Rarely cover
The Workforce Agreement Monitoring Group (WAMG), also known as the Social
Partnership, has written to local authorities setting out the basis on which
the provision that teachers should rarely cover for absent colleagues should be
implemented from 1 September 2009.
The National Agreement on 'Raising Standards and Tackling Workload' signed in January 2003 provided the basis for work by schools to create time for teachers and headteachers to focus more of their time on teaching, and leading teaching and learning, including through:
- progressive reductions in teachers' overall hours
- changes to teachers' contracts, including — in 2004 — a limit on the amount of cover for absent colleagues that teachers and headteachers could provide
- new arrangements for deploying support staff.
The National Agreement included an objective that teachers should only rarely cover and, in 2007, schools were advised that they should expect to achieve the position in which teachers only rarely covered from September 2009.
The WAMG letter and accompanying documents set out the basis for implementing 'rarely cover'. The letter describes the changes that will be made to the STPCD and accompanying guidance to give effect to it. These changes remain subject to the normal consultation that is undertaken for the whole of the STPCD prior to its formal implementation.
Related downloads
- WAMG statement (also Welsh version)
Setting out the basis for implementation of 'rarely cover' - WAMG LA letter (also Welsh version)
WAMG have written to LA to inform them that the basis for implementation of 'rarely cover' has been agreed - STPCD document (also Welsh version)
Summary of changes to be made to the STPCD and accompanying guidance (subject to formal consultation round) - Implementation process guidance (Welsh version
available shortly)
The purpose of this guidance is to set out the process WAMG advise schools to follow to implement 'rarely cover' from 1 September 2009. This guidance includes an Annex A: Deployment of support staff in relation to moving to 'rarely cover'
Published: 30 April 2009
