Rate My Teaching Agency https://ratemyteachingagency.com/ Wed, 24 Jan 2024 13:50:31 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 Teacher misconduct collection https://ratemyteachingagency.com/blog/teacher-misconduct-this-collection-contains-information-about-regulating-the-teaching-profession-and-the-process-for-dealing-with-cases-of-serious-misconduct/ https://ratemyteachingagency.com/blog/teacher-misconduct-this-collection-contains-information-about-regulating-the-teaching-profession-and-the-process-for-dealing-with-cases-of-serious-misconduct/#respond Wed, 24 Jan 2024 13:49:39 +0000 https://ratemyteachingagency.com/?p=2950 This collection contains information about regulating the teaching profession and the process for dealing with cases of serious misconduct The information contained will be of interest to: employers of teachers (including employment and supply agencies), to help them decide whether an allegation of teacher misconduct is sufficiently serious to be referred to the Teaching Regulation […]

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This collection contains information about regulating the teaching profession and the process for dealing with cases of serious misconduct

The information contained will be of interest to:

  • employers of teachers (including employment and supply agencies), to help them decide whether an allegation of teacher misconduct is sufficiently serious to be referred to the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA)
  • teachers, to help them understand the potential consequences of serious misconduct
  • teachers, witnesses and panel members who are involved in professional conduct hearings
  • members of the public and press, to provide reassurance and transparency around the regulation process
  • anyone considering whether to refer a serious misconduct case

Hearings

We publish details of forthcoming hearings 5 working days before they are due to take place.

A small number of places are available for members of the press and public to attend professional conduct panel hearings. If you wish to attend as an observer, email misconduct.teacher@education.gov.uk at least 3 working days in advance of the hearing to register your attendance.

In 2023, TRA reviewed the policy which underpins how we publish information related to teacher misconduct cases. From 9 January 2024 all published decisions in which there is a finding of serious misconduct but no prohibition order imposed will be removed from GOV.UK automatically 2 years after the decision was first published. The details of these no prohibition order cases will no longer be accessible to employers when completing their safer recruitment checks as laid out in Keeping Children Safe in Education statutory guidance.

Regulations and procedures

Referrals

Information on attending a panel hearing

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Qualified teacher status (QTS): qualify to teach in England https://ratemyteachingagency.com/blog/qualified-teacher-status-qts-qualify-to-teach-in-england/ https://ratemyteachingagency.com/blog/qualified-teacher-status-qts-qualify-to-teach-in-england/#respond Wed, 24 Jan 2024 13:47:41 +0000 https://ratemyteachingagency.com/?p=2948 Find out how to obtain qualified teacher status (QTS) to teach in a maintained school or non-maintained special school in England. Overview Qualified teacher status (QTS) is a legal requirement to teach in many English schools and is considered desirable for teachers in the majority of schools in England. Get into Teaching explains teacher training […]

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Find out how to obtain qualified teacher status (QTS) to teach in a maintained school or non-maintained special school in England.

Overview

Qualified teacher status (QTS) is a legal requirement to teach in many English schools and is considered desirable for teachers in the majority of schools in England.

Get into Teaching explains teacher training routes to QTS for UK citizens.

The Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) are responsible for awarding QTS. They also award QTS to qualified teachers outside England.

Schools where QTS is a legal requirement are referred to as maintained schools. Maintained schools are part of the state-funded school system in England – funding and oversight are generally provided by the local authority.

They include:

  • community schools or voluntary controlled schools (where the local authority employs the school’s staff and is responsible for admissions)
  • foundation and voluntary-aided schools (where the school’s governing body employs the staff and is responsible for admissions)

You must also have QTS to teach in a non-maintained special school.

In some schools in England, QTS is not a legal requirement. For example:

  • within the English state school sector, academy schools and free schoolscan employ teachers without QTS
  • outside the English state school sector, private schools or independent schools can employ teachers without QTS

Even where QTS is not a legal requirement, many schools use it to assess the quality of candidates for teaching jobs.

Teachers who trained in England

When you finish your training, your initial teacher training provider will tell us about your results. This applies to all teacher training routes and to those awarded QTS following the assessment only route.

If you’re successful, we’ll award you QTS and update your teacher record. Your QTS certificate will be available online from the teacher self-servicewebsite.

Teachers who trained in Wales

If you completed your initial teacher training in Wales, you’ll be awarded QTSby the Education Workforce Council (EWC). This is recognised in England and the information is held on teacher records.

Teachers trained in Northern Ireland and Scotland

If you trained in either Northern Ireland or Scotland, you must apply for QTS if you intend to take up a teaching post in a maintained school or non-maintained special school in England.

You can apply for QTS.

Teachers who trained outside the UK

If you are a qualified teacher from a country outside the UK or have gained teaching experience outside the UK, read the guidance on routes to QTS for teachers who qualified outside the UK.

Recognition of QTS for teachers who want to teach overseas

To find out if the country where you plan to work recognises QTS, and whether they require any further teaching qualifications, check with the organisation that regulates teachers in that country.

UK ENIC is the UK’s national information centre for professional qualifications and can give you contact details for the appropriate organisation in your chosen country.

Qualified teacher learning and skills (QTLS)

If you are an experienced post-14 teacher and have QTLS status and membership of the Society for Education and Training, you may be eligible to work as a qualified teacher in schools in England.

You can find out how to obtain QTLS and how to teach in a maintained school with QTLS.

Independent sector teachers

If you’re from the independent sector, you need QTS to teach in the maintained and non-maintained special school sectors.

There are a number of routes that assess previous teaching experience.

Learn more about teaching and training to teach in a private or independent school in England.

Contact

Teaching Regulation Agency

Our helpdesk no longer provides support by phone but you can contact us by email instead.

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Minister urges social landlords to open the door to childminders https://ratemyteachingagency.com/blog/minister-urges-social-landlords-to-open-the-door-to-childminders/ https://ratemyteachingagency.com/blog/minister-urges-social-landlords-to-open-the-door-to-childminders/#respond Thu, 24 Aug 2023 11:00:43 +0000 https://ratemyteachingagency.com/?p=2895 Minister Coutinho writes to housing associations, social landlords and developers to urge them to allow childminders to work from their rented properties. Published 21 August 2023 Department for Education and Claire Coutinho MP Housing associations, social landlords and developers in England are being urged to allow childminders to work in their rented properties, to help […]

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Minister Coutinho writes to housing associations, social landlords and developers to urge them to allow childminders to work from their rented properties. Published 21 August 2023 Department for Education and Claire Coutinho MP
Housing associations, social landlords and developers in England are being urged to allow childminders to work in their rented properties, to help encourage entry into the profession and increase availability of childcare for parents.

The Children and Families Minister, Claire Coutinho, has today (21 August 2023) written to housing associations, developers and landlords, urging them to better support prospective childminders who too often face restrictive clauses in contracts which stop them from working in their homes. This will help tackle the unfair barriers to those who rent or have leasehold properties, compared with those who own their own home.

