Top 3 most popular support articles in February 2022

At Edapt, we support thousands of school staff in England and Wales with employment-related queries. 

As a result, we have a unique window into the insights and concerns of school staff and how this changes at specific times throughout the academic year.

With over 200 accessible support articles on education and employment-related subjects, when school staff search for reliable information on employment issues in schools, they come to Edapt.

With the gradual unwinding of Covid guidelines in schools, teachers and staff were browsing more support content on teacher pay, job roles and disciplinary issues.

During February 2022, our 3 most popular support articles were:

1.Pay calculator for teachers 

We created our pay calculator tools only recently and they have been very popular.

Potentially teachers were double checking their understanding of their salary breakdown and how inflationary pressures might impact their future take home-pay.

Our pay calculator can be used to calculate your estimated pay as a full-time member of staff in England and Wales.

There are a number of caveats to consider:

2. If you teach in a maintained school, you will be paid according to a nationally agreed teacher pay scale. If you teach in an academy, free school or independent school, your pay will be set according to your school’s pay policy
3. Check your school’s pay policy and employment contract to understand the terms you are employed under
4. You will also need to consider any Teaching and Learning Responsibility (TLR) or SEN allowances which might impact your salary

2. INSET Days: what are my requirements to attend?

With the February half-term some schools would have hosted an INSET day either before or after the break. Especially part-time members of staff contact us about whether there is a requirement to attend.

INSET (IN–SErvice Training days) were introduced in 1988 by the then education secretary Ken Baker so teachers could take part in professional development outside of their standardised 190 days.

If you are a teacher in a maintained school and your school follows the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) your school must designate five days per year for purposes other than teaching. Each of the five days should be allocated six hours of directed time, even if teachers do not undertake activities for all of that time.

3. What is a lead practitioner?

Becoming a lead practitioner can be an attractive route for school staff looking at ways to increase their pay while still keeping a focus on teaching and learning.

The Leading Practitioner Pay Range rewards consistently high-performing teachers who wish to focus on modelling excellent practice and raising the standard of teaching across the school.

Lead practitioners should take a leadership role in developing, implementing and evaluating policies and practice in their workplace that contribute to school improvement. This might include:

• Coaching, mentoring and induction of teachers, including trainees and NQTs
• Disseminating materials and advising on practice, research and CPD provision
• Assessment and impact evaluation, including through demonstration lessons and classroom observation
• Supporting the school or groups of schools in provision of high-quality schemes of work to reduce workload
• Helping teachers who are experiencing difficulties

The STPCD explains that teachers on the lead practitioner pay range have the same professional responsibilities and benefit from the same rights conferred as all other teachers.