If you find yourself being subjected to such procedures, contact your union for further advice.
Question; “My Head has instructed all staff to plan using a prescribed format. Can he do this?”
Answer: No! Your plans are for you and other professionals working with you. A standard form of presentation is not a necessity and can cause unnecessary work for teachers. Inspectors will not expect to find a particular model or format for planning; they will be much more interested in the impact of planning on your teaching and the children’s learning.
Question; "I use computers regularly as part of my job. Can I ask the school to reimburse me for an eye test?
Answer: Under the Health and Safety Regulations 1992, those who "habitually use display screen equipment as a significant part of their normal work" are entitled to an eye test paid for by their employer and provided by an optometrist or doctor. Employees have to request a test; employers are not obliged to offer them.
The NUT argues that the vast majority of teachers are covered by the DSE regulations, though some may not fall into this category. Those who do should ask for an eye test, which can be organised by either:
1. Allowing the teacher to claim the cost of visiting his/her optician
2. Providing a voucher
3. Directing the teacher to an optician of the employer's choice.
Question; "The Head has told us that no staff should leave the school premise at lunchtime without special authorisation. What are my rights? Also, have I the right to leave the school premises during PPA time without seeking the Head teacher’s permission?
Answer: Teachers are entitled to a break of reasonable length during the school day; in the NUT's view, this should be at least an hour. While it might be reasonable, depending on the timetable and circumstances, to arrange for some staggering of lunch breaks, once you are on your break your headteacher cannot require you to stay in school. You can choose whether to stay in school for lunch or go out and do some shopping! Don't forget that if you do volunteer to supervise pupils at lunchtime, you are entitled to a free school meal!
Head teachers can direct teachers to remain on the school premises during school sessions. The NUT would, however, expect Head teachers to agree reasonable requests to carry out work on planning preparation and assessment outside school if this was appropriate. It is up to you to determine your own PPA priorities.