It comes as the government today launches new measures to support and inspire more people into the childminding sector. This forms part of the government roll out of its new childcare offer – the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever. This massive new investment will take expected government spending on childcare to over £8 billion in total by 2027 to 2028 helping parents, especially mothers, access flexible childcare support, return to work and help us to meet our ambition to grow the economy.

The government has already tabled amendments to the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Bill (LURB) that will mean that childminders can work together in groups of up to four childminders in total, and spend more time working outside of their own homes such as in a community centre or village hall.

The government will also consult on reducing registration times to around 10 weeks, make sure childminders are paid monthly by local authorities, and soon launch the childminder start-up grant, worth up to £1,200 for all childminders who have joined the profession since the Spring Budget.

The number of childminders operating in England has more than halved over the past 10 years, with many comparable countries facing similar pressures. The government is determined to reverse that trend in England, and give parents maximum choice and flexibility when the radical expansion of free childcare begins from April 2024.

Recognising the need to grow and support the sector, the government has already boosted the funding rates paid to early years providers including childminders to deliver free hours – increasing them from an average of £5.29 to £5.62 for 3 and 4 year olds, and from an average of £6.00 to £7.95 for 2 year olds.

At the same time the Prime Minister and Education Secretary are urging every parent to check they are claiming the free childcare hours they are already entitled to, with the data showing around one in 20 children nationally may be missing out. There are just 10 days to go to claim for hours for the upcoming autumn term.

Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan, said:

Over the next few years we are doubling our investment into free childcare, bringing 30 free hours for working parents of children down to just 9 months old by 2025.

I wouldn’t want any family to miss out because they can’t find childcare that meets their needs or simply didn’t know how much they were entitled to.

With just 10 days to go to sign up for free childcare hours for the autumn term, my message to every parent is don’t delay, check today!

Children, Families and Wellbeing Minister, Claire Coutinho, said:

We have outstanding, high quality childminders, offering flexible and accessible childcare in a home-like environment.

Too often prospective childminders are having the door slammed in their faces because they face a blanket ban on working from home.

However, parents tell us time and again how much they value the flexibility and quality that childminders bring so we are making sure that we are supporting the workforce to deliver what parents need.

To do this in the best possible way, we are addressing the challenges childminders face including loneliness, where they work, long registration times and local authority pay timetables. Through our support of the sector, we will deliver the flexible care that parents need.

Every working parent of 3 and 4 year olds is being encouraged to check what they are entitled to for the autumn term so that they are getting the maximum possible support now, and are ready to sign up for the new offers when they roll out early next year.

Childminders can currently face challenging registration processes, and according to data collected by Tiney, a childminder agency, 1 in 8 prospective childminders who did not complete the registration process were unable to do so because they could not secure permission to work from their home.

Childminders who are living in leasehold properties are sometimes being blocked by so-called restrictive covenants, which say that the properties cannot be used for business purposes. Some who are living in rented accommodation have found that their tenancy agreements prevent them from registering their business or that their landlords’ mortgage agreements include restrictions from the lender.

Within the letter to landlords, Minister Coutinho has urged them to engage with prospective childminders to unblock these issues wherever possible, for the good of local communities.

On top of the existing offers, from April 2024, eligible working parents will get 15 free hours for 2 year olds, from September 2024, 15 free hours will be available from 9 months, and from September 2025, 30 free hours will be available from 9 months until the start of school.

The offers will help more parents to increase their hours or return to work, as part of wider government support to families to help with rising prices.

Use the childcare calculator to find out what help you can receive.

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Pupils in disadvantaged areas to benefit from new free schools https://ratemyteachingagency.com/blog/pupils-in-disadvantaged-areas-to-benefit-from-new-free-schools/ https://ratemyteachingagency.com/blog/pupils-in-disadvantaged-areas-to-benefit-from-new-free-schools/#respond Thu, 24 Aug 2023 10:58:29 +0000 https://ratemyteachingagency.com/?p=2893 New Government Press Release 22 August 2023 Fifteen new free schools to open in areas where education outcomes are poorest to drive up school standards. From: Department for Education and The Rt Hon Gillian Keegan MP Around 12,000 young people in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the country will benefit from a wave […]

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New Government Press Release 22 August 2023

Fifteen new free schools to open in areas where education outcomes are poorest to drive up school standards.

Around 12,000 young people in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the country will benefit from a wave of new free schools, another major step in this government’s work to raise school standards.

The government has announced today (22 August 2023) that 15 new free schools are set to be opened in parts of the country where education outcomes are weakest, providing more opportunities for local young people.

Free schools are funded by the government but are not run by the local authority, instead, they are run by other organisations – most commonly academy trusts – but also industry and universities. They have greater freedom to innovate and drive up standards, for example more autonomy over the teachers’ pay and their curriculum.

The new schools will include 3 schools run by the high performing Star Academies and Eton College, located in Dudley, Teesside and Oldham, spreading the highest standards of education across the North East, North West and West Midlands. These schools will help rapidly increase the progression of talented local pupils into top universities including Oxford and Cambridge.

Free schools and academies have been central to this government’s work to raise school standards, with 88% of schools​ now rated good or outstanding by Ofsted, up from 68% in 2010. In classrooms, England’s children have shot up the international rankings for reading and our 9 and 10 year olds are now the best in the western world.

The free schools programme provides parents with more choice of good schools, helping to level up opportunity across the country. It enables strong trusts to open high-quality schools in new areas and attract fresh expertise to areas across the country that need it most.

Free schools outperformed other types of non-selective state schools in England in last week’s A level results. Around 35% of A levels taken by pupils in free schools achieved a grade A or A* compared to 22% studied by pupils in local authority schools.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said:

We want to make more good school places available to families, and these 15 new free schools will bring brand new opportunities to young people from Bradford to Bristol.

Free schools bring high standards, more choice for parents and strong links to industry – and all in the areas where those opportunities are needed most.

These new schools build on this government’s work to drive up school standards since 2010, with 88% of schools now rated good or outstanding – up from 68% – and high performing academies and free schools in all parts of the country.

Star Academies chief executive Sir Hamid Patel CBE said:

The free schools programme continues to inject innovation and creativity into the school system.

We’re delighted our 3 sixth form colleges – being delivered in partnership with Eton College – will be part of the programme and we look forward to working with our local stakeholders to provide more young people with the high-quality education and aspirational opportunities they deserve.

Eton College headmaster Simon Henderson said:

We are delighted by this decision. We believe these new colleges have the potential to be transformative both for the young people who attend and for the wider communities they will serve.

Collaborative partnership will be key to this project’s success and we are very grateful for the support we have had already from the respective councils, from the local communities and from our colleagues in other educational settings.

Each Eton Star sixth-form college will create 480 schools spaces and will be run through a strong partnership between Star Academies, a highly successful academy trust, and Eton College, who will provide financial and extra-curricular support.

Plans have also been approved for the BRIT School North in Bradford, 2 University Technical Colleges (UTCs), 1 new all-through school for pupils aged 4 to 16, a primary school, 2 secondary schools and a further 5 free schools for 16 to 19 year olds.

The 2 University Technical Colleges (UTCs) have been approved for Doncaster and Southampton to support young people build the skills they need for their future careers, including in health sciences and marine engineering.

