Scottish Borders Local Association

APPENDIX

The McCrone Agreement

The fine text of the agreement covering working hours is to be found on pages 6-8 of the agreement and is written in the following terms.

Working Hours: Working Week

Agreement has been reached on the working week as follows:

• the introduction of a 35 hour week for all teachers from 1 August 2001

• a phased reduction in maximum class contact time to 22.5 hours per week equalised across the primary, secondary and special school sectors

• during the phasing period, the class contact commitment of a teacher will be complemented by an allowance of personal time for preparation and correction: this allowance will be no less than one-third of the teacher's actual class contact commitment

• all tasks which do not require the teacher to be on the school premises call be carried out at a time and place of the teacher's choosing: teachers will notify the appropriate manager of their intention in this respect

• from August 2006, at the earliest, the contractual obligations of teachers will be expressed in relation solely to a 35 hour week within which a maximum of 22.5 hours will be devoted to class contact

It has been agreed that the process of change needs to be properly managed and therefore supporting phasing arrangements have been de\·eloped which involve:

• the introduction of a personal allowance of one third of actual class contact time as described above

• the use of the remaining time (that is, time beyond the combined class contact and preparation/correction allowance) will be subject to agreement at school level and will be planned to include a range of activities, such as:

additional time for preparation and correction
parent meetings
staff meetings
formal assessment
preparation of reports, records etc
curriculum development
forward planning
continuing professional development
additional supervised pupil activity
professional review and development

• a key role for the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) in determining when the objective conditions are in place to move to the final contractual arrangements, and

• a set of criteria that will enable the SNCT to determine when all the appropriate conditions have been met. These are outline in Annex C.

The following table summarises the transitional arrangements.

• in order to complement the phasing arrangements and the new structure of the working week, a Code of Practice on Working Time Arrangements has been agreed. The text of the Code of Practice is provided at Annex D

• in the case of promoted post holders in schools, the Implementation Group has considered their working arrangements and has agreed that managers require time for additional duties outwith teaching and associated preparation in order to fulfil their broad professional duties

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and the Working Year

• the length of the working year for teachers will continue to be 195 days

• teachers shall have an ongoing commitment to maintain their professional expertise through an agreed programme of continuing professional development

• art additional contractual 35 hours of CPD per annum will be introduced as a maximum for all teachers, which shall consist of an appropriate balance of personal professional development, attendance at nationally accredited courses, small scale school based activities or other CPD activity. This balance will be based on an assessment of individual need taking account of school, local and national priorities and shall be carried out at an appropriate time and place

• every teacher will have an annual CPD plan agreed with his/her immediate manager and every teacher will be required to maintain an individual CPD record

• it is recognised that a quality based framework for professional development will take some time to deliver and therefore, teachers will work towards but not be expected to meet the full commitment until August 2003
   

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