PPA, meetings, part time

[picnicinthemeadow]

Does anyone know for sure on any of these? I am probably outing myself here but no matter!

I am employed 0.6, three days a week. One of the days I work is Wednesday, and that’s the day we have meetings until 4 pm but once every half term until 4:30. That’s fine.

On the last Wednesday of every half term we usually do not have a meeting. I have PPA period 5 so believing that I was able to leave a bit earlier I arranged to take my son somewhere. I’ve been told in no uncertain terms this is not the case.

So out of this I have been told that

• we can’t take our PPA at home. I wouldn’t normally do so anyway, but I have a very heavy year 11 timetable and was hoping for a bit of flexibility towards the end of the year.
• I have to attend 100% of meetings despite being on 0.6, which doesn’t seem right - two other teachers in our department are 0.6 but do not work Wednesdays so over the course of a year I’m doing a lot more in terms of extra hours.

I wouldn’t normally split hairs but I’m really cross about it all, mostly because they are quite happy for me to do intervention every week unpaid and not as part of directed time but then I leave early once and it’s just dreadful

It's a shame they have said a firm no to you leaving slightly early in your PPA. I can understand why they wouldn't allow this on a regular basis, but for rare occasions such as illness, childcare, appointments etc. it's a shame they aren't more flexible. Plus most schools allow a number of days for children and family emergencies anyway. I guess there's not much you can do about that though.

Regarding the meetings, it doesn't seem right that you attend more than the other 0.6 staff simply because you happen to work the day that the meetings fall on. I'm not sure of actual union guidance on this though, sorry!

Sorry I realise my post isn't particularly helpful in answering your questions, but I just wanted to say I'm sorry that your school seem very inflexible about these things. It's the little things and gestures that can make a difference to how staff feel and they'd be wise to create some good feeling at a time when so many teachers are leaving!

I really appreciate you answering! I’m quite annoyed by it - I wouldn’t actually have minded an ‘ok, please in future can you stay on site’ but they were so pompous about it.

Stop doing the intervention that's not in directed time and is unpaid. They can't expect to take and not give.

They'll probably try to guilt you into doing it anyway but I'd be getting that in writing.

I'd be asking for confirmation of the following in writing:

• No flexibility allowed for PPA at home, ever even though you won't be needed to teach/attend a meeting at this time.
• That you're required to work the intervention unpaid and outside of directed time.
• Exactly what your directed time includes and can they please confirm that you're contracted to do 60% of a full time equivalent.

It's probably worth speaking to your union if you're not happy. Schools are notorious for treating part timers unfairly.

I think they should pay you for those Wednesday meetings to make things fair. I mean, it's unlikely but that would actually give parity with the other part timers.

I would ask to see the pay policy and whatever policy covers the PPA. Explain keenly that you'd like to know exactly what's required.

Secondaries seem to micromanage staff even more than primaries. I'm not surprised it's completely chipped away at your goodwill. You should only be attending 60% of meetings as I understand it. I'm 0.8 so go to 4 out of 5.

What time does school finish and what time did you plan to leave?

You need to ask for a breakdown of the directed time allowance and for some clarification of how that is being reduced pro rata. In my last school I did 0.6 of each element of directed time e.g. 0.6 of each parents evening, 0.6 of department meetings etc. Actually I did all meetings if they were on days I worked and my school were flexible about time to go to kids plays etc. At my current school it's worked out a bit differently for pt staff but it's still agreed in advance what % of meetings, open evenings etc they do.

If your school say you must do all meetings they must be removing some directed time somewhere else for you?

My union rep just said if you work on the day of a meeting, you go to the meeting - or INSET. If you don't work those days, you don't go to the meetings.

That's not strictly true.

You can't be directed to attend any meeting on a day on which you don't ordinarily work, but you aren't expected to attend all of them on a day you do work.

Each school will have its own system for allocating directed time to part timers. Mine expects a negotiation with the staff member, their hod and the cpd lead.

