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PPA time
The Workload Agreement guarantees teachers in maintained schools in England and Wales ten per cent of their timetabled teaching to be set aside as preparation, planning and assessment (PPA) time during the school day.
The aim of this allocation of time is to encourage collaborative professional activity in the preparation of high quality lessons and to increase the work/life balance of teachers.
Who does it apply to?
The statutory entitlement to PPA applies to all teachers who come within the remit of the School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD). This includes teachers in the following schools: community, community special, foundation, trust, voluntary-aided and PRUs, as well as LEA centrally-employed staff.
Members in independent schools and academies will be entitled to PPA if their contracts of employment entitle them to the pay and working conditions of the STPCD.
The McCrone Agreement guarantees teachers in Scotland an allowance of personal time for preparation and marking, which should be no less than one third of actual class contact time.
Advice for schools
When the new rules were introduced in 2005, schools were encouraged to put together a sustainable staffing plan. They were also advised to make PPA time explicit and integral in the timetable, and to protect it from all other demands, including cover.
Where teachers had little or no existing non-contact time in their timetables, schools were advised to employ a number of strategies to ensure the minimum ten per cent time. These strategies include maximising the existing teaching resource, and timetabling additional resources - perhaps by re-allocating, reducing or discarding pastoral care, parent liaison or administration duties.
Schools were also advised to deploy additional staff such as higher level teaching assistants, specialist staff or other teachers to release enough timetabled PPA time for each teacher.
PPA resource pack
The Workforce Agreement Monitoring Group (WAMG), of which ATL is part, produced a resource pack (via TDA website) to help schools implement this phase of the national agreement. The aim was to help schools to assess their PPA need, audit existing non-contact time and help them to cost, compare and assess the various PPA strategies under consideration.
Although most of these changes should now be implemented, schools and teachers may still find this a useful resource.
WAMG has also published a number of notes relating to PPA time: WAMG note 4, WAMG note 10 and WAMG note 14.
Need further advice?
Your first point of contact is your ATL rep in your school or college. Your local ATL branch is also available to help with queries, or you can contact ATL's member advisors on tel: 020 7930 6441 or email us. Please have your membership number to hand when telephoning and include it with any correspondence - this will help us to answer your query more quickly.
You may also wish to call: the out-of-office-hours helpline, tel: 020 7782 1612; our stress helpline, tel: 08705 234 828; our crisis helpline, tel: 08705 234 838, or our personal injury claims line, tel: 0800 083 7285.