The BRIT School North will create opportunities for rising stars in the north of the country to break into the performing arts industry. It is based on the award-winning performing arts school in South London which helped to launch the careers of Adele, Amy Winehouse and Jessie J.

Free schools in this wave have been approved where there is the greatest need for good new places, prioritising Education Investment Areas (EIAs)identified in the Levelling Up White Paper and Priority Education Investment Areas (PEIAs) identified in the Schools White Paper.

These are parts of the country with the lowest education outcomes that the government is investing in to support young people to get the education and skills they need to get a good job and help the economy continue growing.

The full list of new free schools that have been approved and are expected to open in 3 or 4 years include:

  • Eton Star, a 16-19 school in Dudley
  • Eton Star, a 16-19 school in Teesside
  • Eton Star, a 16-19 school in Oldham
  • BRIT School North, a 16-19 school in Bradford
  • Great Stall East Academy, an all through school from ages 4 to 16 in Swindon
  • Lotmead Primary School in Swindon
  • Dixons Victoria Academy, a secondary school in Manchester
  • Dixons Wythenshawe Sixth Form, a 16-19 school in Manchester
  • Eden Girls’ Leadership Academy, a secondary school in Liverpool
  • Bolsover Sixth Form, a 16-19 school in Derbyshire
  • Cabot Sixth Form, a 16-19 school in Bristol
  • New College Keighley, a 16-19 school in Bradford
  • Thorpe Park College, a 16-19 school in Leeds
  • UTC Southampton
  • Doncaster UTC – Health Sciences and Green Technologies

DfE media enquiries

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Want to become a Teacher? https://ratemyteachingagency.com/blog/want-to-become-a-teacher/ https://ratemyteachingagency.com/blog/want-to-become-a-teacher/#respond Tue, 23 May 2023 12:50:24 +0000 https://ratemyteachingagency.com/?p=2890 If you are thinking of training to become a teacher there is lots of help and guidance to get you started. Follow this link to access the government website dedicated to becoming a teacher in the UK. https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk

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If you are thinking of training to become a teacher there is lots of help and guidance to get you started.
Follow this link to access the government website dedicated to becoming a teacher in the UK.

https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk

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Agency Worker Regulations (Updated 2022) https://ratemyteachingagency.com/blog/agency-worker-regulations-updated-2022/ https://ratemyteachingagency.com/blog/agency-worker-regulations-updated-2022/#respond Wed, 11 Jan 2023 16:08:37 +0000 https://ratemyteachingagency.com/?p=2887 Your employment rights as an agency worker. When you’re working through an agency, it’s important to know if you’re classed as an ’employee’ or a ‘worker’ under employment status law. It affects what you’re entitled to and what your obligations are. If you’re self-employed and take on an assignment through an agency, this could mean […]

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Your employment rights as an agency worker.

When you’re working through an agency, it’s important to know if you’re classed as an ’employee’ or a ‘worker’ under employment status law. It affects what you’re entitled to and what your obligations are.

If you’re self-employed and take on an assignment through an agency, this could mean you’re classed as an employee or worker for the duration of the assignment.

Check your employment status

Your rights from the start

As an employee or worker, you have rights straight away, such as:

protection against discrimination
National Minimum Wage entitlement
a minimum of 5.6 weeks’ holiday entitlement
An employer must not cause you ‘detriment’ because you:

reasonably believe being at work or doing certain tasks would put you in serious and imminent danger
take reasonable steps over a health and safety issue, for example complaining about unsafe working conditions
inform your employer about your health and safety issue in an appropriate way
Detriment means you experience one or both of the following:

being treated worse than before
having your situation made worse
Examples of detriment could be:

your employer reduces your hours
you experience bullying or harassment
your employer turns down your training requests without good reason
you are overlooked for promotions or development opportunities
If you are an employee, you could have a case for automatically unfair dismissal if you’re dismissed in these circumstances.

From the first day of an assignment, you have the same right as direct employees of the hiring organisation to use any shared facilities and services, including:

the canteen or food and drinks machines
childcare services, for example a creche
car parking or transport services
Your rights after 12 weeks

You get more rights once you’ve worked on the same assignment at the same hiring organisation for 12 weeks. This is called the ’12-week minimum qualifying period’ under the law.

The rights cover:

pay
holiday
sick leave
working hours and rest breaks
access to permanent job vacancies at the hiring organisation
parental time off
A week counts as any 7 days that you work in, from the day your assignment began.

For example, if an assignment begins on a Wednesday and you work 3 of the days up to the following Tuesday, this counts as a week towards the 12-week qualifying period.

A week still counts towards the 12-week qualifying period if you do not work because of:

pregnancy
childbirth
maternity leave that you take during pregnancy and up to 26 weeks after the birth
paternity leave
adoption leave
Shared Parental Leave
Example
You’re on a 1-year assignment and you’re pregnant. You’ve been working for 8 weeks when you call in sick with a pregnancy-related illness. Any weeks you’re off sick with that illness will still count towards your 12-week qualifying period.
A week does not count towards the 12-week qualifying period if:

the total break you have between 2 periods of work is no more than 6 weeks
you’re absent due to sickness or jury service for 28 weeks or less
you take any of your holiday entitlement
the workplace shuts down, for example for Christmas or industrial action
Your 12-week qualifying period will start again if you:

go back to the same assignment after a break of more than 6 weeks as long as it’s not due to any of the reasons in the lists above
go back to the same role after 28 weeks’ absence due to sickness or jury service
start a new assignment with a new hiring organisation
Under the Agency Workers Regulations, agencies are not allowed to create patterns of assignments that stop you reaching the 12-week qualifying period.

Pay rights

As an agency worker, you have the same rights as other employees and workers to:

be paid at least the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage
not have any deductions from your pay that are not legal
be paid on time and by the agreed method
receive payslips
Your pay may vary from assignment to assignment, so it’s a good idea to make sure:

you agree to your pay rate before an assignment begins
you’re not going to get less than the rate agreed in your terms and conditions or contract
Agencies usually provide timesheets. If they do not, it’s their responsibility to pay you for your hours worked. It’s still a good idea to keep your own record of your working hours.

If you’re not receiving at least National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage, you should try to resolve the issue with your agency first. If it cannot be resolved informally, you can either:

report to HMRC
make a claim to an employment tribunal
Delays in pay

An agency is only allowed to delay a payment for a reasonable amount of time when they need to confirm hours you worked.

If they have problems getting payment from the hiring organisation, the agency must still pay you on time.

The right to the same pay

After you’ve reached the 12-week qualifying period, you’re entitled to the same rate of pay as direct employees of the hiring organisation. Under the law this is called ‘the right to equal treatment to pay’.

The right to equal treatment to pay includes:

basic pay
holiday pay that’s more than the legal minimum
individual performance-related bonuses
commission
overtime pay
allowances for working shifts or unsociable hours
The right to equal treatment to pay does not include:

bonuses linked solely to company performance or to reward long-term loyalty
expenses
enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay and Shared Parental Pay
company pension schemes
redundancy that’s more than statutory
sick pay that’s more than Statutory Sick Pay
guarantee payments
season ticket loans
paid time off for trade union duties
Changes to the law on the right to the same pay

Before 6 April 2020, some agencies might have arranged to pay an agency worker between assignments to stop them getting the right to the same pay (‘derogating from the right to equal treatment to pay’).

