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Question
1 - What are your
views on whether there is a prevalence in the use of supply
teachers on a planned and unplanned basis?
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Throughout
Bridgend there appears to be more supply teachers used in a well
planned way to cover non contact time for teachers in the school to
undertake management roles and training events. Some supply
teachers are used for sickness. However, more and more Cover
supervisors and HLTAs are being used to cover sickness. If
supply teachers cover sickness, staff within the school have access
to planning for the particular class and ensure that the supply
teacher has an understanding of the curriculum that is planned for
that day. Many teachers feel it would be very helpful to have
additional costings in the budget to allow for a school to employ a
teacher to fulfil the role of ‘supply’ to cover
absences for whatever reason. This would mean the teachers
knows the school and knows the children and can be utilised in a
variety of ways.
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If you believe that this results in problems
(for example, for schools, pupils or teachers), how do you think
they could be resolved?
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With the prevalence of training courses teachers
are now required to attend, it does cause a problem for parents who
often complain that classes are being taught by teachers who do not
know their children and do not know the school. However, it
is important that our teachers receive the relevant training to
deliver the many initiatives required of them. Schools are
very conscious that the supply teachers have not had the same
quality or quantity of training. That is an issue.
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How significant is this issue? (Please select
one option)
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1 – This is a key, urgent
problem.
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x
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2 – This is a problem that
needs to be addressed.
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§
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3 – This is a minor
problem
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4 – Not a problem.
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Question 2
- What are your
views on the circumstances in which supply teachers are used for
example, the types of classes they cover; the types of learning
activities which take place under the supervision of supply
teachers; whether they are qualified to teach relevant
subjects?
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Generally school
staff are very careful about the activities left for supply
teachers. It is important to maximise learning opportunities.
If supply cover is not deployed correctly then that is a management
issue. Behaviour issues can be a problem and it is vital that
all classes are covered by quality personnel. What can happen
is a member of the school team will cover the class of a more
challenging class and the supply cover will be given that
person’s class. That ensures that no teaching time is
lost. In the primary sector it is important that we get
experts. That is why schools tend to receive CVs from the
agencies and build up a relationship with a particular supply
teacher who we know has experience of primary education and can
offer expertise in a particular area. If a supply teacher
does not manage a class in the way the school expects, then the
supply teacher can be removed and the agency does not charge for
that person.
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If you believe there are problems in this area,
how do you think they could be resolved?
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The best way to resolve this issue would be to
expand a school’s budget to enable a school to employ a
floating teacher that will be part of the school team, will receive
ongoing training and is a quality individual able to provide
quality education for the children.
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How significant is this issue? (Please select
one option)
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1 – This is a key, urgent
problem.
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§
x
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2 – This is a problem that
needs to be addressed.
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§
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§
3 – This is a minor
problem
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§
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4 – Not a problem.
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Question 3
- What are your
views on the impact of the use of supply teachers on the outcomes
for pupils (including any impact on pupil behaviour)?
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Unsatisfactory
supply teachers can impact greatly on a class. Quality
personnel are key. When a good teacher covers a class for a
day, then planning is covered and behaviour allows for positive
learning to take place. However, if there is unsatisfactory
teacher sessions of leaning can be lost. Schools remove the
unsatisfactory teacher, inform the agency and will not employ that
person again. Very often work has to be redone in these
circumstances, pages ripped out of books and assessment re-done.
A wasted lesson. Children’s behaviour can impact on the
school if the classroom management skills of the teacher are
poor.
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If you believe there are problems in this area,
how do you think they could be resolved?
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Again the key is knowing the person employed by
the school and developing positive working relationships.
Schools spend a lot of money on supply cover and it is vital
that we get value for money. It is important too that we work
closely with agencies to enable them to build up an understanding
of our requirements. Agencies will work with you. They
have to understand what constitutes a good teacher and will try
hard to meet the needs of a particular school.
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How significant is this issue? (Please select
one option)
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1 – This is a key, urgent
problem.
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§
x
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2 – This is a problem that
needs to be addressed.
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§
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§
3 – This is a minor
problem
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§
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4 – Not a problem.
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Question 4
- What are your
views on the Continuous Professional Development of supply teachers
and the potential impact of the National Professional Learning
Model?
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Supply teachers do
not receive the up to date and relevant training to any of our
current initiatives if they do not have a length of time in a
particular school. It is very difficult for them to access
training. Schools are very busy places and unfortunately their
needs are not paramount if they are only with a school for a few
days. Professional development opportunities are more likely
to happen with our established supply teachers as they can be with
a school for a length of time. In that circumstance they
attend in service training days and staff meetings.
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If you believe there are problems in this area,
how do you think they could be resolved?
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Providing funding to allow schools to employ
people who can be a floating teacher and engage in on going
CPD.
