On 15 January 2003, the Government, employers and the majority of school workforce unions signed a national agreement that underpinned proposals for reforming the school workforce. This agreement follows the Government's major consultation exercise during 2002 on reforming the roles and responsibilities of staff working in schools, after almost a year of detailed discussions with the Education Department in which the GMB has played a key role. It is a landmark within the realms of the education field. The Time for Standards Agreement aims to remodel the whole school workforce by reducing teacher workload through utilising a broader range of adults within schools in England and Wales today.

The GMB was instrumental in this consultation process to ensure that School Support Staff get the recognition they deserve for their professional status. Our research shows that these enhanced job roles were already being carried out by Support Staff in many schools across the West Midlands, often without recognition or fair pay.


Summary of the Time for Standards Agreement

Teachers will enjoy changes to their contracts that will be introduced through three phases that commenced September 2003:

Phase One - 2003
Promote reductions in overall excessive hours
Establish monitoring group
Establish new Implementation Review Unit
Routine delegation of 24 non-teaching tasks
Introduce new work/life balance clauses
Introduce leadership and management time
Undertake review of use of school closure days

Phase Two - 2004

Introduce new limits on covering for absent teachers

Phase Three - 2005

Introduce guaranteed professional time for planning, preparation and assessment
Introduce dedicated headship time
Introduce new invigilation arrangements

To read the Time for Standards agreement in full or download a copy, please click here (PDF 391 KB)


What does the Time for Standards National Agreement mean for School Support Staff?

Following the consultation to facilitate new and enhanced job roles, the National Joint Council (NJC) have agreed four proposed career routes for School Support Staff:

Teaching Assistant Pedagogy: those supporting teaching and learning
Teaching Assistant Behaviour/Guidance/Support: those supporting behaviour, exclusions and attendance
Curriculum Resource Support: specific support in curriculum/technical areas
Admin & Organisation: from general administration to budgetary responsibility

The job profiles can be downloaded here:
Overview of the NJC job profiles (PDF 36KB)
Job profile for TAs (PDF 108 KB)
Job profile for Curriculum Resource Support (PDF 63 KB)
Job profile for Admin roles (PDF 78 KB)


More importantly, the Time for Standards Agreement will lay the foundation for issues which have historically gone unrecognised for School Support Staff, and will work towards:
Recognition for the important roles played by all School Support Staff
Establishing clearly defined job roles within appropriate career structures
Opportunities for training, enabling progression towards levels of higher responsibility such as the senior administrators and higher-level teaching assistants
New statutory regulations to ensure schools provide mechanisms to protect and safeguard staff whilst undertaking roles with high level responsibilities. The new regulations that for the first time ever acknowledge School Support Staff came into force on 1st August 2003 under Section 133 of the Education Act 2002 (click here to view this document in full)
Funding to enable recruitment of a further 50,000 additional Support Staff

“Support staff working alongside teachers have already contributed to significant improvements in the quality of teaching and learning, and the efficient functioning of their schools.” (DfES, 2003)

Throughout the implementation of this agreement, the GMB will be ensuring that our members continue to be fully informed and supported, guaranteeing that they receive the status and recognition that they truly deserve.

Further information can be found in the leaflet Developing the Role of School Support Staff, issued by the DfES, which can be downloaded here (PDF 508 KB)

These specific areas of the Teachernet website also provide more information and resources:
www.teachernet.gov.uk/remodelling
www.teachernet.gov.uk/teachingassistants