However on 6 April 2020 the law changed so that:

these contracts are no longer valid
the agency worker can still make a complaint about such a contract, even if they received it from the employer before 6 April 2020
the agency can still offer an agency worker a permanent employment contract and pay between assignments, but the agency worker will be entitled to equal treatment to pay after 12 weeks
Holiday rights

You have the same right as other workers and employees to a minimum of 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday each ‘leave year’ when you’re on an assignment.

The leave year is how an employer works out how much holiday a year you’re entitled to and when you should take it by. When you’re an agency worker, it usually runs from the date you started your assignment.

You build up (‘accrue’) holiday entitlement from the first day of your assignment.

You also have the right to:

carry over holiday you’ve not taken to a new assignment
get paid for any holiday you’ve not taken if you leave the agency
After the 12-week qualifying period, you have the right to the same amount of holiday and holiday pay as direct employees of the hiring organisation.

If they give holiday above the legal minimum of 5.6 weeks, you can choose how you want to use it. You can either:

add it to your holiday entitlement
get paid for it on top of your hourly or daily pay rate and clearly itemised on each payslip
get paid for it in one go at the end of your assignment and clearly itemised on your final payslip
Asking for holiday

Your agency might need an amount of notice when you ask to take holiday, so it’s a good idea to check. Even if they do not, you should give them notice that’s at least twice the amount of holiday you want.

For example, if you want to take 1 week of holiday, you should ask your agency at least 2 weeks before you want your holiday to start.

This is so there’s enough time for them to arrange cover for your work, if necessary.

Agencies can refuse a holiday request but they must allow you to take it at another date. You must take your statutory holiday entitlement in each leave year.

Find out more about asking for and taking holiday

Sick leave and pay rights

You have the same right as other workers and employees to:

not work when you’re too ill
get Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), if you’re eligible for it
Check your eligibility for SSP on GOV.UK

Your agency and hiring organisation might have set out in a written agreement or policy how and when you need to contact them if you cannot work. If not, you should tell them as soon as possible the reason and how long you’re likely to be off sick for.

Agency workers are not entitled to the same amount of sick pay as direct employees of the hiring organisation at any point.

Pension rights

Employment agencies must automatically enrol all their agency workers into a pension scheme within 3 months of the start of a contract.

If you do not want to be enrolled into the agency’s pension scheme, you must tell the agency and the pension provider you want to opt out of the scheme.

Find out more about pension schemes and rules from The Pensions Regulator.

Working hours and rest breaks

You have the same rights as other workers and employees to:

work no more than an average of 48 hours a week
choose to work more by ‘opting out’ of the 48-hour week
a minimum 20-minute rest break if you work more than 6 hours
11 hours’ solid rest in any 24-hour period
1 day off work each week
After the 12-week qualifying period, you also have the right to the same working patterns and rest breaks as direct employees of the hiring organisation. This includes any entitlement to longer lunch breaks or other breaks.

Find out more about rules on working hours and rest breaks

Permanent work

The hiring organisation must allow you to find out about job vacancies in the same way as their direct employees.

If the hiring organisation wants to employ you as a permanent employee, by law your agency must not stop this.

The agency might be able to charge a fee to the hiring organisation in some cases, but it must not charge you.

Parental rights

Agency workers who are becoming or already are parents have the right to:

not be treated unfairly because of pregnancy or maternity
paid time off for pregnancy (‘antenatal’) appointments when pregnant, after reaching the 12-week qualifying period
unpaid time off to attend antenatal appointments with a partner who’s pregnant
If you do not have employee status, you’re not entitled to maternity, paternity or adoption leave or Shared Parental Leave, but can still stop working to care for your child. You need to tell your agency the dates you cannot work.

While off caring for your child, you may be entitled to one of the following:

Statutory Maternity Pay
Maternity Allowance
Statutory Paternity Pay
Statutory Adoption Pay
Shared Parental Pay
Find out more about pay for parents caring for a new child

Pregnancy and agency work

Your hiring organisation must carry out a risk assessment for you when you tell them in writing that:

you’re pregnant
you’ve given birth within the last 6 months
you’re breastfeeding
They should review the risk assessment regularly.

By law, agency workers must not be treated differently to other workers.

If there is a health and safety risk to you or your unborn baby, your hiring organisation must remove it.

If it’s not possible to remove the health and safety risk to you or your unborn baby, your hiring organisation must tell your agency.

Your agency must either:

find you another suitable assignment
suspend you on full pay for the length of your original assignment
Under the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the Agency Workers Regulations 2010, you would usually need to meet the 12-week qualifying period to be entitled to a different assignment or suspension on full pay.

If your agency finds you other suitable work but you refuse it without a valid reason, they do not have to pay you.

If you’re unsure about your health and safety rights as an agency worker and you’ve just had a baby or are pregnant, you might need to consider getting legal advice.

Find out more from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on health and safety rights for:

agency workers
new mothers and pregnant workers
Protection from discrimination

You have the same protections from discrimination as other workers and employees.

You must not be discriminated against because of a ‘protected characteristic’, for example your sex, age or disability. The agency, hiring organisation and their staff could all be held liable.

Find out more about discrimination and the law

Ending assignments and dismissal

You and the hiring organisation do not have to give any notice to end an assignment early unless it’s clearly written in your contract or assignment information.

You should tell your agency if you want to end the assignment.

If you want to leave the agency, check the contract or written agreement. Usually you need to tell them in writing.

An agency can usually end their relationship with you – or ‘dismiss’ you – without notice or reason unless:

your contract says otherwise
you’re an employee of the agency and have been employed for at least 1 month
Going through a disciplinary procedure

Agencies should have rules and procedures for dealing with disciplinary issues.

The agency is likely to stop finding you work if they get reports of misconduct or poor performance.

If you’re an employee, the agency should follow a disciplinary procedure to investigate the alleged misconduct or poor performance.

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NJC Payscales 2023 https://ratemyteachingagency.com/blog/njc-payscales-2023/ https://ratemyteachingagency.com/blog/njc-payscales-2023/#respond Wed, 11 Jan 2023 16:06:32 +0000 https://ratemyteachingagency.com/?p=2885 The NJC payscales, which are local government payscales resulting from negotiations between the employer and trade union sides of the National Joint Council, have been agreed for the 2022/23 year. The pay award for 2022/23 is £1925 (pro-rata for part-time employees) on all pay points applicable from 01 April 2022.

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The NJC payscales, which are local government payscales resulting from negotiations between the employer and trade union sides of the National Joint Council, have been agreed for the 2022/23 year. The pay award for 2022/23 is £1925 (pro-rata for part-time employees) on all pay points applicable from 01 April 2022.

