‘Rarely Cover’ Strategies
From September 2009, teachers should be rarely covering for absent teachers and schools will need to look at alternative methods of providing cover. ‘Rarely cover’ should mean ‘not at all under normal circumstances’ and schools should plan with the assumption that teaching staff do not cover for absent colleagues. WAMG state that ‘when devising strategies to implement ‘rarely cover’ schools should bear in mind that ‘rarely’ does not mean ‘never’.
Where teachers do provide cover, the headteacher is required to ensure that cover for the lessons of absent teachers is shared equitably among teachers in the school (including the headteacher), taking into account their teaching and other duties and the desirability of not using a teacher at the school until all other reasonable means of providing cover have been exhausted.
Circumstances that could be regarded as not ‘normal circumstances’ could include:
§ providing lesson cover in an emergency situation where without doing so, the health, safety and well-being of students and/or staff are at risk
§ exceptional absence of staff that cannot be pre-determined (outside the analysis of trends, e.g. staff absence)
§ when all the school’s strategies for providing cover for absent teachers has been exhausted (all Cover supervisor staff deployed, regular Cover teacher deployed and no agency supply teachers available)
Note also that using a teacher’s “gained time” would be regarded as using them for cover. “Gained time” is where teachers are released (particularly in the summer term with the departure of examination groups) from some of their timetabled teaching commitments.
The following strategies are offered as suggestions to support schools’ discussions on how ‘rarely cover’ will be addressed:
a) Use of Supply Teachers
Self-explanatory but potentially costly. The county has a list of supply agencies who are on Hampshire’s supply framework arrangement.
b) Use of a “floating teacher”
Employ a qualified “floating” teacher(s) with no timetable, or less than 50% timetable, to provide cover when needed.
c) Learning Centres
The development of a fully-equipped computer suite with sufficient workstations for a class of 30 pupils, supervised by a member (or members) of the support staff but with overall responsibility vested in a senior member of the teaching staff or leadership team. Clearly such learning centres can be used at other times as well and could be part of a school’s extended provision if used before and after the normal school day.
d) A Study Hall
Employing a teacher and a teaching assistant specifically to cover classes who are sent to a large area such as a hall when their teacher is absent could be a more palatable alternative to the practice in some schools where such supervision is shared between members of the senior leadership team.
e) Re-organisation of current practice or calendar
An example could be that of changing the delivery of PSHE from a lesson per week to a number of Focus Days when the timetable is collapsed. Whole year group, or similarly large trips can take place on these days. A significant number of days’ cover can be saved in this way without extra-curricular enhancements being diminished.
f) Supporting good occupational health and developing well-being practices
The Manual of Personnel Practice (www.hants.gov.uk/education/eps/mopp-vol-1) provides helpful information on strategies to promote good health and to manage absence successfully. Strategies include benchmarking as part of the implementation of an absence policy and routine back to work interviews for employees returning from absences of 3 days or more. The development of staff well-being is crucial to good attendance and promoting well-being is actively endorsed within the county with relevant conferences and awareness raising courses. Successful implementation of the National Agreement, although having improved outcomes for pupils as its underlying rationale, should have a positive impact on improved staff well-being. The Wellbeing of the Workforce (WoW) website (www3.hants.gov.uk/education/hias/wellbeing-workforce) is available to access materials on well-being.
g) Use of Cover Supervisors/Cover Managers
Many schools now employ Cover Supervisors with varying degrees of success. There is a Role Profile for Cover Supervisor (reference number: 02008). Some schools also employ Cover Managers (reference number: 02526) who will clearly have wider role dimensions including overseeing and organising the duties of a team of Cover Supervisors.
Cover Supervisors require a range of skills/knowledge including the ability to relate to young people and both the presence and resilience to handle a class full of children.
Cover supervision is likely to include:
· supervising work that has been set by teachers
· managing the behaviour of pupils, in line with school policy, whilst they are undertaking this work, ensuring a positive and ordered environment; referral onwards where required
· responding to any questions from pupils – predominantly about process and procedures
· dealing with any immediate problems/emergencies in line with school policy
· collecting any completed work after the lesson and complying with arrangements for returning it to the teacher
- deployment
Cover supervision should be used only for short-term absences. Longer term absence should be covered by a teacher. Headteachers will need to make a judgement regarding what constitutes short term absence, taking into account the following:
· the extent to which continuity of learning can be maintained
· the length of time a particular group of pupils would be working without a teacher
· the proportion of the total curriculum time affected in a specific subject over the course of a term
Where a class is predominantly led by one teacher for the majority of the day, it would be inappropriate to cover the teacher’s absence with a Cover Supervisor for more than three days as this would inevitably impact negatively on the quality of a pupil’s learning experience. Where pupils are timetabled only for occasional lessons affected by teacher absence, the use of cover supervision over a longer period of time might be appropriate.
