Cover strategies that mean stress relief

Sunday evenings used to be a stressful time for Rhod Porch, headteacher of Sun Hill Junior School in Alresford, Hampshire. He was often glued to the phone, calling various agencies, pleading with supply staff to come in and cover for sick teachers.

"Our school is in quite an isolated spot," he says, "and supply teachers were sometimes reluctant to come out to the school. So we decided it was time to look after ourselves." Now, he knows he can call on a pool of supply teachers shared by a cluster of seven schools nearby.

The scheme was set up three years ago, and three supply teachers were recruited for the partnership. The 260-pupil school also independently recruited three part-time teachers for its own use in addition to the seven full-time teachers, three part-time teachers, eight teaching assistants (TAs) and deputy head already employed by the school. "Now the teachers don't do any cover at all," says Mr Porch.

In September 2004, all schools in England will have to make sure that teachers are doing no more than 38 hours of cover a year. This is part of the National Agreement on Raising Standards and Tackling Workload, signed in January 2003 by the Government, employers and most of the school workforce unions. This is a maximum that no teacher may legally be asked to exceed. Independent research has found that teachers at schools pioneering new cover strategies have been able to devote more time to teaching and personalised learning.

Mr Porch has even found the strategy has had an impact on staff absences. Four years ago, staff sickness and absence was as high as 18 per cent. Now, it's a third of that. Mr Porch explains, "Teaching is very stressful and if you can remove some of the pressures, teachers enjoy it more and so do the children. We are now a high-achieving school."

The school funds its cover staff with money that is saved by pooling resources within the partnership. "We do things such as buy paper in bulk and hire out classrooms for classes in the evening. Money gained from hire is shared between the schools," he explains.

However, working in a cluster has its own challenges. Working out absence cover with nearly 200 members of staff spread over seven schools can be demanding, so the scheme is more suited to small primary schools.

Year 3 teacher Pat Burgess is thrilled with the changes at Sun Hill. "Now I know for the whole term how much non-contact time I have. I now have the chance to reflect on what I am doing." She believes all teachers should have this time: "It is very important for their sanity."

Paul Edwards joined the school last September and is head of Year 4. "It's the first time I haven't had to do cover. At my previous two schools, we had to double up classes if another teacher was off sick," he says. He feels it has made an immense difference to his life as a teacher. Before, he would have done a lot of Preparation Planning and Assessment (PPA) at home, but now he can do it in school time.

Barnes Primary School in Barnes, south-west London, has a very different strategy to Sun Hill, but it has been equally successful. The school, which has 356 children aged between three and 11, has widened the role of its TAs, who now carry out all short-term cover. In the past, cover was provided by headteacher Felicity Sugden, her deputy head and a part-time special educational needs teacher, or by agency supply staff. "Now we have five TAs who do short-term cover for one or two days. But for real long-term absences we still get in supply staff," Mrs Sugden explains.

The school employs 10 full-time teachers, seven part-time teachers, 19 non-teaching staff and seven TAs. All the planning for the lessons is done in advance, so that is not an issue. The TAs' pay and grading reflects their additional responsibilities for providing cover. "It is obviously less than we would pay agency staff," says Mrs Sugden. She claims that having her TAs cover classes has been a big success. "The benefits are just incredible. The teaching assistants know the children, so they know who needs extra support," she explains. She even goes so far as to say, "The standard of education that the children receive from our teaching assistants is better than from the supply teachers."

Mrs Sugden also feels her work-life balance has improved. She no longer has to cover classes personally, which means she can concentrate on her role as a head. And she feels happier knowing the pupils are being taught by TAs. "If you have a couple of supply agency staff taking classes, your anxiety levels are raised. You don't get any of the upsets that you get when supply staff don't know the children and the school."

Laura Fieldman is one of the TAs who is keen to expand her role within the school. Mrs Fieldman, who mainly works with Years 5 and 6 supporting French classes, literacy and numeracy and able maths for the gifted and talented, says, "When I first heard about the teaching assistants doing cover classes, I thought it had a great deal of merit. Anyone who works in a school knows that things get a bit fraught when a supply teacher comes in; it can be stressful for the children."

Mrs Fieldman also saw it as an opportunity for a new challenge. "It was presented to us as a very positive thing and so it has proved to be."

She believes that TAs have an advantage over the supply teachers. "We're working with children we know and we can see them improving in their learning," she says. Covering the classes has also inspired her professionally — she is now seriously considering training to be a teacher.

Further information

For information, including case studies and a diagnostic tool, visit

www.remodelling.org/cover.php

To download the NRT's pack, visit www.remodelling.org/resource_pack.php

SIX TRIED AND TESTED COVER STRATEGIES

From September this year, each teacher will be guaranteed to provide no more than 38 hours of cover a year, so schools will have to find other ways to manage. Here are some suggestions:

1. Small schools could share the cost of support staff. Your local education authority remodelling adviser can provide advice on how to go about this.
   
2. Train members of support staff to supervise cover as part of their wider role. This gives pupils continuity, but is only appropriate for short-term absence as it doesn't involve active teaching.
   
3. Appoint support staff with a dedicated cover supervision role, again for short-term cover. When they're not supervising, they could support teachers in the classroom.
   
4. Higher level teaching assistants (HLTAs) can provide short-term cover. The headteacher, however, will have to weigh this against the desirability of removing them from planned activities with the teacher to whom they are normally assigned.
   
5. Employ a qualified floating teacher with no timetable, or less than 50 per cent timetable, to provide cover when needed. Pupils benefit from being actively taught by a familiar member of staff.
   
6. Set aside a dedicated space such as a study hall or ICT learning centre. This works well when work has been set in the event of an absence, and schools could also develop a bank of appropriate material.

This content was published in July 2004 and may not reflect current policy