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Are Supply Agencies the Bad Guys? We don’t think so…. https://ratemyteachingagency.com/blog/are-supply-agencies-the-bad-guys/ https://ratemyteachingagency.com/blog/are-supply-agencies-the-bad-guys/#respond Thu, 15 Sep 2022 11:25:20 +0000 https://ratemyteachingagency.com/?p=2881 Yesterday we were contacted through the site by a teacher, the message read ‘It appears you are not in fact a teacher informed platform, rather than an advertising/promotion site’. We know many will agree, that over the years (the site has been live since 2010) RMTA has helped teachers from the UK and overseas to […]

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Yesterday we were contacted through the site by a teacher, the message read ‘It appears you are not in fact a teacher informed platform, rather than an advertising/promotion site’.

We know many will agree, that over the years (the site has been live since 2010) RMTA has helped teachers from the UK and overseas to choose an agency of excellence, an agency that has moral standards, one that adheres to the Agency Worker Regulations and one that cares for it’s teachers. Rate My Teaching Agency WAS established to help supply teachers make an informed choice and still does 12 years later.

RMTA promotes excellence in the supply teacher market, if an agency is failing to treat its supply staff well, you will not find that agency on RMTA.

Best wishes
The RMTA Team.

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Call to Arms – Department for Education https://ratemyteachingagency.com/blog/call-to-arms-department-for-education/ https://ratemyteachingagency.com/blog/call-to-arms-department-for-education/#respond Sun, 30 Jan 2022 17:43:28 +0000 https://ratemyteachingagency.com/?p=2861 Number of ex-teachers coming forward to join the school workforce on 20th December 2021, the Department issued a call for ex-teachers to return to the profession as part of the temporary workforce, to help mitigate higher than normal rates of staff absence in schools. Data on the number of ex-teachers who have come forward since […]

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Number of ex-teachers coming forward to join the school workforce on 20th December 2021, the Department issued a call for ex-teachers to return to the profession as part of the temporary workforce, to help mitigate higher than normal rates of staff absence in schools.

Data on the number of ex-teachers who have come forward since the call was launched was collected via:

• expressions of interests reported to Teach First from the call to arms issued to their alumni, and
• an ad-hoc survey issued on 5th January 2022 to 111 supply agencies (around a quarter of those estimated to be operating in the market). Of these, 47 responded [1].

Given this data only covers a small number of agencies, the figures below do not indicate the total number of teachers coming forward, which will be higher. Although this data collection aims to gauge the impact of the campaign, the number of teachers coming forward cannot be directly attributed to this policy.

Findings

• There were at least 585 ex-teachers coming forward to either Teach First, or 47 of the estimated 400-500 teacher supply agencies, between the 20th December 2021 and 7th January 2022.
• Of this total, over 100 expressions of interest have been reported by Teach First.
• A further 485 sign-ups of ex-teachers were reported by the 47 supply agencies who responded to the DfE survey [2].
• Given this survey response only covers a small number of agencies, this will not reflect the true total as other agencies not surveyed, or which did not respond, are likely to also have had sign-ups, and the call for ex-teachers to return is still ongoing. The true number of sign-ups since the call was launched will be larger.
Due to uncertainties in the market share of the agencies who responded, it is not possible to estimate the total number of sign-ups nationally using this data. Individuals can register with multiple agencies and may therefore be ‘double-counted’. Some volunteers may have also approached schools directly, thus would not be captured in this figure.
Published: January 2022
This data is being published as a one-off release.

Footnotes:
[1] We estimate this number of responses represents around 10% of the agencies operating in the market. This figure is based on estimates provided by trade bodies. Agencies will vary in size and so this figure should not be taken as an indication of market share.

[2] Supply agencies are under no obligation to report sign-up data to the Department. This means results may not be representative and are subject to self-selection bias. The numbers have been reported as provided by agencies and have not been independently verified. Therefore the results should be treated with caution.

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Contingency Framework https://ratemyteachingagency.com/blog/contingency-framework-describing-the-principles-of-managing-local-outbreaks-in-education-and-childcare/ https://ratemyteachingagency.com/blog/contingency-framework-describing-the-principles-of-managing-local-outbreaks-in-education-and-childcare/#respond Wed, 01 Dec 2021 12:29:45 +0000 https://ratemyteachingagency.com/?p=2854 Summary The contingency framework describes the principles of managing local outbreaks of coronavirus (COVID-19) (including responding to variants of concern) in education and childcare settings, covering: the types of measures that settings should be prepared for who can recommend these measures and where when measures should be lifted how decisions are made Local authorities, directors […]

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Summary
The contingency framework describes the principles of managing local outbreaks of coronavirus (COVID-19) (including responding to variants of concern) in education and childcare settings, covering:

the types of measures that settings should be prepared for who can recommend these measures and where when measures should be lifted how decisions are made
Local authorities, directors of public health (DsPH) and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) health protection teams can recommend measures described in this guidance, in individual education and childcare settings as part of their outbreak management responsibilities. Where there is a need to address more widespread issues across an area, ministers will take decisions on an area-by-area basis.

Who is this guidance for?
This guidance is for the following settings.

Early years settings, including: all providers on the Ofsted early years register
providers registered with an early years childminder agency all pre-reception early years provision in maintained, non-maintained and independent schools
Schools, including: primary schools (including reception classes) middle or upper schools
secondary schools (including school sixth forms)
special schools, including non-maintained special schools special post-16 providers 16 to 19 academies
Independent schools Alternative provision (AP), including: pupil referral units AP academies AP free schools, Further education (FE) providers, including:
sixth-form colleges, general FE colleges, independent training providers, designated institutions, adult community learning providers, special post-16, institutions, Higher education providers (HE), including: universities specialist and independent HE providers, Out-of-school settings and wraparound childcare, including: breakfast clubs, after-school clubs, holiday clubs, other out-of-school settings (including providers of wraparound childcare for children over the age of 5, Summer school provision, which may be arranged or hosted by a range of organisations including: secondary schools, special schools, pupil referral units, alternative provision.
Holiday activities and food programmes, during the Easter, summer and Christmas school holidays. There are a wide variety of organisations and individuals involved in the delivery of the holiday activities and food programme and other out-of-school settings, including but not limited to: schools, private providers, charities, youth clubs, community groups.
This guidance is also for local authorities, DsPH and health protection teams (HPTs).

This guidance should be read alongside the detailed guidance for education and childcare settings and providers operating during COVID-19:

actions for early years and childcare providers during the COVID-19 pandemic schools COVID-19 operational guidance further education COVID-19 operational guidance
providing apprenticeships during the COVID-19 pandemic
COVID-19: actions for out-of-school settings
SEND and specialist settings: additional COVID-19 operational guidance higher education COVID-19 operational guidance.
Changes to the previous version

Changes to the guidance since its 27 September 2021 publication include: minor drafting changes to the testing section to refer to LFD testing rather than asymptomatic testing sites
changes to the face coverings section setting out when DsPH can recommend the use of face coverings in communal areas and classrooms removal of advice from Annex A that is in the main guidance, to avoid duplication adding Annex B on using face coverings when they are recommended.
Introduction
The government has made it a national priority that education and childcare settings should continue to operate as normally as possible during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Measures affecting education and childcare may be necessary in some circumstances, for example:

to help manage a COVID-19 outbreak within a setting
as part of a package of measures responding to a variant of concern (VoC) or to the extremely high prevalence of COVID-19 in the community to prevent unsustainable pressure on the NHS. All education and childcare settings should already have contingency plans (sometimes called outbreak management plans) describing what they would do if children, pupils, students or staff test positive for COVID-19, or how they would operate if they were advised to reintroduce any measures described in this document to help break chains of transmission.

