A fifth of NQTs are denied non-contact time, but GTC says induction year is a success, reports Karen Thornton
ONE in five newly qualified teachers missed out on their entitlement to time out of the classroom during their induction year.
And more than a third are on temporary contracts, according to research carried out by the new teachers’ agony aunt for The TES.
Sara Bubb, coordinator of NQT courses at London University’s Institute of Education, said there was an “unacceptable level of variability” in the support received by new teachers. But the General Teaching Council for England maintains that, overall, the introduction of an induction year in 1999 has proved a great success.
Schools receive pound;3,000 a year to pay for supply cover, freeing up 10 per cent of the timetable for new teachers to attend courses and concentrate on their professional development. They are also entitled to a mentor and an action plan.
However, Ms Bubb found one school, which received pound;30,000 for 10 NQTs, required them all to work a full timetable. Some induction tutors had received no training in their role.
She said: “The induction system assumes that all headteachers and local education authorities know what they are doing and that they are all reasonable people. Unfortunately, there are some NQTs who would not see it like that.”
Emma Westcott, policy adviser at the GTC, said the council had raised concerns about the experiences of a minority of NQTs with ministers. GTC panels that consider appeals from NQTs who have failed induction do take into account whether new teachers received their non-contact time entitlement.
In general, most new teachers were given the support and opportunities they needed to meet the induction standards, Ms Bubb found.
David Hart, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said practice in schools should have been consideredas part of Teacher Training Agency consultations on induction standards that close on November 15.
He blamed problems on lack of cash in schools and difficulties finding supply cover, but added: “If any NQT is not getting their entitlement then they ought to be talking to their union. It undermines the whole purpose of induction.”
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First Appointments supplement, 16
