You will have heard about the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) but might be unsure about your role in data protection at your school. Essentially, GDPR is designed to protect personal data stored on computers, organised filing systems and to give people more control over data which is held about them.
Author Archives: Andrew Lifford
As a part-time member of teaching staff you should be aware of your employment rights. Part-time working can be a good way of balancing work and personal commitments and you should not be penalised for working part-time at your school.
Teachers’ Pensions is the organisation responsible for administering the scheme on behalf of the Department for Education (DfE). You can sign up as soon as you start teaching and receive a Teachers’ Pension number.
Pay portability was a term to describe your current salary transferring with you when you started a new role at a different school. Since September 2013, there is no longer pay portability for appointments in maintained schools in England and Wales.
This article provides an overview of teacher pay scales in England for 2022/23. If you teach in a maintained school in England, you will be paid accordingly 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.
If you are thinking about taking maternity or paternity leave you can have the opportunity to share it between yourself and your partner. This is called shared parental leave (SPL). There are quite a lot of specific rules and criteria for SPL which are outlined in detail on the GOV.UK website. In this article, we explain what SPL is, how you can apply for it and how much you can expect to receive for shared parental pay (SPP).
During your teaching career you could be interviewed, investigated or even arrested by the police. Offences could range from speeding, drinking and driving, to sexual harassment or grooming of children online. In all serious cases, you will want to notify your line manager or headteacher about what has happened.
You may have heard of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) but might be unsure of what it is and what you should do if you suspect a pupil is at risk. FGM includes procedures that intentionally alter or cause injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
You might be concerned about your employment rights if your school is converting to academy status. TUPE is a process designed to protect employees against unfair treatment as a result of a transfer of their employment. It is a common process and many thousands of school employees have gone through the TUPE process.
Teachers’ working hours can feel complicated. You are often expected to work as much as is reasonable to be able to effectively discharge your professional duties. With planning, marking, parents’ evenings, open days, revision sessions and after school activities, it is important teachers are able to manage their working time in such a way that allows them to perform well and maintain a healthy work-life balance.