PPA Time

[WorriedTeach]

I've started at a new school (primary) and have been told it's likely my PPA time will be 2 hours, half an hour short of a full 10% and not a full morning away from the classroom. When I questioned it I was told it's always been that amount of time as for people who have theirs in the afternoon they only get 2 hours due to the length of the session. I don't want to rock the boat if this is standard practice but it doesn't seem right to me?

I work for a teaching union and a very common thing we say is a head/SLT can do anything they want unless staff stand up to it. Worth chatting with your new colleagues about how this is a right, like their salary. By not challenging it they are essentially agreeing to. You might find that if you say something and get yours changed, they will want theirs changed too. It is always better to do things collectively, but this is a black and white statutory right. You are entitled to it.

Afternoons are perfect for PPA because you can just pull a TA from interventions for cover. And it's free!! Happens far too often ime.

It's definitely just 2 hours, apparently the additional time is made up because we get subject responsibility time and report writing time. I know this still isn't right but there are no 'spare' staff and the school have no money so I think I'll have to put up with it for now until I'm a bit more established.