Public Service Agreement 2010 -2014

rainbowtrout

I've just been having a read through the PS Agreement to have a look at the conditions for teachers.

http://www.finance.gov.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=6247

2: Education Sectoral Agreement
The following range of measures are designed to facilitate the most effective and efficient
use of resources and to maximise the quality of educational delivery.

Teachers
• The provision, with effect from the start of the 2010/11 school year, of an
additional hour per week to be available to facilitate, at the discretion of
management, school planning, continuous professional development, induction, substitution and supervision (including supervision immediately before and after school times). This list is not exhaustive.

• With effect from the start of the 2010/11 school year, post-primary teachers to be available for three timetabled class periods per week under the supervision and substitution scheme (while leaving the current maximum number of hours used per teacher per week under this scheme the same as at present).

• Full implementation of new procedures providing for redeployment of surplus
teachers, to commence from June 2010 and to be fully implemented for the start of the 2011/12 school year.

• A comprehensive review and revision of the teaching contract to identify and remove any impediments to the provision of efficient and effective teaching to students in all sectors. This review and revision to be completed in advance of the start of the 2010/11 school year.

Providing an extra hour per week for development planning etc is similar to what was being mooted before Christmas. However I notice that supervision and substitution has been stuck in on that list and I wonder why when we already have S&S and it's mentioned in another point.

I also wonder what the review and revision of the teaching contract entails.

Special Needs Assistants
• A comprehensive review and revision of the existing employment terms and
conditions to identify and remove any impediments to the provision of efficient
and effective support for students with special care needs. This review and
revision to be completed in advance of the start of the 2010/11 school year and
10
to have regard to those elements of the Towards 2016 Agreement relating to
SNAs.
• Flexible deployment of Special Needs Assistants within schools to respond to
urgent work demands and to cover for periods of absences by SNA colleagues.
• Where work demands arise during non-instruction days, school management will
continue to have discretion to deploy staff to appropriate SNA duties.

spurious

Our class periods are one hour long and we would not be the only school has hour long periods.

You'd wonder sometimes do the people who draw these things up have any idea what actually goes on in schools.

rainbowtrout

spurious wrote: »

Our class periods are one hour long and we would not be the only school has hour long periods.

You'd wonder sometimes do the people who draw these things up have any idea what actually goes on in schools.

I know, I could see the hour being abused a lot for free S&S rather than paying people as part of the scheme.

E.T.

And I'm really not liking that part about SNAs and flexibility:
"Flexible deployment of Special Needs Assistants within schools to respond to
urgent work demands and to cover for periods of absences by SNA colleagues."

It's already at the stage where children who should have full time SNAs are having to share them, how much more flexibility can you get than having one adult shared between 2-3 children who are in different classes?

The SNA review at the moment is just criminal cost-cutting - a child in my class was recently allocated a full time SNA but then we were told we were having an SNA review and I'd to spend hours filling in the SNA review forms for the same child, going over the exact same facts that went into the application - total waste of time.

TheDriver

I took it as we must free up outside of our normal teaching hours that I have to give 1 hour to SDP or induction etc, plus another 3 classes for s&s and on top of this, my current s&s which makes me wonder when we can get our photocopying etc done like we do in "free classes" that currently happens or taking students at lunch for catch up. It will only take some annoying DP to utilise this to the max............

rainbowtrout

TheDriver wrote: »

I took it as we must free up outside of our normal teaching hours that I have to give 1 hour to SDP or induction etc, plus another 3 classes for s&s and on top of this, my current s&s which makes me wonder when we can get our photocopying etc done like we do in "free classes" that currently happens or taking students at lunch for catch up. It will only take some annoying DP to utilise this to the max............

Well in reality if this goes through it would be nice if the hour was used for planning/development etc, but it specifically says in the list 'supervision and substitution (including supervision immediately before and after school times)', so there's nothing really to stop principals/deputy principals timetabling teachers for supervision at say, 8.45 when school starts at 9. I could definitely see this being done where I work. Or it could easily cover all the break and lunch duties needed in the school that are currently funded under S&S

If this goes through, I am going to give serious consideration to giving up S&S, most of the money goes on tax anyway.