Your line manager should have sat down with you at the start of the academic year and done a 0.6 directed time allocation.
You only do 60% off a full time allocation.
How that is organised is by mutual agreement. If you teach 5 year groups and decide to attend all 5 parents evenings even when you only need to attend 60% of them then you could mutually agree to attend all 5 and offset this by taking the time from other meetings throughout the year.
Under no circumstances should you do more than a total of 60% of a full timers directed time as you are then working for free!
A simple spreadsheet should be given to you showing a full timers allocation for everything such as teaching hours, duties, CPD, other events, parents evenings, training days. Then a formula done so you enter 0.6 and it will show what you need to do of each. Then mutually tweak and agree. As long as the final total for you tallies up all should be good.
Saves a lot of issues and gives clarity to all parties.
No union will tell you to do more than your paid time.
Have had a lot of years of part time work dealing with this for myself and others.

This is categorically wrong. You do the proportion of directed time the same as your part time amount. So if 0.6 you only go to 0.6 of meetings.
With regards to PPA, the school would have to have a good reason to refuse flexibility around working at home. I would be asking what safeguarding concern there is or what operational problem it causes to not grant the request in line with the below policy.
The below is from the latest government guidance on flexible working in schools.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/flexible-working-in-schools/flexible-working-in-schools--2

"Teachers can use their PPA time flexibly at home and in one chunk of time, where operationally feasible and safeguarding considerations allow"

I've been part time for most of my teaching career and all my schools have taken that approach. You do the meeting if you're at work, not if you're not.

If you have a choice of days it's certainly worth taking this into account...

I have never been offered pro rata anything although a couple of the schools did at least pay you if they required you to come in on a non work day (as they should!)

Tbh most SLT either aren't aware of the guidance (and it is guidance if it's an academy) or don't care. After all SLT are invariably full time.

I'm part time and work a staff meeting day. I just miss one in five as I'm 0.8.

Did you just decide to do it on your own initiative though or did your line manager agree it?

Tbh it depends if the meeting/whatever is any use. My current place minutes meetings promptly so you don't miss out.

But in other schools it would have been an issue as you'd have missed important info.

Plus even though I'm PT I'm subject leader so it would be a bit off not to show for the subject meeting!

Obviously it was agreed otherwise I wouldn't do it 😅 My head at the time told me that was what should happen. My new head has never questioned it as it follows the Burgandy Book as far as I know. I lead 3 subjects and am SENCO. If they want me at every meeting, they are welcome to pay me, just as my FT colleagues are paid to attend.

Just to be clear PT staff attending things pro rata is not guidance- it is law. Academies have to follow the law. Any school making a part timer do more than their share of the directed hours would be treating them unfairly and it counts as unlawful discrimination. It is very clear in the school teachers pay and conditions:
The STPCD advises that schools’ arrangements for deployment of part-time teachers should avoid any treatment which might constitute unlawful discrimination.

Here is a summary of the key points-

The School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) outlines the terms and conditions of employment for teachers, including part-time teachers, ensuring they are paid and treated fairly, with working hours and responsibilities calculated on a pro-rata basis.

Key Points regarding Part-Time Teachers and the STPCD:
Pro-Rata Basis:
Part-time teachers are entitled to be paid and have their working hours calculated on a pro-rata basis of the full-time equivalent, meaning their pay and workload are proportionate to their contracted hours. 





Working Hours:
Part-time teachers' working hours are calculated based on the "school's timetabled teaching week" (STTW), which includes PPA time (10% of the timetabled teaching time) and other non-contact time. 





Directed Time:
Under the STPCD, part-time teachers are expected to have their working hours calculated on a pro rata basis of the 1,265 hours over 195 days that a full-time teacher could be expected to work. 





PPA Time:
The STPCD sets a minimum of ten per cent of a teacher's timetabled teaching time as PPA time (Planning, Preparation and Assessment). 





Avoiding Discrimination:
Schools should ensure their arrangements for part-time teachers avoid any treatment that might constitute unlawful discrimination. 





Contractual Conditions:
The STPCD and Burgundy Book (for community schools and academies subject to TUPE protections) set out the main contractual conditions of service for teachers, including part-time teachers. 





Pay Policy:
Schools must have a pay policy to determine how pay decisions are made, including for part-time teachers

Employment law also protects the rights of Part - timers and it is this caveat of unfair treatment compared to full timers which means schools are categorically not allowed to do make part timers work an effectively disproportionate number of hours to full timers- it's discrimination and ACAS can confirm this if needed.

So sorry my point being even if an academy has not taken on the teachers terms' and conditions - they cannot ignore the law.