Gained time to be used to cover teacher leaving at half-term

[Fossie]

A teacher in our department (secondary) is leaving at half-term and the school intends to cover his timetable with the gained time from the rest of the department. I’m not sure whether they are saying they can’t afford a supply teacher or can’t find one. Obviously there should be money available as we will not be paying the missing teacher.

I’m not sure what we can do about this. The head of department is taking up the rest of the A-level lessons and I know he will want to do his best for the pupils but I don’t feel this is fair.

I would at the very least want paying for taking on extra work and for this to be requested not demanded but I don’t expect that to happen.

For full disclosure, I am leaving at the end of term as is the head of department so I don’t think slt will have any reason to be nice. There are 3 other members of the department apart from those of us leaving. It’s a maths department.

Anyone faced this? Any suggestions?

I think you can be directed for cover for gained time so I'm not really sure what to suggest to be honest...

This wouldn’t just be cover. It is taking on the whole class so teaching, marking, parents evening etc

Unfortunately they can do this. My last school used to change everyone’s timetable after May half term and got rid of gained time completely. The timetable would then change completely every 2 weeks and sometimes we wouldn’t know which classes we would have until the Monday morning! What should have been a time for winding down and preparing for the next year became the most stressful time of the year!

It's absolutely rubbish, I think they can do it but I would be very very annoyed if this was me. I was going to say there's still time to resign, but as you're leaving anyway there's very little you can do. Anyone else in this situation should threaten to resign though. There's obviously a reason why they can't keep staff, and you're leaving too. It doesn't sound like they treat their staff very well. There should be more significant consequences for schools who can't keep staff out of their own doing, at the very least staff turnover should be reflected in Ofsted reports, but sadly, the inspections never include anything as enlightening as that, but I'm sure its the kind of thing parents want to know.

I'm sorry but there is nothing you can do about this. Gained time is a convention rather than an entitlement. There are schools which completely re-timetable in summer 2.

Sorry but from a primary point of view what exactly do you do with your gained time? Surely if it's not in your 10% PPA time you can be directed to teach?

@careerchange456 Gained is sort of (a little bit of) compensation for all the extra time you have to put in to exam classes where you can sort out some of the jobs you haven't been able to do all year. However schools like this are still expecting you to go above and beyond for exam groups and then give up the gained time afterwards.
In my last school this time was usually directed in some sense, updating schemes of work, sorting out setting for the following year and such forth.

Here is the NEU guidance, from their website:
^Re-timetabling within the academic year could include the re-timetabling of teachers with gained time, to re-designate them as the teacher for another class, with the school arguing that they are not breaching provision on cover.
Previous guidance in the STPCD made it clear that in-year changes to the calendar and timetable may be made, but only for ‘sound educational reasons’ - for example, a long-term absence or significant educational development. It also stated that such changes during the year should not be a frequent occurrence. Despite the removal of this from the STPCD, the union still believes that in-year changes should be avoided and will support NEU representatives in opposing proposals to re-timetable as part of a review of school cover policies, other than for sound educational reasons.^

Basically, your school can absolutely re-timetable if they cannot find staff to replace those that are gone.

I think the more we are heading down this recruitment and retention black hole, the worse it will become and gained time will be a thing of the past. Schools already use gained time during exams to internally cover to get around the "rarely cover" rule.

Some schools do use this more wisely by essentially ensuring everyone has their new timetable for the next academic year and starts teaching the majory of students they will have from September in June/ July. It does make for a smoother start as staff and students will know what to expect.

Heads of departments and senior leaders do need to be aware, though, that this also means waving bye-bye to the annual re-writing of schemes of learning that usually happens in summer 2.

It's a difficult one. Gained time is nice, but at the end of the day we're being paid to do a job, so if your employer is asking you to teach during your directed time, you cannot really say no.

“Basically, your school can absolutely re-timetable if they cannot find staff to replace those that are gone”.

I don’t think they have tried though. We have other gaps (similar position in science) and they just have a supply in for his lessons.

My other difficulty is trying to decide how cooperative I want to be. For example one lesson of my new class will be on a day I don’t work. Should I be expected to set cover for that lesson.

The trouble is, you don't know why science hasn't been re-timetabled. We have a gap in our science department and the reason our timetable hasn't been touched yet is because SLT know that in 3 weeks, they'll be down another member of staff, so they're waiting that one out and make changes then. The reason our mfl department hasn't been retimetabled is because, despite advertising extensively, no one has applied and we don't have staff who speak the language. However, their timetable will change once Y11 are gone.

On a day you don't work, you also don't set cover. You do let your head of department know the topic that needs teaching, or agree with them that those lessons are stand-alone topics and all cover then falls to your department lead to organise.

I have lost all my gained time for cover until whitsun. Where Y11 are in an exam, I am being used to cover gaps elsewhere - odd, stand-alone stuff in subjects far outside of my specialism. But because it happens during my timetabled Y11 lessons, I can't really complain. Supply avoid my school like the plague, so it's all hands on deck.

I do resent the extra time I'm being made to do Y11 revision on top of that. But it's in directed time (my school, shamefully, don't have a DT budget, so within the hours we're expected to be there (8.15-4.30) we can be directed to do anything), so the contract I signed bound me to this.

