"To achieve the demands of the next phase in raising standards, teachers will need to take a more differentiated approach to the needs of their pupils. And yet they are already doing too much of their planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) at evenings and weekends, and in isolation from each other." – extract from 'Raising standards and tackling workload – a national agreement'

Phase three of the contractual change contained within the national agreement includes the following provision:

"Since 1 September 2005 all teachers have had an entitlement to a guaranteed minimum of 10 per cent of their timetabled teaching commitment for PPA."

WAMG guidance

The workforce agreement monitoring group (WAMG), working with us, has produced the downloadable Planning, preparation and assessment - resource pack. Hard copies can be ordered from Prolog on 0845 602 2260, quoting reference NRT/0025/2004.

Aims of guaranteed PPA time

Phase three of the contractual change contained within the national agreement includes the following provision:

"The purpose of guaranteed PPA time is to enable teachers to raise standards through individual or collaborative professional activity. The contractual change on PPA is also designed to improve teachers' work/life balance."

Creating a plan

The creation and implementation of a sustainable staffing plan, to include the creation of guaranteed PPA time, can be seen as a three-step process:

• developing strategies
• integrating strategies into the school timetable, and 
• planning the evolution of strategies as part of the school development plans.

Many schools that have engaged with remodelling have taken the opportunity to use the change management process and tools provided by the NRT and LAs in order to devise and deliver strategies for delivering guaranteed PPA time.

"... the agreement marks a turning point in carving out some guaranteed PPA time during the normal school day." – extract from 'Raising standards and tackling workload – a national agreement'