Directed time and how to tackle workload in your school
Guide on directed time for NEU workplace representatives and members.
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Foreword
Welcome to our fourth edition of our Value Education, Value Educators publication, focussing on directed time. As reps you are the most important part of our union: supporting members, winning gains for union groups and representing our profession.
Since 2014, despite the Government saying it wants to reduce workload, the problem has only increased. A third of teachers leave within the first five years, with most citing excessive workload as the reason.
The aim of our bargaining calendar is to support you to work together with members at your school to improve working conditions. We want to support you to make sure your school has a directed time calendar, negotiated by you and your union group. It is a key component of tackling the growing workload concerns of members.
A directed time calendar is important to ensure teachers’ hours are reasonable and is standard practice within the profession. Head teachers also find directed time calendars help with resourcing and ensuring staff wellbeing.
We hope this booklet is useful to you and your members and that together you can use this to help you tackle excessive workload at your school. You can share your stories with us via [email protected].
Thank you again for your work and dedication on behalf of our union. Together we will shape the future of education.
Yours sincerely,
Kevin Courtney and Mary Bousted, Joint general secretaries, National Education Union.
Our bargaining calendar
Our bargaining calendar is a framework for NEU reps and members to help develop workplace presence and win for members. Echoing the rhythm of the school year, the framework will help coordinate activity as part of a national campaign to improve working conditions.
Excessive working time is members’ top concern, felt ever more acutely as the cost of living crisis erodes their pay. You can engage with your managers now to remove unnecessary workload and secure your directed time calendar — workload problems can be challenged at any time of year.
Autumn term
Pay
Spring term
Appraisal
Summer term
Directed time
Why are directed time calendars important?
All schools should have a calendar of the activities which make up teachers’ directed time –consulted on with staff via trade unions.
Individual teachers should also have personal directed time calendars which reflect the school’s calendar and show their own individual commitments.
These ensure that enough time is allocated to them to fulfil each of the requirements of their role, leaving a contingency cushion for the year and avoiding an excessive and unmanageable workload or breaching the 1,265 hours limit.
NEU reps/members should ask their head or leadership team for the directed time calendars for both the school and for individuals. Teachers can raise concerns about their directed time calendar at any point during the academic year. It is important to ensure that the position of part-time teachers – who are predominantly women and contain large numbers of teachers with protected characteristics – is fairly managed.
How to win on directed time in your workplace:
- Organise a meeting of members to discuss directed time — a directed time calendar is a contractual right for teachers and there should be an annual discussion about the calendar that sets out the details of teaching staff working time in the forthcoming academic year.
- If this is something that doesn’t usually happen at your school, use the members’ meeting to agree that the rep/s will speak to the head about a DT calendar. Examples of calendars. Meet with the head to ensure that a DT calendar with a maximum 1,265 hours will be issued following consultation and any areas of concern will be discussed fully with the union.
- Meet again with members to discuss your head’s response and decide your next steps.
- If you have concerns about the calendar, use the Excel pro forma to calculate the hours of you and your colleagues.
- If you need any further support, contact your branch secretary.
Directed time calendar example
for a primary teacher
Here is an example of a generic directed time calendar for full-time classroom teachers in the primary sector without additional responsibilities.
This is simply an example – the way in which the time is allocated for different aspects of a teacher’s working day will vary between schools. What’s important is that the issue is given careful consideration and that the total, including contingency time, does not exceed 1,265 hours.
| Use of hours | - | Number of hours per year |
|---|---|---|
| Registration | 1/4 hr x 190 days | 47.5 |
| Mid-session break | 1/4 hr x 190 days | 47.5 |
| Teaching and PPA time | 25 hrs per week | 950 |
| INSET days | 5 hrs x 5 days | 25 |
| Supervisory duties (includes ten minutes before the start of the morning session, five minutes at either end of the lunch break and ten minutes at the end of the school day.) | 30 mins x 190 days | 95 |
| Parents’ meetings and open evenings | 3 hrs x 3 days | 9 |
| Staff meetings | 1 hr x 38 days | 38 |
| Other duties of the teacher (e.g. email correspondence) | 1/4 hr x 190 days | 47.5 |
| TOTAL | - | 1,259.5 hours |
| Contingency (a cushion of time available for unforeseen circumstances.) | - | 5.5 hours |
Note: the head teacher in this school has not allocated 1,265 hours of directed time to this teacher. A cushion of 5.5 hours has been reserved for emergencies and unplanned events. It is only if the teacher is directed to work during this cushion that the 1,265 hour limit may be reached.
Directed time calendar example
for a secondary teacher
Here is an example of a generic directed time calendar for full-time classroom teachers (with a form group) in the secondary sector without additional responsibilities.
This is simply an example – the way in which time is allocated for different aspects of a teacher’s working day will vary between schools. What’s important is that the issue is given careful consideration and that the total, including contingency time, does not exceed 1,265 hours.
| Use of hours | - | Number of hours per year |
|---|---|---|
| Registration | 1/4 hr x 190 days | 47.5 |
| Mid-session break | 1/4 hr x 190 days | 47.5 |
| Teaching and PPA time | 25 hrs per week | 950 |
| INSET days | 5 hrs x 5 days | 25 |
| Supervisory duties (includes ten minutes before the start of the morning session, five minutes at either end of the lunch break and ten minutes at the end of the school day.) | 30 mins x 190 days | 95 |
| Parents’ meetings and open evenings | 4 hours x 5 days | 20 |
| Staff meetings | 1 hr x 38 days | 38 |
| Other duties e.g. email correspondence | 1 x 55 mins x 38 weeks | 34.8 |
| TOTAL | - | 1,257.8 hours |
| Contingency (a cushion of time available for unforeseen circumstances.) | - | 7.2 hours |
Note: the head teacher in this school has not allocated 1,265 hours of directed time to this teacher. A cushion of 7.2 hours has been reserved for emergencies and unplanned events. It is only if the teacher is directed to work during this cushion of time that the 1,265 hour limit may be reached.
“At the moment the highest hours for any teacher is 1,235. This includes trapped time. The time budget is negotiated annually at the end of the summer term, utilising the NEU’s directed time calculator.”Paul, secondary rep
“Due to raising directed time with our leadership, we were able to identify that early years colleagues were working over their maximum hours. We ended up winning an extra day in lieu every term for all these members.”Efe, primary rep
“It’s only by coming together collectively that we can begin to make sustained and impactful inroads into challenging workload. ”Gary, secondary rep
Your support:
Contact your branches and region
We have a whole network of support to help you in your role as an NEU representative, ensuring you win for members at work. This includes:
Your branch secretary
An elected NEU member who will be responsible for supporting you in bargaining and winning for members.
Your regional team
Our group of professional staff are there to assist you in your area.
Campaign guidance
Order Value Education, Value Educators tackling accountability workload booklet for a checklist and toolkit that will help you address other drivers of workload.
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