Principles
Prioritising education
The overarching objective is to maximise the number of children and young people in face-to face education or childcare and minimise any disruption, in a way that best manages the COVID-19 risk.

The impacts of having missed face-to-face education during the pandemic are severe for children, young people and adults. In all cases, any benefits in managing transmission should be weighed against any educational drawbacks.

Decision-makers should endeavour to keep any measures in education and childcare to the minimum number of settings or groups possible, and for the shortest amount of time possible.

Decision-makers should keep all measures under regular review and lift them as soon as the evidence supports doing so.

Measures affecting education and childcare settings across an area should not be considered in isolation but as part of a broader package of measures. Attendance restrictions should only ever be considered as a last resort – neither contacts or siblings of positive cases should be asked to isolate.

The government will try to give as much notice as possible of any changes to the way settings should operate.

Collaboration
Multi-agency collaboration and communication is important in ensuring consistency in approach across England wherever issues occur, so that no group of children, pupils or students is unfairly disadvantaged.

Local authorities, DsPH and DfE’s regional schools commissioners (RSCs) should maintain close working relationships through their regional partnership teams (RPTs).

These teams are made up of:

UKHSA regional directors contain regional convenors
UKHSA regional leads. Where decisions about measures in education and childcare settings are made at a national level, DfE will work with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), the UKHSA, the Chief Medical Officer, and other government departments, as well as relevant local authorities and DsPH. The government will review the available evidence and take into account the judgement of public health professionals.

Roles and responsibilities
Local authorities, DsPH and HPTs are responsible for managing localised outbreaks. They play an important role in providing support and advice to education and childcare settings.

Local authorities, DsPH and HPTs can work with their regional partnership teams (RPTs) to escalate issues from the local level into the central local action committee command structure. RPTs support local areas in managing outbreaks and provide advice and insights from across the country to the Chief Medical Officer and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to inform decision making.

Through the local action committee command structure, ministers consider and take decisions on measures on an area-by-area basis in light of all available evidence, public health advice and the local and national context.

In rare circumstances, it may be necessary to escalate issues to ministers through other central government committees (for example incident management teams), but this should be by exception only.

Contingency planning
All education and childcare settings should already have contingency plans (sometimes called outbreak management plans) describing what they would do if children, pupils, students or staff test positive for COVID-19, or how they would operate if they were advised to reintroduce any measures described in this document to help break chains of transmission.

COVID-19 resilience and planning is now more important than ever. Settings do not need to reformat their existing contingency plans to specific templates, but the plans should be kept robust and up to date in light of the advice set out here.

A good plan should cover:

roles and responsibilities
when and how to seek public health advice
details on the types of control measures you might be asked to put in place (described in measures that settings should plan for and your sector’s guidance)
For each control measure you should include:

actions you would take to put it in place quickly
how you would ensure every child, pupil or student receives the quantity and quality of education and support to which they are normally entitled
how you would communicate changes to children, pupils, students, parents, carers and staff
When settings should consider extra action
The operational guidance sets out the measures that all education settings should have in place to manage transmission of COVID-19 day to day. For most settings, it will make sense to think about taking extra action if the number of positive cases substantially increases. This is because it could indicate transmission is happening in the setting. The thresholds, detailed below, can be used by settings as an indication for when to seek public health advice if they are concerned.

For most education and childcare settings, whichever of these thresholds is reached first:

5 children, pupils, students or staff, who are likely to have mixed closely, test positive for COVID-19 within a 10-day period
10% of children, pupils, students or staff who are likely to have mixed closely test positive for COVID-19 within a 10-day period
For special schools, residential settings, and settings that operate with 20 or fewer children, pupils, students and staff at any one time:

2 children, pupils, students and staff, who are likely to have mixed closely, test positive for COVID-19 within a 10-day period
Identifying a group that is likely to have mixed closely will be different for each setting. Examples are available for each sector, but a group will rarely mean a whole setting or year group.

Higher education providers should continue to liaise with their DsPH. If and when outbreaks occur, providers should work with their local HPTs to identify any additional measures to put in place.

All settings should seek public health advice if a pupil, student, child or staff member is admitted to hospital with COVID-19.

They can do this by phoning the DfE helpline (0800 046 8687, option 1), or in line with other local arrangements.

Hospitalisation could indicate increased severity of illness or a new variant of concern. Settings may be offered public health support in managing risk assessments and communicating with staff and parents.
Actions to consider
When the thresholds are reached, education and childcare settings should review and reinforce the testing, hygiene and ventilation measures they already have in place. There is more detail on these in Annex A and in the guidance for each sector.

Settings may wish to seek additional public health advice if they are concerned about transmission in the setting, either by phoning the DfE helpline (0800 046 8687, option 1) or in line with other local arrangements.

A director of public health or an HPT may give settings advice reflecting the local situation. In areas where rates are high, this may include advice that local circumstances mean that the thresholds for extra action can be higher than set out above. If they judge that additional action should be taken, they might advise the setting to take some or all of the other measures described in this document, for example, extra testing.

All settings should make sure their contingency plans cover how they would operate if any of the measures described were recommended for their setting or area.

Where a staff member has tested positive for COVID-19, education and childcare settings do not need to routinely contact the NHS Self Isolation Service Hub to provide details of close contacts. However, to ensure eligible individuals identified as a close contact can access Test and Trace Support Payments you may consider providing staff details to the NHS Self Isolation Hub when:

a staff member who was in close contact with the person testing positive has indicated they are not exempt from self-isolation, but the person testing positive was unable to provide that person’s details to NHS Test and Trace
it is particularly difficult for the person testing positive to identify or provide details of some members of staff they were in contact with, for example, temporary workers such as supply staff, peripatetic teachers, contractors or ancillary staff
Frequently asked questions on contact tracing and self-isolation can be found on the document sharing platforms for primary and early years, secondary schools, further education and higher education and children’s social care.

Measures that settings should plan for
Testing
All settings should ensure their contingency plans reflect the possibility of increased use of lateral flow device (LFD) testing by staff and, where they are already being offered testing, for pupils and students.

This could include advice on increased LFD testing, which may be advised for an individual setting or in areas of high prevalence by DsPH as part of their responsibilities in outbreak management.

This could also include advice on the reintroduction of onsite LFD testing for settings across areas that have been offered an enhanced response package or are in an enduring transmission area, where settings and DsPH decide it is appropriate.

These additional testing measures would need to be agreed with settings and we encourage DsPH to consult settings and work with them to identify what support may be needed to do this.

Secondary schools and colleges should consider how onsite LFD testing could be implemented in a way that does not negatively impact the education they provide to their pupils and students.

DsPH should keep DfE and UKHSA informed of all cases where they are considering recommending onsite LFD testing for an education setting, via their RPT and RSC.

