PPA Time

Further to MI 133/08, in which schools were reminded that all teachers at a school, including headteachers, with timetabled teaching commitments, whether employed on permanent, fixed-term, temporary or part-time contracts, have a contractual entitlement to guaranteed PPA time within the timetabled teaching day (see PPAtimeslides). For related information about the Early Years Foundation Stage, including PPA time - see FAQs.

Members of the local social partnership (Local WAMG), a group that mirrors national WAMG and includes LA and governor representation, often receive queries from teachers and headteachers and support staff about PPA. This information sheet contains advice from Local WAMG on the contractual entitlement to guaranteed PPA within the timetabled teaching day:-

	The amount of guaranteed PPA time should be set as at least 10% of a teacher's timetabled teaching time. Only teaching time within a teacher's 1265 contracted hours counts for these purposes, not other forms of pupil contact. For example, a teacher who is timetabled to teach 20 hours out of a 25-hour teaching week must receive at least two hours of guaranteed PPA time. This time must appear on the teacher's timetable. Any non-contact time allocated for other activities (e.g. non-guaranteed PPA time, meetings, time for leadership and management responsibilities, and any time set aside to provide cover) must be additional to the guaranteed PPA time.
	Guaranteed PPA time should be provided as part of a teacher's normal weekly or fortnightly timetable. It must take place, therefore, during the timetabled teaching day (i.e. during the time in which pupils are taught at the school) and must not be bolted on before or after pupil sessions. In order for the time to be put to meaningful use by the teacher, it must be allocated in blocks of no less than 30 minutes.
	Guaranteed PPA time must be used for planning, preparation and assessment - these duties are contained in the relevant paragraphs of the School Teachers Pay and Conditions Document (Section 2 of the Document). The time must not be encroached upon, including by any obligation to cover for absent colleagues (see MI 19/09), or attend meetings. It is for the teacher to determine the particular PPA priorities for each block of guaranteed PPA time, although that does not preclude them from choosing to use some of the time to support collaborative activities. NB: PPA time can be taken off site but this is at the Headteacher's discretion.
	The 10% guaranteed PPA time is a minimum figure. Any teacher who was already in receipt of more than this amount of time specifically for PPA prior to the introduction of this change should not have had his/her existing allocation reduced.
	For newly qualified teachers, in addition to their guaranteed PPA time, NQTs also benefit from the contractual provisions of Section 2 paragraph 60.9.5 of the Document. This states that teachers serving induction periods under the induction regulations do not teach more than 90% of the time a teacher at that school who does not receive payments in respect of additional duties or responsibilities would be expected to teach.
	Teachers with leadership and management responsibilities are entitled to a reasonable allocation of time "to support the discharge of their responsibilities" in addition to PPA time. This is allocated within school sessions (i.e. could be within registration/assembly time as well as timetabled teaching time) - there is a no-detriment provision with regard to any existing allocation of this time.

When deploying support staff to provide PPA release, headteachers should be mindful of the advice given by national WAMG in Guidance for Schools on Higher Level Teaching Assistant Roles for School Support Staff, Note 12, Note 17, and most currently Note 22 which states:

"Deploying support staff as part of PPA arrangements
Cover supervision is not an appropriate means of maintaining curriculum provision during the time a teacher is timetabled for PPA. As a teacher's PPA time constitutes a regular timetabled activity, a member of staff with the appropriate training, skills and experience to deliver 'specified work' should be deployed to ensure the continuation of teaching and learning throughout the timetable. The guidance accompanying the specified work regulations for England and Wales states that:

Support staff may undertake the 'specified work' subject to a number of conditions. These conditions, as set out in paragraph 10 of Schedule 2 of the Regulations, are as follows:

i.	the support staff member must carry out the 'specified work' in order to assist or support the work of a qualified teacher in the school;
ii.	the support staff member must be subject to the direction and supervision of a qualified teacher in accordance with arrangements made by the headteacher of the school; and
iii.	the headteacher must be satisfied that the support staff member has the skills, expertise and experience required to carry out the 'specified work'."

WAMG Note 22 also gives advice on contractual arrangements for support staff and particularly for the effective deployment of HLTAs.

Finally, it is advised that PPA strategies should be regularly evaluated (especially as staff and roles change and develop) to ensure they offer the best possible continuity of teaching and learning for pupils over the school year and are supportive of schools' work in further improving standards - see Monitoring the impact of PPA time on standards, teaching and workload.

Further information and useful resources can be found on the Norfolk Schools website Workforce Remodelling - Resources.

For queries on workforce reform and related issues, please contact Peter Simmonds on 07795 265669 or by email, or Virginia Wakely on 01603 638092 or by email.

This MI sheet has been produced in liaison with the local Workforce Agreement Monitoring Group (Local WAMG) representing teacher and support staff unions - signatories to the National Workload Agreement, and also the NUT, plus Governor representation.