THE 86TH EDITION FOR ALL PLYMOUTH TEACHERS JUNE 2009

RARELY COVER—WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

From 1st September 2009 teachers planned and unplanned absences of teachers—including
absence due to sickness, from 1st September 2009.
will have a contractual right to ‘only
rarely’ cover. What do you think this Cover and HLTAs
No HLTA should be actively teaching other than under the
means? supervision of a teacher. Cover supervisors should not be
Cabinet doing any active teaching. Where you are aware that
The NUT’s view is that, from teaching assistants are being requested to go beyond the
Reshuffle: that date, teachers should only
be asked to undertake cover in
proper limits of their role, you should inform your NUT
school rep or Division Secretary. The excuse that funding
It’s still exceptional circumstances.
Make sure that your school is
is an issue so supply teachers cannot be engaged is
incorrect as budgetary constraints cannot remove this
preparing to meet its contractual obligation. Schools have known about this for
Balls! obligations. All foreseen
circumstances need to be
four or five years so have had plenty of time to make
plans.
planned for in advance. Split classes
From 1st September 2009 you should only rarely be asked
Current situation to take pupils from a class that has been split when the
[until the end of this term] circumstances are unforeseen.
Current recommended cover
levels are not more than 3.5 Protecting your right to ‘only rarely’ cover
hours per year in primary and We are concerned that some schools may be seeking to
not more than 11 hours per introduce a revised fixed cover limit from 1st September
2009. There can be no fixed cover limit.
year in secondary. If this limit
is being breached in your Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union
school, contact your NUT of Teachers, said:
school rep. “The Union will strongly resist the retention of a fixed
hours limit. Any new limit, however low, would quickly
School Cover Strategy be seen as a justified cover level within schools. The
The Union’s view is that head National Union will oppose any changes to the current
teachers should establish a provisions which might weaken your contractual right to
cover strategy to deal with ‘only rarely’ cover from September 2009.”

Your ‘Rarely Cover’ Questions answered on page 3...

THE NUT: “We work up to a standard not down to a price”
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 PLYMOUTH DIVISION
NATIONAL UNION OF TEACHERS

GENERAL MEETING
The next general meeting for all NUT members will be
held on Wednesday 1st July at The China House
Sutton Road Plymouth. Main agenda items include

‘Rarely Cover’ and SATS in 2010

Free buffet from 1700
Meeting begins 1720 for about an hour
Other points include Trusts and Academies in Plymouth,
Tolpuddle 2009 and nominations for DGS and other
national officers [a full agenda may be obtained from
plymnut@teacher.clara.co.uk]

Come along to the meeting so we

can answer your queries!

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A GOOD
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being despatched
to school reps— CHILD
make sure you
check your mail and if yours doesn’t turn up by mid-July, ask your school
office and tell NUT HQ that your essential NUT mail isn’t getting through!
Your ‘Rarely Cover’
Questions Answered
What does rarely cover really
mean? Straightforwardly, it means
that teachers cannot be asked to
cover for an absent colleague if the
circumstance was foreseen.
My school handed out copies of
the WAMG Guidance [written by
the social partners]. Does this
“official” guidance carry more
weight than the NUT’s
guidance?
No. There is no “official” guidance.
The WAMG and NUT guides on
‘rarely cover’ have equal weight so
there is every reason to look at the
NUT’s advice on the rarely cover
arrangements to see how this
affords greater protection to
teachers—particularly on leave of
absence policies, your CPD
entitlement, educational trips and
attempts to re-timetable.
What about teachers
unexpectedly away because
they’re ill?
Historically, schools know that
teachers are absent due to illness
and there will be a pattern of
absence that can be analysed.
Schools are expected to plan for
this foreseen absence and make
plans accordingly.
Can my PPA periods be used for
cover?
No, unless there is an unforeseen
emergency. If lost, your PPA
periods, as now, would have to be
paid back because they’re
guaranteed.
Can I be asked to cover on the
first day a teacher is absent?
No. The school must have a
strategy in place to cover such
occurrences from September 1st.
Only in unexpected and
unforeseen circumstances [and
then only after exhausting all other
possible alternatives] can teachers
be used for cover.
I’ve heard that some schools are
telling staff they will have to
cover because there is a
problem with the school budget.
Can this be used to force
teachers to carry on covering?
No. This is a contractual obligation
and is unaffected by budgetary
considerations. If we look at the
contractual obligation on
invigilation then it can be quickly
understood that teachers cannot
be asked to break what is part of
their contract, and if they should be
asked they must refuse as they are
obliged to adhere to that obligation.
If I want to carry on doing cover,
who will stop me?
Your HT will be responsible in
ensuring that you comply with the
new rarely cover regulations.
In my school the HT said SMT
would do the cover. Is this OK?
No. Senior managers have the
same obligation not to cover and
only teachers who have cover as a
specified element written into their
contracts will be allowed to cover
as a matter of course.
In my primary school we share
children amongst our
colleagues if someone is away.
Does this count as cover?
Indeed it does and if this were to
happen for a whole day then you
would be covering for 5 hours or
so. Clearly this doesn’t meet the
‘rarely cover’ obligation. Your
school must plan alternatives for
this.
What does the term “no
detriment” mean?
Here is an example. If you had 3
PPA periods on this year’s
timetable and an additional period
that you could sometimes lose for
cover, from September you will still
have the 3 timetabled PPA periods
shown on your timetable* but the
school cannot remove the non-
contact period; it has to stay to
meet the no detriment clause.
What can we do if we think the
school policy doesn’t fulfil the
contractual obligation to only
‘rarely cover?’
The plan in your school has to be
discussed with staff and union
representatives. You can be
assured that the NUT, NASUWT
and the ATL will work together to
ensure that you do not suffer from
either a poor consultation process
or any attempt to impose a cover
limit. Schools are not allowed to
create a local policy that breaks
the contractual obligation.
But what can we do if that’s the
school policy?
After informing the HT, and we
suggest you do this collectively,
contact the Division Secretary. A
number of options are open to
NUT members in schools where
there is non-compliance. This in-
cludes asking the LA to direct
schools to comply, and if every-
thing else fails, balloting for strike
action.
Is it OK for HLTAs, cover super-
visors and TAs acting as cover
supervisors to take classes for
the time a teacher is absent?
No. There are precise restrictions
on what these non-teachers can
do. The aim is to ensure that
children receive teaching from a
qualified teacher at the earliest
opportunity. The NUT suggests
that in a secondary school a cover
supervisor or HLTA should only be
allowed to cover for up to 3 days
before a supply teacher is
engaged; in a primary, no longer
than the first day of absence.
Why is this being rushed in?
Schools have known about this
change for four or five years—
plenty of time to plan ahead to
meet the contractual obligation.
If there is severe snow, or a
major road is closed and large
numbers of staff are
unexpectedly missing, can staff
be used to double-up classes
and have their PPA taken away?
When these situations arise
schools should already have in
place a risk assessment that
covers this contingency. Doubling-
up classes is not a reliable solution
and in most cases schools will
close.
Any more questions? Email
to Plymouth NUT—see P4
*All PPA periods have to be
shown on your timetable. If your
school refuses to do this,
contact the Division Secretary.
This isn't an option—it’s another
contractual obligation in the
STP&CD.
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