Face coverings
Education settings should make sure their contingency plans cover the possibility that it may be advised that face coverings should temporarily be worn in settings in their area. This may include face coverings in communal areas or classrooms, for pupils over 11 years old, students and staff, unless they are exempt or have a reasonable excuse.

Children of primary school age and early years children should not be advised to wear face coverings.

Any guidance should allow for reasonable exemptions for their use.

Face coverings in communal areas may temporarily be advised by DsPH: for an individual setting, as part of their responsibilities in outbreak management
for settings across areas of high or rapidly increasing prevalence, where increased LFD testing and actions to increase vaccination uptake among eligible staff, pupils and students are also being advised
Face coverings in classrooms may temporarily be advised by DsPH: for an individual setting as part of their responsibilities in outbreak management
for settings across areas that have been offered an enhanced response package, or are in an enduring transmission area, where settings and DsPH decide it is appropriate.
In all cases any educational and wellbeing drawbacks in the recommended use of face coverings should be balanced with the benefits in managing transmission.

Further information on things to consider when face coverings have been recommended can be found in Annex B.

Shielding
Following expert clinical advice and the successful rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine programme, people previously considered to be clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) will not be advised to shield again.

Individuals previously identified as CEV are advised to continue to follow the guidance on how to stay safe and help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Individuals should consider advice from their health professional on whether additional precautions are right for them.

Other measures
Settings should make sure their contingency plans cover the possibility they are advised to limit: residential and educational visits, open days, transition or taster days, parental attendance in settings, live performances in settings.
Local authorities, DsPH and HPTs may recommend these precautions in individual settings or across an entire area.

Attendance restrictions
High-quality face-to-face education remains a government priority. Attendance restrictions should only ever be considered as a short-term measure and as a last resort:

for individual settings, on public health advice in extreme cases where other recommended measures have not broken chains of in-setting transmission
across an area, on government advice in order to suppress or manage a dangerous variant and to prevent unsustainable pressure on the NHS
In all circumstances, priority should continue to be given to vulnerable children and young people and children of critical workers to attend to their normal timetables.

Where measures include attendance restrictions, DfE may advise on any other groups that should be prioritised. Settings should make sure their contingency plans cover the possibility they are advised, temporarily, to limit attendance and should ensure that high-quality remote education is provided to all pupils or students not attending.

Other considerations where attendance has been restricted;
Remote education
High-quality remote learning in schools, further education, and higher education settings should be provided for all pupils and students if: they have tested positive for COVID-19 but are well enough to learn from home attendance at their setting has been temporarily restricted.
On-site provision should in all cases be retained for vulnerable children and young people and the children of critical workers. If settings have to temporarily stop onsite provision on public health advice, they should discuss alternative arrangements for vulnerable children and young people with the local authority. Full detail on remote education expectations and the support available to schools and FE providers is available at get help with remote education.

Education workforce
If restrictions on child, pupil and student attendance are ever needed, leaders of childcare and education settings will be best placed to determine the workforce required onsite and if it is appropriate for some staff to work remotely.

Employers should be able to explain the measures they have in place to keep staff safe at work.

Safeguarding and designated safeguarding leads
There should be no change to local multi-agency safeguarding arrangements, which remain the responsibility of the 3 safeguarding partners: local authorities, clinical commissioning groups, chief officers of police.
If attendance restrictions are needed in any education or childcare setting, we would expect all local safeguarding partners to be vigilant and responsive to all safeguarding threats with the aim of keeping vulnerable children and young people safe, particularly as more children and young people will be learning remotely.

All settings must continue to have regard to any statutory safeguarding guidance that applies to them, including:

keeping children safe in education
working together to safeguard children
the early years foundation stage (EYFS) framework
Out of school settings should also review keeping children safe in out-of-school settings: code of practice.

Early years providers, schools, out-of-school settings and FE providers (ideally led by the designated safeguarding lead (DSL) or a deputy) should review their child protection policy so that it reflects the local restrictions and remains effective.

It is expected that schools, out-of-school settings and FE providers will have a trained DSL (or deputy) available on site. However, it is recognised that for some schools and FE providers there may be operational challenges to this. In such cases, there are 2 options to consider: a trained DSL (or deputy) from the early years setting, school, out-of-school settings or FE provider can be available to be contacted via phone or online video, for example working from home
sharing trained DSLs (or deputies) with other settings, schools or FE providers (who should be available to be contacted via phone or online video)
Where a trained DSL (or deputy) is not on-site, in addition to one of the 2 options, a senior leader should take responsibility for co-ordinating safeguarding on site.

Vulnerable children and young people.
Where vulnerable children and young people are absent, education settings should: follow up with the parent or carer, working with the local authority and social worker (where applicable), to explore the reason for absence and discuss their concerns
encourage the child or young person to attend educational provision, working with the local authority and social worker (where applicable), particularly where the social worker and the virtual school head (where applicable) agrees that the child or young person’s attendance would be appropriate
focus the discussions on the welfare of the child or young person and ensuring that the child or young person is able to access appropriate education and support while they are at home
have in place procedures to maintain contact, ensure they are able to access remote education support, as required, and regularly check if they are doing so
If settings have to temporarily stop onsite provision on public health advice, they should discuss alternative arrangements for vulnerable children and young people with the local authority.

Transport
Transport services to education settings should continue to be provided as normal where children are attending education settings. The guidance on transport to schools and colleges during the COVID-19 pandemic remains in place.

School and FE meals
Schools should provide meal options for all pupils who are in school. Meals should be available free of charge to all infant pupils and pupils who meet the benefits-related free school meals eligibility criteria.

Schools should also continue to provide free school meals support in the form of meals or lunch parcels for pupils who are eligible for benefits related free school meals and who are not attending school because they have had symptoms or a positive test result themselves.

Further information is available in the guidance on providing school meals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

FE providers should continue to support students who are eligible for, and usually receive, free meals, even if students are studying remotely due to COVID-19. This includes students in further education, who are newly eligible.

There is further guidance on free meals in further education-funded institutions.

Educational visits
Any attendance restrictions should be reflected in the visits risk assessment and setting leaders should consider carefully if the educational visit is still appropriate and safe. Only students who are attending the setting should go on an educational visit. Education settings should consult the health and safety guidance on educational visits when considering visits.

Annex A: guidance for education and childcare settings on managing COVID-19 cases from autumn term 2021
The government’s roadmap guidance on moving to Step 4 set out how restrictions have been eased across society, including in education and childcare settings. We need to continue to proceed with caution and find the right balance between protecting public health and living with COVID-19 as more of the population is vaccinated.

Wherever additional measures are considered, the objective is to maximise the number of children and young people in face-to-face teaching and minimise control measures that disrupt education, balanced against the risks of COVID-19 transmission.

There is strong evidence that children and young people are much less susceptible to severe clinical disease than older people and that there are significant disadvantages to children and young people associated with missed education.

