CONCLUSIONS

Rarely covering is an integral part of the overall package of contractual changes agreed as part of the National Agreement: ʻRaising Standards and Tackling Workload’ and is enshrined in the STPCD. The purpose of the contractual provision is to contribute to raising educational standards by freeing teachers and headteachers from a task that does not require their professional skills and expertise and enabling them to focus on their core function of teaching and leading and managing teaching and learning.

The overall results of this survey have revealed a mixed set of experiences in relation to how rarely cover has been implemented by schools during the first academic term of the new statutory contractual provision coming into effect.

There is some evidence of teachers who have benefited from the introduction of the rarely cover contractual provision. However, the survey also reveals that a substantial proportion of teachers and headteachers have not experienced the specific benefits of rarely cover and, in some cases, have experienced a general worsening of their working conditions as a result of the decisions taken by some schools on the introduction of rarely cover. Furthermore, this survey suggests that the educational entitlements of pupils are also being compromised as a result of the way in which some schools have chosen to implement rarely cover.

The survey results suggest a worryingly high level of noncompliance on rarely cover, with a substantial number of teachers and headteachers reporting that their schools were not meeting the statutory requirements. A failure by some schools to introduce robust systems or to consult properly with staff and trade unions prior to determining or implementing their rarely cover policies and procedures was further exacerbating the problem of noncompliance.

The survey suggests that some schools have not consulted with staff and unions on the implementation of this important area of workforce reform. This is potentially hampering the effective and sustainable implementation of rarely cover. The survey also found evidence of poor and inappropriate practices by schools in the publication of calendars and timetables. Where schools have imposed onto staff procedures and other arrangements for managing the implementation of rarely cover, this could result in instability in schools, grievances and future industrial unrest.

There is disturbing evidence that some schools appear to be continuing to require teachers to undertake an unacceptable amount of cover for absence for events that are foreseeable and on a frequent basis. After only a single term, the level of cover undertaken by teachers and headteachers in some schools is anything but rare and could have been avoidable.

There is strong evidence from this survey to conclude that many schools have not applied fully the contractual provisions for the management of rarely cover and are operating outwith statutory provisions and guidance on this issue. It also appears that some schools may be misapplying the rarely cover provisions in order to introduce or justify other deleterious changes to teachersʼ conditions of service, working conditions and working practices.

The findings from this survey suggest that the problem of noncompliance is being compounded by ignorance (particularly in the primary phase) about what schools are required to do and the appropriateness of the measures in schools to ensure teachersʼ statutory entitlements. This suggests a strong need for a communications campaign to promote the understanding of teachers and headteachers about their statutory contractual rights and entitlements.

The appropriate implementation of rarely cover delivers benefits for pupils and staff. However, poor implementation of rarely cover is resulting in additional workload for teachers and headteachers and undermining the opportunities provided for pupils. How schools seek to manage rarely cover in practice highlights the need for schools, teachers and headteachers to have access to tools that enable them to review and quantify the workforce and educational impact of the approaches they utilise to deliver these provisions.

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