Not the way to treat professionals. I’m surprised they can keep staff.

Have your year 11 gone on study leave already? Most schools are still teaching year 11 for at least another week so no-one has any gained time yet.

No, they haven't gone yet. Our school doesn't do study leave at all; they merely add more lessons for subjects which are yet to have their exams. So if, say, Computing has finished their exam, those students will now be in extra Maths lessons.

But there are a fair few times over the next few weeks on my timetable where all of Y11 are in an exam and during those lessons I am covering gaps elsewhere in the school. If I am timetabled to have Y11 during their English exam, I am used to cover French. That kind of thing.

What and where do you all teach where you're not given any gained time? Are alternative jobs not easy to find? In my area, if schools treated the teachers of most subject like this the teachers would just move elsewhere, as there is an absolute abundance of alternative jobs available. It may be contractually possible, but it isn't always sensible, as teachers can choose where they work. Other schools would just use the fact they give gained time as a cost effective way to poach staff. Why don't you all just change school? Gained time is one of the only perks of the job!

I'd say the opposite is true in an increasing number of schools. If your choice is to either use existing staff for cover or to start closing the school to year groups because you cannot find teachers to replace the staff that have left, then you do the former and worry about the consequences in the new term, when you are likely to have employed at least a few of the new crop of ECTs.

And I work in a shortage subject, but don't know any schools in the area where things are different; my ex colleagues who have all sauntered off to many different schools over the years around here say the same.

Happening in my department too, this will be my 2nd timetable change of the year. Its crap and I feel quite frazzled with all the split classes I will now have but they are entitled to do it. It's all the getting to know new classes and then setting work for ks3 classes being covered or taught by non specialists and extra marking that's the issue. I'm the HoD so if I don't do it and results are crap it will be my job on the line so I have no choice.

My new class will start after half term. It will include marking end of year exams etc so not cover but full responsibility. We are losing half our department though not for this reason. It doesn’t seem a sensible long term policy. We seem to be in debt as a school so perhaps this is deliberate policy to save money until we have cleared the debt. Anyway, I’m going out of teaching so not my problem. Something of a problem nationally this short-sighted cavalier treatment (and loss) of staff.

Unfortunately they are entirely within their rights to do this. (I think primary teachers will be reading this in shock that we secondary teachers expect a load of extra PPA in the summer term - another reason secondary is a much easier gig imho!)

Your school is in deficit because funding is inadequate. It is very likely that the choice is between these sorts of short-term savings, which inevitably have a cost in terms of goodwill, and redundancies of support or teaching staff. Which would you choose if you were in a leadership position?

I’m sorry to hear that we are losing you from the profession, and even sorrier to hear that you consider this national crisis to be no longer your problem. It is everyone’s problem, but people who don’t work in the sector are only just starting to notice.

@ValancyRedfern
Primary teachers tend to get the opposite, less PPA in summer as there is so much to fit in( residentials, trips, sports day, transition days, theatre productions) that often PPA goes by the by!

Definitely less PPA in the summer term in primary. Combine that with no subject leader time and even less chance of a TLR it's a wonder anybody does the job. It's a good job the kids aren't teenagers!

I would at the very least want paying for taking on extra work

But you are being paid for those lessons. Teachers without gained time are still teaching a full timetable all summer.

As a HoD who is having to do exactly this and will be speaking to people about it today I now feel rubbish.
For a variety of reasons not related to my department we've ended up losing two members of staff over the year. The expectation has always been we would reallocate when study leave starts. It's best for the students and the staff in the long term that they have an actual subject teacher rather than a cover teacher.
Staffing schools at the minute is a nightmare, even in schools that used to have no trouble recruiting. Ask if there's some other protections they can put in place or tasks they can remove in compensation perhaps.

Please don't feel rubbish @GrammarTeacher. I've been quite taken aback by the OP's attitude to gained time. In my experience, staff understand that gained time is a convention, and very nice to have in order to get some breathing space to prep for next year. Nevertheless it is not an entitlement, but a luxury that many schools literally cannot afford right now. Even if there were decent quality supply teachers to be had, no sane person would suggest that any organisation in deficit should divert funds away from other spending when there are capable staff with capacity.

I am sure you will present the situation empathetically to your team with a clear rationale. I don't know any teachers who wouldn't rather pick up a class earlier than have to unpick the damage done by patchy supply come September. Good luck for today.

@GrammarTeacher You're doing what's best for your department, and that includes asking people to take on new classes, within reason. This decision won't even be yours to have made, unless you're in charge of timetabling, and as long as it's an even spread of classes I doubt anyone can argue.

Where it becomes an issue is if there if perceived unfairness - say, if some people keep all their gained time of 10+ lessons/ week while others suddenly have a full timetable (happened to me in one school, and to a colleague in another). That kind of thing causes resentment.

But again, that can happen if there is a department which can cater better to kids if they shift their timetables, while others have to live with the odd cover every week. I know I'd rather take on another class or two permanently than having to cover yet another weekly French lesson if I don't speak the language and therefore cannot help.