QTAD Q&A
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 125 No 7, 2 October 2020, page no.29
When will beginning teachers receive an increase to non-contact time under our current agreement?
The Department of Education State School Teachers’ Certified Agreement 2019 (https://www.qirc.qld.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020_cb46.pdf?v=1596594854) states the following.
2.4.1 From the beginning of 2021, a permanent or temporary classroom teacher in their first 12 months of teaching (beginning teacher) in a primary and/or special school will be allocated an additional 60 minutes of non-contact time per week over and above their entitlement to non-contact time prescribed in the award or other parts of this agreement.
2.4.2 From the beginning of 2021, a permanent or temporary classroom teacher in their first 12 months of teaching (beginning teacher) in a secondary school will be allocated an additional 70 minutes of non-contact time per week over their entitlement to non-contact time as prescribed in the award or other parts of this agreement.
School reviews: do staff have to participate in interviews with reviewers?
The department’s “School reviews – information for school staff” fact sheet (https://schoolreviews.education.qld.gov.au/review/Documents/school-staff-factsheet.pdf) provides the following information on staff participation.
Feedback from staff is an important part of school reviews, with all staff encouraged to have their say. Interviews with staff generally take place outside, in an office or in another quiet area of the school.
Interviews with reviewers should not increase staff workload. They are professional conversations intended to give staff an opportunity to talk about their school. Reviewers do not use checklists or a set list of questions.
Schools generally organise a staff member to accompany reviewers to classrooms and to provide teacher relief so that teachers can speak with a reviewer. Reviewers are interested in the classroom atmosphere, presentation and student behaviour. The classroom visit is not an assessment of teaching practice.
Further resources on school reviews can be accessed from the department’s school review web page (https://schoolreviews.education.qld.gov.au).
The QTU/DoE joint statement (http://www.qtu.asn.au/js-school-reviews) also confirms that, while encouraged, interviews are not mandatory.