Developing the role of school support staff - Department for Education

Developing the role of
school support staff -
what the National
Agreement means for you
“Support staff working alongside
teachers have already contributed to
significant improvements in the
quality of teaching and learning, and
the efficient functioning of their
schools. Over the coming years, we
shall see new developments,
enhancing opportunities for training
and career progression in many
different roles, and extending the
range of what support staff can do
in classrooms .”
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“I would like to thank my
colleagues amongst the school
workforce unions and the
employers for their commitment
to sign up to a constructive and
collaborative process that will lead
to real improvement for pupils,
teachers and support staff.”
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Developing the role of school support staff
Many of you will have seen recent reports in the press or union bulletins
outlining the Government’s proposals for reforming the school
workforce. On 15 January, Government, employers and the great
majority of the school workforce unions signed an agreement that will
underpin these proposals for reform.
Support staff are at the heart of the proposals for reform - this is why we
issued a specific consultation document last Autumn on ‘Developing
the role of school support staff’. Now that the consultation has been
completed, the Government, working with support staff unions and the
employers of school support staff, is moving forward to develop and
implement our proposals .
The consultation resulted in extremely positive responses - the majority
were from support staff but headteachers, teachers and other interested
individuals also responded. Many support staff said in their responses
that they were already involved closely in supporting pupils’ learning in
the classroom. Many also indicated that they have the ability and
willingness to develop their skills and areas of expertise, and welcomed
the prospect of enhanced roles and careers. Many others would choose
to stay in their current roles though would still wish to benefit from
improved training and development opportunities.
The following pages contain a summary of the agreed reforms,
concentrating specifically on the benefits to support staff. On pages 7-9
of this leaflet we publish a joint statement released by all the signatories
to the National Agreement.
Charles Clarke
Education and Skills Secretary
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Summary of the National Agreement on
Workforce Reforms
Key benefits for support staff
As a result of the National Agreement, support staff will benefit from:
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a clear recognition of the important role played by support staff in
improving schools and raising pupil standards
funding to enable the recruitment of additional support staff of all
types, including technicians, administrative staff and classsroombased
staff - schools should be in a position to recruit at least 50,000
additional support staff during this Parliament
the recognition that the renumeration of support staff should reflect
their level of skills , training and responsibilities
foundation training for all types of staff, building on the success of
the DfES induction training for teaching assistants
the extension of other key roles for support staff such as ‘personal
assistants’ to provide administrative support to teachers or subject
departments and trained cover supervisors who can undertake
short-term, ad hoc cover for absent teachers
opportunities to progress through clear routes from entry level to the
new ‘higher-level teaching assistant’ role or senior administrative roles
or advanced roles in relation to behaviour and guidance
newly-developed training to support higher-level roles:
❍
❍
for higher-level teaching assistants, standards and training are
now being developed by the Teacher Training Agency
for school bursars and business managers, qualifications and
training are being developed by the National College for
School Leadership
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routes into other roles - for example, making sure that those who
wish to become a teacher have clear routes including through the
higher-level teaching assistant training
more funding to support training including some £37.45m through
the Standards Fund in 2003/04
involvement of support staff unions in all future discussion about the
implementation of these proposals - Unison, GMB and TGWU were all
signatories alongside teacher and headteacher unions and the
employers of school support staff, and will be represented at future
meetings with Government
● clear regulations to ensure schools provide support mechanisms and
safeguards for support staff when they are undertaking higher-level
roles.
The National Agreement is not about replacing teachers with teaching
assistants and other support staff - it makes clear that teachers and
teaching assistants are not interchangeable and that each class/group
must have an assigned qualified teacher to teach them. It is about
looking at the key role currently played by support staff, identifying ways
in which that role can be extended in order to raise standards, and
seeing the benefits that having a better-trained, wider range of adults
can have for pupils, teachers and every aspect of school improvement.
Other reforms in the National Agreement
The reforms in the National Agreement which relate to support staff are
crucial for schools to deliver the following reforms for teachers:
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a progressive reduction in teachers’ overall hours
contractual changes for teachers:
Phase One - 2003
❍ identifying that teachers should not undertake 24 of “the 25
tasks” relating to administrative and clerical duties
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❍ allocating time in support of the leadership and management
responsibilities of all teachers
❍ supporting a reasonable work/life balance
Phase Two - 2004
❍ limiting cover for absence provided by teachers to 38 hours, with
a view to further reductions
Phase Three - 2005
❍ guaranteeing planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) time
for teachers, equivalent to 10% of a teacher’s normal timetabled
teaching time
❍ introduce new arrangements which mean that teachers are not
required to invigilate external examinations
Other measures to support the change process include:
● a concerted attack on unnecessary paperwork and bureaucratic
processes, including through the establishment of the
Implementation Review Unit, with a practioners’ panel including a
senior school administrator
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recruitment of new managers from outside education who can
contribute effectively to schools’ leadership teams
additional resources and support from a national ‘change
management’ programme to help delivery of the reforms.
