Workforce Reform - The Phases of the National Agreement
The National Agreement 'Raising Standards
- Tackling Workload', was signed in January 2003
and included:
- Progressive reductions in teachers’ overall hours;
- Changes to teachers’ contracts;
- A concerted attack on unnecessary paperwork and
bureaucracy;
- Reform of support staff roles to help teachers and support
pupils;
- The recruitment of new managers, including business and
personnel managers;
- Additional resources and national “change management”
programmes;
- Monitoring of progress on delivery.
It took place in three phases:
Phase One: with effect from 1 September 2003
- No teacher required routinely to undertake clerical and
administrative tasks;
- Provision made for teachers and headteachers to enjoy a
reasonable work/life balance;
- Teachers with management and leadership responsibility entitled
to a reasonable allocation of time within school sessions to
support the discharge of their responsibilities.
Phase Two: with effect from 1 September 2004
- Introduce an initial limit on cover for absent teachers with
the objective of reaching the point where teachers at a school
rarely cover at all. (fully implemented with the rarely cover
requirements from September 2009).
Phase Three with effect on 1 September 2005
- Introduce guaranteed professional time for planning,
preparation and assessment;
- Introduce new invigilation arrangements.
Full details of the national agreement can be found on the
Training
and Development Agency's (TDA's) website.