It is impossible for supply teachers to attend
training days themselves as they are not then working and not
earning money.
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How significant is this issue? (Please select
one option)
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1 – This is a key, urgent
problem.
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§
x
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2 – This is a problem that
needs to be addressed.
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§
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3 – This is a minor
problem
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4 – Not a problem.
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Question 5
- What are your
views on performance management arrangements for supply
teachers?
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Again a very
difficult aspect of school life to achieve for supply teachers.
The only way it could be done would be through an agency, who
would employ a teaching expert and undertake the task with the
teachers they have on role. That would be very difficult to
achieve.
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If you think there are problems in this area,
how do you think they could be resolved?
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Very difficult to resolve. Only be
possible if the teacher was in a school for a length of
time.
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How significant is this issue? (Please select
one option)
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1 – This is a key, urgent
problem.
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§
x
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2 – This is a problem that
needs to be addressed.
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§
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3 – This is a minor
problem
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§
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4 – Not a problem.
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Question 6
- Do you consider
that local authorities and regional consortia have sufficient
oversight of the use of supply teachers?
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No one from our
Consortium has ever asked a Bridgend Head teacher about supply
teachers. We tend to ask other head teachers who is good, who
has performed well in their school. We discuss their
strengths and if appropriate to us we employ.
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If you believe there are problems in this area,
how do you think they could be resolved?
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The consortium issue is not a
problem.
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How significant is this issue? (Please select
one option)
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1 – This is a key, urgent
problem.
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§
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2 – This is a problem that
needs to be addressed.
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§
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3 – This is a minor
problem
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4 – Not a problem.
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x
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Question 7
- Are you aware of
any local and regional variation in the use of supply teachers and
if so, are there any reasons for this?
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We are not aware
of any variations in the use of supply teachers.
The only
difference appears to be that Cover Supervisors are being used more
often from in house to cover sickness.
It is now a more
planned approach to supply teachers for training and management
time.
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If you believe there are problems in this area,
how do you think they could be resolved?
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We do not believe this is an issue for us in
Bridgend.
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How significant is this issue? (Please select
one option)
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1 – This is a key, urgent
problem.
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§
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2 – This is a problem that
needs to be addressed.
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§
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3 – This is a minor
problem
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4 – Not a problem.
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x
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Question 8
- Do you have any
views on supply agencies and their quality assurance
arrangements?
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We do value the
role of the agencies as it frees up a great deal of Head Teacher
time. We also value the work that they do with us to match
our requirements and to provide a quality service. However,
there should be some work done on determining a flat rate for
teachers as it does vary from agency to agency. They ensure
quality assurance in all safeguarding matters. They provide
CVs. All have an interview with them. They do follow up for
our views on staff. They will not charge if we remove a
teacher from a class. They also follow up for reasons as to
why we will not employ a teacher again. However, we do not think
this information is circulated. We as heads tell each other,
but we do not believe this is something the agency does.
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If you believe there are problems in this area,
how do you think they could be resolved?
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This could be a problem if heads did not talk to
each other. However this is not the case and poor quality
teachers are not often employed as supply teachers here.
Very important that agencies provide the same
rate of pay. Some teachers get far less than others for a
full days work.
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How significant is this issue? (Please select
one option)
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1 – This is a key, urgent
problem.
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§
x
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2 – This is a problem that
needs to be addressed.
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§
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3 – This is a minor
problem
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4 – Not a problem.
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Question 9
- Are you aware of
any specific issues relating to Welsh medium education? If so, what
are they?
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There are problems
with both supply teachers and cover supervisors and LSOs in the
welsh medium sector. Colleagues tell me it is a very
difficult process until they have established one person that they
use most of the time. HR in Bridgend are currently building a
pool of welsh medium supply teachers. At the moment of
writing welsh medium colleagues only know the quality of 2 of the
personnel on the list. They are unaware of the others.
2 is obviously not enough. Long term cover in welsh
medium schools is always a problem. The good staff are
employed very quickly. In general the quality of welsh
speaking staff is not good, both in terms of use of the language
and classroom management.
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If you believe there are problems in this area,
how do you think they could be resolved?
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We need more welsh speaking colleagues
available.
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How significant is this issue? (Please select
one option)
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1 – This
is a key, urgent problem.
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x
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2 – This is a problem that
needs to be addressed.
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3 – This is a minor
problem
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4 – Not a problem.
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Question
10 - If you had to
make one recommendation to the Welsh Government from all the points
you have made, what would that recommendation be?
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Provide additional funding in budgets that would
allow an additional member of staff to be appointed on the school
team that could act as cover. That would mean they know the
school, the children and the staff and can provide a quality
education for our children.
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Question
11 - Do you have any
other comments or issues you wish to raise that have not been
covered by the specific questions?
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