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Raising standards and tackling workload -
a National Agreement
Joint statement from the signatories
We, the undersigned, have sealed an historic National Agreement
between Government, employers and school workforce unions,
intended both to raise standards and to tackle teacher workload. We
believe that it is not possible to address one part of this equation
without addressing the other.
This Agreement is not an end-point - it marks the first step in the
process of reform. The Signatories will continue to work in partnership to
develop a shared understanding about each step of implementation
and delivery during this first phase of reform and beyond.
We have a shared vision of an education system where staff quality,
motivation and deployment will help ensure the most effective
approach to teaching and learning and the achievement by all our
pupils of their full potential. However, teachers will not be able to make
further progress on raising standards unless we can free them from the
shackles of excessive and inappropriate workload.
The Agreement will achieve progressive reductions in teachers’ overall
hours through:
●
changes to the teachers’ contract to ensure that teachers and
headteachers do not routinely undertake administrative and clerical
tasks; have a reasonable work/life balance; have a reduced burden of
cover for absent colleagues; have guaranteed planning, preparation
and assessment time within the school day, to support their teaching,
individually and collaboratively; and have a reasonable allocation of
time in support of their leadership and management responsibilities;
and
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● a concerted attack on unnecessary paperwork and bureaucratic
processes, including through the establishment of an
Implementation Review Unit.
We believe that the contractual changes will not be delivered unless
schools deploy more support staff in extended roles, including personal
administrative assistants for teachers, additional technical support, new
managers from outside education, cover supervisors and higher-level
teaching assistants. Support staff will be increasingly recognised for the
contribution they make to raising pupil standards and they will have
access to expanded roles and improved career opportunities. Their
remuneration will need to reflect their level of training, skills and
responsibilities.
Support staff working alongside teachers have already contributed to
significant improvements in the quality of teaching and learning. Over
the coming years, we shall see new developments, extending the range
of what assistants can do in classrooms. In taking this forward, we
recognise that accountability for the overall learning outcomes of a
particular pupil must rest with that pupil’s assigned qualified teacher.
Teachers and higher-level teaching assistants are not interchangeable
and this principle will be reflected in new regulations. A professional
standards framework and training for higher-level teaching assistants
will be developed and linked to relevant QTS modules.
Government is committed to providing schools with additional
resources in support of the delivery of this Agreement. In England, this
funding will ensure that the Government meets its manifesto pledge of
an extra 10,000 teachers during this Parliament. It also estimates that
schools will be able to appoint at least 50,000 extra support staff during
the same period. We recognise that schools will progress at different
speeds in reforming their workforce. The contractual changes represent
the minimum that schools will be expected to achieve - many will be
able to go further and faster, and school leaders will be supported by a
change management programme to help them lead the way.
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The last few months have been marked by a huge constructive effort,
with give and take on all sides. We must build on this urgently to
maintain momentum. The focus must now turn to delivery, including
finalising the new contractual and legal framework; communicating and
promoting the Agreement and its principles in schools; initiating change
on the ground and monitoring progress. We are all committed to the
goal of delivering real improvements for pupils, teachers and support
staff in schools.
More information and copies of the documents mentioned in this leaflet
can be found by visiting www.teachernet.gov.uk/remodelling. Paper
copies of the documents can be ordered from Prolog on 0845 602 2260.
Further information about specific developments in relation to support
staff can be found by visiting www.teachernet.gov.uk/
teachingassistants.
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THE SIGNATORIES
Jane Davidson
Minister of Education and
Life-Long Learning for Wales
Gerald Imison
Joint Acting General Secretary,
Association of Teachers and Lecturers
John Edmonds
General Secretary,
Britain’s General Union
David Hart
General Secretary, National
Association of Headteachers
Eamonn O’Kane
General Secretary, National
Association of Schoolmasters
Union of Women Teachers
Graham Lane
Chair, National Employers
Organisation for School
Teachers
Jean Gemmell
General Secretary, Professional
Association of Teachers
John Dunford
General Secretary,
Secondary Heads Association
Chris Kaufman
National Secretary for Services,
Transport and General
Workers’ Union
Keith Sonnet
Deputy General Secretary,
Unison
Charles Clarke
Education and Skills Secretary
David Miliband
Minister of State for School Standards
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“Support staff will be
increasingly recognised
for the contribution they
make to raising pupil
standards and they will
have access to expanded
roles and improved
career opportunities.”
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