Fizzical

1. An extra hour's work per week - timing and type of work decided by whom?
2. New procedures for redeployment - decided by whom? Are they out already but not agreed? Anyone know the radius involved or if you stay within the type of school?
3. "Review and revision of the teaching contract to identify and remove any impediments to the provision of efficient and effective teaching" - a dangerous sounding phrase that could mean anything. I don't know of anything in my contract that is such an impediment - only that I'm contracted to teach certain subjects within certain hours. Would it make out-of-hours inservice compulsory? Out-of-hours parent-teacher meetings, out-of-hours meetings and development planning and orals and practical exams and teacher assessment of their own students......etc....etc....

Basically my job description up-ended.

Also pension provisions.

Also increments etc awarded only if deserved.

Also current severe pay cuts to stay in place.

If there are any savings (what monetary savings could the above make?) the partial reversal of pay cuts will be made to the lower earners who should never have had their pay cut in the first place.

So I'm unlikely to see my pay cuts reversed in the foreseeable future.

Am I missing something here - why should I vote yes?

TheDriver

I am with you Fizzical, the only and I mean only good thing is the promise of no more cuts but I don't see how any of the above makes teaching better and I don't want to be voting on anything until I see the contract review. My contract is short and says very little anyways.
The only savings I see is the eventual getting rid of s&s and I presume the days of people subbing are also going to be gone if we are all going to be covering classes.
I don't see how increments can ever be stopped for a teacher unless they are totally shocking but there really is no carrot in this at all. Work to rule will end which means back to PT meetings in the evening.
Only thing I don't concur with you is regarding pension provisions: I thought they stay as is

rainbowtrout

TheDriver wrote: »

I am with you Fizzical, the only and I mean only good thing is the promise of no more cuts but I don't see how any of the above makes teaching better and I don't want to be voting on anything until I see the contract review. My contract is short and says very little anyways.
The only savings I see is the eventual getting rid of s&s and I presume the days of people subbing are also going to be gone if we are all going to be covering classes.
I don't see how increments can ever be stopped for a teacher unless they are totally shocking but there really is no carrot in this at all. Work to rule will end which means back to PT meetings in the evening.
Only thing I don't concur with you is regarding pension provisions: I thought they stay as is

I also thought the pension stays as it is for anyone already in the scheme, there will be a new pension scheme for anyone entering public service from 2011 onwards.

Chilli Con Kearney

Posted this in the UCD dip thread but nobody replied.

One of the outcomes of the public sector talks was to allow pensions to be calculated on (pre-cut) salaries up until December 2011. Perhaps I am mistaken, but this will put an end to many teachers' (and principals' - who would have been replaced by teachers) considerations to retire this year.

By my reading of this, the already limited jobs market looks like it will not improve as we have been consistently told this year. This does not look good for anybody doing the dip. I hope that I am wrong. Anybody care to offer opinions/knowledge on this? Thanks

rainbowtrout

Fidge9 wrote: »

One of the outcomes of the public sector talks was to allow pensions to be calculated on (pre-cut) salaries up until December 2011. Perhaps I am mistaken, but this will put an end to many teachers' (and principals' - who would have been replaced by teachers) considerations to retire this year.

That was my reading of it too. I imagine it was put in place so another bunch of teachers close to retirement will go next year, but as you said, it might have the effect that teachers thinking of going this year if they are close to full service will postpone for another year. It's hard to call really. There are some who might already be in the frame of mind that they are going this summer and the thoughts of another year might not be so appealing.


As for jobs, my school lost three teachers last year. We were told just before easter that there is a 10% reduction in the allocation for the county (VEC school) for next year. So the outcome doesn't look good. I'd say we'll lose at least one teacher this year and perhaps a cut in hours for some of the remaining part time staff.

Fizzical

TUI and ASTI against it.

What happens next - things stay as they are?

More pay cuts each year and keep our conditions?

Or more pay cuts each year and lose our conditions anyway by announcement from the Govt?

If more unions come out against it, do you think there's any possibility of re-negotiating?

(I see John Walsh is being sympathetic to teachers this morning. Must be because he figures we're beaten!)