It is of course acknowledged that this evidence may change with the emergence of new variants of concern (VoCs). The government will continue to advise baseline measures and provide thresholds at which help can be sought and extra measures may be introduced. Local spikes in COVID-19 will usually be best managed through a dynamic risk assessment approach. Attendance restrictions are unlikely to be a proportionate response to the level of risk that COVID-19 currently poses to children and young people, and public health authorities would only consider them as a last resort if all other risk mitigations proved insufficient to break chains of transmission.

In light of this, all education and childcare settings should revisit their contingency plans based on the advice below. There is no expectation that education and childcare settings should create new documents or reformat any existing plans to specific templates, but plans should be robust and up to date.

Baseline measures
The operational guidance sets out the measures that all education settings should have in place to manage transmission of COVID-19. This includes:

Staff and students should continue to test twice weekly at home, with lateral flow device (LFD) test kits, 3 to 4 days apart. Testing remains voluntary but is strongly encouraged.
All students in higher education (HE) settings should test before they travel back to university. They can order a free test online or collect one from their local pharmacy. On arrival at university, all students should take 2 lateral flow device (LFD) tests (3 to 4 days apart) using either home test kits (LFD collect) or an on-site testing facility (ATS). All HE students and staff should continue to test twice each week (3 to 4 days apart) using home test kits or at an on-site testing facility, where possible.
Those who test positive should isolate, take a confirmatory polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, and continue to isolate if the result is positive. Schools and colleges will need to be prepared to implement high-quality blended learning arrangements so that any child who is well enough to learn from home can do so.
Under-18s, irrespective of their vaccination status, and double vaccinated adults will not need to self-isolate if they are a close contact of a positive case. They will be strongly advised to take a PCR test and, if positive, will need to isolate. 18-year-olds will be treated in the same way as children until 6 months after their 18th birthday, to allow them the opportunity to get fully vaccinated. Further guidance for close contacts of someone who has tested positive and lives in the same household, and for those who do not live together is available.
All education and childcare settings should continue to ensure good hygiene for everyone, maintain appropriate cleaning regimes, keep occupied spaces well ventilated, and follow public health advice on testing and managing confirmed cases of COVID-19.
All settings should continue their strong messaging about signs and symptoms, isolation advice and testing, to support prompt isolation of suspected cases. Settings should also continue to encourage vaccination uptake for eligible students and staff.
Close mixing
Identifying a group that is likely to have mixed closely will be different for each setting. Below are some examples.

For early years, this could include:

a childminder minding children, including their own
childminders working together on the same site
a nursery class
a friendship group who often play together
staff and children taking part in the same activity session together
For schools, this could include:

a form group or subject class
a friendship group mixing at breaktimes
a sports team
a group in an after-school activity  
For boarding schools, this could include:

staff and children taking part in the same class or activity session together
children who share the same common space in a boarding house
children who have slept in the same room or dormitory together
For FE, this could include:

students and teachers on practical courses that require close hands-on teaching, such as hairdressing and barbering
students who have played on sports teams together
students and teachers who have mixed in the same classroom
For wraparound childcare or out-of-school settings, this could include:

a private tutor or coach offering one-to-one tuition to a child, or to multiple children at the same time
staff and children taking part in the same class or activity session together
children who have slept in the same room or dormitory together
For higher education institutions, this could include:

students in the same household, sharing living, washing and cooking facilities
students who take part in sporting or social activities together
students taking part in the same seminar or group learning activity such as a presentation
Actions to consider once a threshold is reached
At the point of reaching a threshold, education and childcare settings should review and reinforce the testing, hygiene and ventilation measures they already have in place.

Settings should also consider:

whether any activities could take place outdoors, including exercise, assemblies, or classes
ways to improve ventilation indoors, where this would not significantly impact thermal comfort
one-off enhanced cleaning focussing on touch points and any shared equipment
Settings may wish to seek additional public health advice if they are concerned about transmission in the setting, either by phoning the DfE helpline (0800 046 8687, option 1) or in line with other local arrangements.

A director of public health or an HPT may give settings advice reflecting the local situation. In areas where rates are high, this may include advice that local circumstances mean that the thresholds for extra action can be higher than set out in this document. They might advise the setting to take some of the other measures described in this document.

Additional action that could be advised by public health experts
If you have called the DfE helpline and a director of public health (DsPH) or a health protection team (HPT) subsequently judges that additional action should be taken because they have assessed that transmission is likely to be occurring in the setting, they may advise settings take extra measures such as:

strengthened communications to encourage pupils and students to undertake twice weekly rapid asymptomatic home testing and reporting
temporarily reinstating face coverings for pupils and students, staff and visitors in indoor or communal spaces in secondary schools, FE and HE settings, and for staff in primary, early years, out-of-school, and specialist settings – this should be for 2 weeks in the first instance, pending regular review
reinstating on-site rapid LFD testing in secondary schools, colleges and universities for a two-week period to encourage uptake of twice weekly testing
increased frequency of testing
They may also recommend the actions listed under other measures in the contingency framework, or other proportionate measures to support continuing face-to-face education.

In extreme cases, and as a last resort where all other risk mitigations have not broken chains of in-school transmission, a DPH may advise introducing short-term attendance restrictions in a setting, such as sending home a class or year group (as they could for any workplace experiencing a serious infectious disease outbreak).

High-quality remote learning should be provided for all students well enough to learn from home. On-site provision should in all cases be retained for vulnerable children and young people and the children of critical workers.

Where they have advised settings to take extra measures, DsPH and HPTs will work closely with their regional partnership teams and keep the situation under regular review. They will inform settings when it is appropriate to stop additional measures, or if they should be extended.

Annex B: In circumstances where face coverings are recommended
A director of public health might advise you that face coverings should temporarily be worn in communal areas or classrooms (by pupils staff and visitors, unless exempt). You should make sure your contingency plans cover this possibility.

In these circumstances, transparent face coverings, which may assist communication with someone who relies on lip reading, clear sound or facial expression to communicate, can also be worn. Transparent face coverings may be effective in reducing the spread of COVID-19. However, the evidence to support this is currently very limited. Face coverings (whether transparent or cloth) should fit securely around the face to cover the nose and mouth and be made with a breathable material capable of filtering airborne particles.

The main benefit from a transparent face covering is that they can aid communication, for example enabling lip-reading or allowing for the full visibility of facial expressions, but this should be considered alongside the comfort and breathability of a face covering that contains plastic, which may mean that the face covering is less breathable than layers of cloth.

Face visors or shields can be worn by those exempt from wearing a face covering but they are not an equivalent alternative in terms of source control of virus transmission. They may protect the wearer against droplet spread in specific circumstances but are unlikely to be effective in preventing the escape of smaller respiratory particles when used without an additional face covering. They should only be used after carrying out a risk assessment for the specific situation and should always be cleaned appropriately.

The use of face coverings may have a particular impact on those who rely on visual signals for communication. Those who communicate with or provide support to those who do, are exempt from any recommendation to wear face coverings in education and childcare settings.

You have a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled pupils to support them to access education successfully. Where appropriate, you should discuss with pupils and parents the types of reasonable adjustments that are being considered to support an individual.

No pupil or student should be denied education on the grounds of whether they are, or are not, wearing a face covering.

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