QTAD Q&A
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 130 No 7, 3 October 2025, page no 26.
Are teachers required to be at school from 8:30am to 3:30pm each day? Our first bell doesn’t go until 8:50am.
The standard hours of instruction in schools fall between 8.30am and 3.30pm.
This does not mean you have to be there the whole time, but your rostered duty time of five hours per day would fall between those hours.
Some examples of a school day:
| Morning session | 8:30am to 10:35am | 125 minutes |
| Lunch 1 | 10:35am to 11:15am | |
| Second session | 11:15am to 1:05pm | 110 minutes |
| Lunch 2 | 1:05pm to 1:35pm | |
| Third session | 1:35pm to 2:30pm | 55 minutes |
| Morning session | 8:50am to 11:00am | 130 minutes |
| Lunch 1 | 11:00am to 11:35am | |
| Second session | 11:35am to 1:05pm | 90 minutes |
| Lunch 2 | 1:05pm to 1:40pm | |
| Third session | 1:40pm to 2:50pm | 70 minutes |
Both examples above show total learning session times of 290 minutes per day. Teachers will be allowed a daily rest pause of 10 minutes which is included in rostered duty time, bringing the total of rostered duty time to 300 minutes for the day, i.e. five hours.
You have to ensure that you are at work and ready to start work prior to the official start of the school day, and you are allowed to leave after the official conclusion of the school day. There may be times when you are required to remain after the official conclusion of the school day, i.e. staff meeting or if rostered on for after-school bus duty (no more than 30 minutes following the conclusion of the school day).
For secondary schools, there are provisions within Teaching in State Education Award – State 2016 that allow for variations to the standard hours of instruction, as per clause 15.10.
Any changes to hours of instruction must occur in accordance with the provisions pertaining to consultation.
Are teachers required to sign in and out of school for the day? What about during meal breaks?
The QTU is of the view that there should be no requirement for teachers to sign in on a daily basis when they arrive at school.
Any teacher who is going to be absent from school for a day (or longer) should notify the principal/deputy/admin. All staff should then be notified of which teachers are absent, either by email or through the daily notices book, in accordance with the arrangements that apply in that particular school.
Teachers should notify personnel in administration if they are leaving the school grounds during rostered duty time, e.g. an NCT/P&C period. This notification is required for WorkCover purposes.
Staff should not need to notify administration personnel if they wish to leave the school grounds during a meal break, as the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (Qld) covers most injuries which occur when the employee is away from the workplace during such breaks. Although it is not a requirement for staff to sign in and out during meal break times, the QTU’s view is that it would be appropriate to notify someone.