It's widely accepted that covering for absent colleagues is not a good use of a teacher's time as it reduces the time available for lesson planning.

Schools that have low or no teacher cover report happier staff, teaching better lessons

A new cover policy does not only have an impact on teachers. Properly trained, supported and supervised support staff are central to the new strategies that schools are deploying.

Pupils also benefit because they are either taught by more motivated teachers, or because cover lessons are supervised by known and respected members of the school staff.

Rarely cover

The objective of a progressive movement towards a position where teachers may only be asked to cover rarely was clearly indicated in the national agreement. In 2007 schools were advised that they should expect to achieve such a position from September 2009.

The national agreement included the following objectives:

• progressive reductions in teachers’ overall hours
• changes to teachers’ contracts, including a limit on the amount of cover for absent colleagues that teachers and headteachers were expected to employ
• new arrangements for deploying support staff.

In April 2009, WAMG wrote to local authorities setting out the basis on which the provision that teachers should only rarely cover for absent colleagues should be implemented. The documentation also provided guidance on the process schools are advised to follow in order to achieve ‘rarely cover’.

For more information, download the documents on the right hand side of the page or visit the group’s website www.socialpartnership.org

Case studies demonstrating how schools implemented the changes arising from the national agreement can also be found on the website.