Part time contract and staff meetings

[Teacher2024]

Hello, I’m hoping some others may have experience of this or know the answers.
I am due to return from maternity leave on a part time contract (3 days) as a teacher and have asked for clarification on whether I need to attend development days and staff meetings on my days off (these are on a Monday which is one of my days off). I have yet to have a response but wondered if there are any rules on this that I can come back with if I am asked to attend an hour staff meeting on my days off or if I do need to attend development days, how many is acceptable. I haven’t been able to find anything in the staff handbook and yet to receive my contract.

A part time teacher on a 0.6 contract has to attend 0.6 x 195 days, all on their normal working days. So if they work Monday- Wednesday, they cannot be directed to come in on Thursday or Friday.

As you can tell by reading the post, there is mainly take.

Also hardly any bank holidays (maybe one?) are actually during term time anyway.

I was happy to be flexible and so was the school. At three days a week, I attended three training days, but if the other two were particularly relevant, I’d do those too, but always got paid for them.

And what if the INSET falls on an ordinary working day, e.g. you're on a 0.6 contract, usual working Monday, Tues, Weds but all the Inset days fall on Mondays when you would usually be in anyway....

I don't understand this. 0.6 of 195 days is what you need to be available for. Whether it's a teaching day, training day or trip day. You can't be asked to work more than this and can't be asked to work a non work day (win you can be asked, but not required. And you should be paid)

You don’t need to work on your non working days.
you should be paid for any time you go in on a non working day. You could offer toil if you prefer.

you should do 60% of the cpd if you’re 0.6 contract - if all your meetings are on Mondays and you work, take roughly two a term as your PT entitlement.

they should also enable you to have time for anything mandatory you miss on a day off so if 1 hour is everyone doing safeguarding training online then one of your 1-hour Monday meetings should really be doing that as well.

@DorothyStorm I am not really getting that sense. Most sensible people negotiate and find a way around it because they work in a collaborative environment with a supportive team. Some deputy heads are part time for example. There’s job shares. Most decent schools work this out without unions or teachers refusing to be in. However I’m used to reasonable people which, increasingly it seems, SLTs are not. Who wants to work in a battle ground though with non supportive colleagues? Pleasant schools get staff and keep them but there’s a certain amount of give and take.

Then you only do 3 out of the five and get the other two Mondays off.

Surely only if it takes you over the 0.6 proportion of 195 days? A work day is a work day regardless what happens, surely?

No, there are 190 teaching days and 5 INSET days which are treated separately. Part timers are only required to attend a proportion of INSETs that match their contract.

That’s not correct. PT teachers work a % of 195 days.

Don’t most schools just sort this out amicably?

They work a % of directed time. So if more of their directed time is being taken up by INSET than an equivalent part-timer, directed time needs to be reduced elsewhere.

@noblegiraffe I think I've been made a mug of it this is the case!

Would it be my responsibility to know this and tell the school I won't be in on Monday Xth and Monday Yth INSET days, or should the school tell me I am only expected at 3 of 5 INSETs?

Think I need to ask for a break down of my directed time.

I basically work every day so I tell the school which INSETs I won't be doing. I'd always do the beginning of the year ones but some of the later ones are absolutely missable.

Part time workers basically need to assert themselves otherwise they are expected to turn up for everything the same as full time workers. I've had to point out multiple times when the duty rota comes out that I will not be doing the same number as a full timer.

Ah yes I can understand you'd have to firmly advocate for yourself as a part time worker in every day.

Our INSETs this year were partly covered been by Twilights, as well as proper training days, just to confuse matters further. Next year looks to be better in that sense so hopefully it will be quite straightforward to work out.

I was managed out of a job for standing up for myself. That’s why I feel so strongly about everyone making a stand and doing things correctly.

It's interesting what you say about the training days, although even my union never advised me about that.

I am so much happier now that I am out of it all.

Hahahahahahahaha

You would think…

I understood training days to be a part of directed time.

Yes, non teaching directed time. And part timers have to be careful that they are only doing 0.6 (or whatever their contract is) of non-teaching activities like INSET, parents evenings, duties, meetings. Or they are being shafted.

I've just looked at the NEU and NASUWT for a bit of clarity and I'm still confused.

It says on NEU that directed time "is a maximum of 1,265 hours per academic year, spread over 195 days.

Teachers can be required to teach for 190 days, the maximum length of the pupil year.

Teachers can be required to work a further five non-teaching (usually inset) days. These hours count towards the 1,265 hour limit.

Part-time teachers work the prorated equivalent according to the fraction of full-time pay they receive - use our directed time calculator."

It doesn't say that the teaching days and INSET days are treated separately though, but it does say that INSET days are included in the hours for directed time.

Thoughts?

If you have a look at union directed time calculators for part time teachers you'll see that INSETs are grouped under 'non teaching activities'

https://www.ealingneu.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Improved-DT-calculator.xls

@YetAnotherNewNameAgainDecent ones actually do! Surprising as that might seem.