Any teachers about please?

[AuntyQuated]

I am jsut about to go and have a meeting and would like to know clarify a couple of things.


We are expected to do duty every day ...we either do the early shift ie. 10.30 - 10.45 plus 12.00 til 12.30
or
the 'long hual' ie. 12.30 - 1.15


The TAs get paid for this but tecahers don't, or do they????? I know we don't get any extra for doing it, but it is just generally included in our salary? do we have to do lunch duty at all??

any advice?

thnaks

[AuntyQuated]

oh, forgot to add second thing.....


PPA time????

we have this timetabled but it is regularly used to cover absent colleagues, do tasks requseted by the Head, take children on visits etc etc

is PPA enforceable??

please, does anyone know?

[chocolateshoes]

I work in seconadry:I thought all staff were entitled to 1hr PPa - per week - which should be protected ie you cannot be taken to cover etc. You can be used for cover for your other free.

Re duties - in our school we do 1 break duty per week, plus 3 weeks of bus duty. Not sure what the legal position is. I know that the unions made it so that teachers were no longer obliged to do lunch duty although they can be paid to do it if they want to. It does sound as if you do a lot.

[Yorkiegirl]

Message withdrawn

[AuntyQuated]

thanks chocshoes ..i think i ma clear about the PPA time now. the lunch duty one seems rather more complicated

[spudmasher]

That does seem to be a lot of duty. It is not paid, hence the term 'duty'. I do two duties, 15 minutes each, morning play, but I do only work 3 days a week. As for PPa time, it should be 10% of your teaching time. Most teachers working full time in my school have either a morning or an afternoon PPa time. Out of good grace, they forgo it if a trip is planned or it's something difficult like play rehearsals at christmas. No one makes a fuss if they can't have it , for e.g. the cover teacher is ill.

[AuntyQuated]

thnakjs YG
yes, i hav etried lloking at pay and cnditions but I neeed a few days to raed it.

[missmapp]

I do lunch duty but am paid. I dont know about breaktime but im sure you are not meant to do lunch duty unless paid, think that was one outcome of all the strikes in the 80's. Im not paid extra for my 2 breaktime duties a week, but am paid extra for my lunch duty, its even under a diff contrasct - could you contact your union to check

[AuntyQuated]

we regualrly lose ours and currently no one makes a fuss about it. i just want to use it as evidence of our flexibilty and willing to do more then 'the job' .
same with lunch duty - we all do it just want it recognised as doing 'extra'

[cece]

yOU ARE NOT PAID FOR YOUR LUNCH HOUR AND THEREFORE SHOULD NOT BE ASKED TO WORK DURING IT - ESPECIALLY SUPERVSIING CHILDREN whoops sorry about the caps.

[spudmasher]

That's what it says but we all know it never happens. I stuff in a sarnie as quick as I can, have a quick wee then prep the afternoon. Lunch hour is a bloody joke. Pisses me off. And they expect you to surervise children as well Aunty? Bloody cheek.

[AuntyQuated]

we are oitside in the freezing cold for 45 mionutes!!!
right --o0ff to meeting


will let you know how i get on

thnaks all

[cece]

You can 'choose' to work through your lunch hours but you cannot be directed to work. For instance you do not have to attend meetings at lunch time!

Agree it is a bit of a joke but doing a lunch duty is defintiely not on.

[dingdongjustforyoufg]

depends on the school though, some schools have cut down the TT so that lunchtime is effectively a timetabled period so that they can stagger lunches, therefore if you are down on your TT allocation you can fairly be expected to do a duty as part of your TT day IYSWIM

[spudmasher]

Aunty are you back yet? How did the meeting go?

[AuntyQuated]

sorry - i disappaered - RL took over.

i ended up ringing the union before i went --they said that because we were getting a 30 mins lunch break then it was a 'reasonable' request to ask us to do a lunch duty

the PPA issue is still unresolved.

the raeson i weas asking is because our directed hours have been changed and we have to be there by 8.30 - struggle with this but can manage to be there by 8.35/8.40 - i was asking if thet were willing to be flexible about those 5-10 mins as we are flexible in many other araes ---he told me NO - i had to be there by 8.30 end of story. he could howvere sort the PPA out (doibthe will tho' unless i prod him again)

i work in a unit witha manager rather than a head. the meeting was with the head of the service that oversees the unit.

[AuntyQuated]

sorry - that was a bit rushed --- need to go and pick up dd and ds

[Whizzz]

Im a secondary TA & we don't paid for duty & we are not expected to do it. However we are not paid for lunch (30mins) but I think the teachers are & for breaks too.

[roisin]

In my school we (CS but same for teachers in our school) do not get paid for the lunch hour (45 mins). Lunch duty is voluntary, and in return staff get £10 plus a lunch pass (worth c.£2.50 in canteen).

"Break" (20 mins in the morning) is paid for everyone, but is not a break. Once a week everyone has to do corridor duty during break. (I have to be in my office 4 days a week seeing pupils about German/French trip admin, and changing reading challenge books.)

We also have to do duty before and after school about once a term: all part of the package.

[ebenezer]

I'm pretty sure PPA time is a requirement. Duty thing i guess could vary from school to school - at mine, teachers all do a before school, break time and bus duty 1 x per week. Lunch duty is optional - you do it and get paid a little bit and a free lunch. But i suspect your contract and job description would mean you can be directed to do pretty much whatever, if you're told by the Head. I think every teacher has that bit in their job description that says '....and any other duty as directed by the Head'. Can't really compare with Teaching Assistants, cos they're paid an hourly rate whereas teachers are salaried, so in reality you end up putting in whatever hours the job takes don't you? I've never dared calculate what i would earn per hour as a teacher if i divided my salary by the actual hours i do - i expect if would be less than a teaching Assistant!

[loopybear]

PPA is a legal requirement 10% of your timetable. Duties, playtimes lunch are allowed to be part of our day. You are entitiled to a free meal if you are on duty over lunch.

Just read all of thread. You should check contract and see what it says. I know in the first primary I worked in we took it in turns to do afternoon duties. Personally I don't have a problem doing duty on a rota. Remember health and safety means that you should have a 20 minute break every 4 hours. Unfortunately duties probably come under the "and any other reasonable duties.

My head is an NUT member so everything is very balanced.