- retention
In some schools, retention has been an issue with the employment of Cover Supervisors. Consideration of how a career might be progressed is essential (see below) as is careful consideration of “a day in the life of a Cover Supervisor” with consequent empathetic allowances made for the nature of their work.
For example, it is recognised that a Cover Supervisor is not in the same position as a teacher in terms of fostering relationships with pupils which promote successful behaviour management. Not being the subject “expert” adds to this difficulty. There will also need to be times built in for Cover Supervisors to liaise with teachers and a reasonable expectation would be that, for example, in a 5 period day, 1 period is allocated for this, either for use there and then or, if not convenient, in lieu of time that might be spent before school, at lunchtime or after school. However, there would be contractual issues with such an arrangement which would need to be considered and addressed.
Attaching specific Cover Supervisors to departments also promotes a greater degree of success. This may have to be on a shared basis. Gradually, by assisting teachers in department lessons, Cover Supervisors can get to know how things work and become familiar with curriculum and teaching methods. Such practice is relatively easy to implement at the beginning of a school year where “working alongside” teachers is more possible; historically, this is a time of less teaching staff absence.
- recruitment and training
Some schools have successfully recruited pre-PGCE students who gain useful experience from their time in the role of Cover Supervisor before teacher training. Initial training for cover supervisors (course code: CLO17) can be found in the Learning Zone school support staff sections at http://htlc.hants.gov.uk/courses/level3.asp?seccode=SSCSCS.
i) Use of HTLAs
In order to gain Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA) status, support staff have undertaken a rigorous assessment process against 33 standards relating to professional attributes, professional knowledge and understanding and professional skills. One of these standards relates to working with whole classes:
“They advance learning when working with whole classes without the presence of the assigned teacher” (standard 31)
However, HLTAs should not be deployed to work with whole classes for extended periods of time i.e. beyond 3 days. HLTAs can be expected to:
· work under the professional direction of a qualified teacher and within an agreed system of supervision
· actively deliver a lesson
· be involved in the planning and preparation of lessons (in collaboration with or under the guidance of a teacher)
· advance pupils’ learning
· assess, record and report on development, progress and attainment as agreed with the teacher
HLTAs cannot be expected to:
· be left to work on planning and teaching alone/unsupervised without prior collaboration with or direction/guidance from the teacher
· write reports
· mark national tests
HLTAs should not be expected to be exclusively deployed during the PPA time of different teachers. This would mean that the HLTA would be effectively working exclusively as a teacher. This is not the role of a HLTA who is an assistant to a teacher or department, even though working in a more independent role compared to other TAs.
www.tda.gov.uk/remodelling/managingchange/resources/downloads/wamg_notes
STPCD Section 4 states that while HLTAs may be used for short term-cover, headteachers “would need to balance their use in this way against the educational desirability of regularly moving them from planned activities with the teachers to whom they are normally assigned”. EPS has produced a FAQ document on the employment/deployment of HLTAs and further guidance can be found on: www.remodelling.org/upload/resources/pdf/n/na_guidance_s133.pdf
j) Career progression
There already exists a hierarchy of similar roles. With regard to taking responsibility for whole classes, there are 5 current role profiles which include this within the accountability statements. These are:
Cover Supervisor Role Profile: 02008 Grade C
Learning Support Assistant 3 Role Profile: 02497 Grade D
Cover Manager Role Profile: 02526 Grade D
HLTA (1) Role Profile: 02132 Grade D
HLTA (2) Role Profile: 02133 Grade E
In addition, Learning Assistant 1 and Learning Assistant 2 can be expected “to work with individual or groups of children, assist in ensuring pupils are on task and complete activities set by teachers”.
Past custom and practice has usually seen LSAs working with children with SEN. However, this generally relates to their deployment rather than adherence to the accountabilities of a role profile.
Peter Green
Education Personnel Services
3
February 2010