QTAD Q&A
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 124 No 6, 16 August 2019, page no. 27
Can my principal ask me to attend a meeting with them before school at 8:00am or after school?
The school principal has the capacity to call a staff meeting outside of school hours in accordance with the Education (General Provisions) Regulation. This is the only meeting you are required to attend outside of rostered duty time, and therefore you cannot be compelled to attend other meetings outside of rostered duty time, i.e. before/after school or during meal breaks.
What about attending a meeting during my NCT?
The award entitlement to non-contact time may be used for the preparation, planning and correction of class activities. During non-contact time, teachers make decisions regarding what tasks they will complete during this period (Reference: 2.2.3 Certified Agreement 2016).
Award entitlement to NCT is 210 minutes per week for secondary teachers (full-time) and 120 minutes per week for primary school teachers (full-time).
The principal may decide how teachers use NCT when teachers receive an over-allocation of NCT, i.e. above-award entitlement (Reference: 2.2.6 Certified Agreement 2016).
Our staff meeting is held on Tuesday and I only work Wednesday through to Friday as a part time teacher. What are my obligations for attending the staff meeting?
There are no requirements for part-time teachers to attend school staff meetings on days they are not rostered to work. Of course, as a professional you would be mindful of ensuring you read minutes of the meeting to ensure you are not missing out on anything important.
I am going on a school camp for a week and will therefore miss out on NCT. Should this be paid back?
Where a teacher is going to lose award entitlement to NCT as a consequence of attendance at a school camp, excursion etc., there should be prior discussions with the teacher on how/when this NCT will be replaced.
It is not necessary for the NCT to be made up in the week that it is lost, however the agreement in primary and special schools is that lost NCT should be made up by the end of the school term in which the loss occurs.
In secondary schools, there is currently no such arrangement. The QTU proposes that replacement of NCT in secondary schools should also occur within the school term.
Ultimately, a process to replace lost NCT should be agreed following consultation through the local consultative committee (LCC). This process should include the timeframe in which NCT lost as a consequence of planned school activities will be replaced, and options for how it may be replaced.
New experienced senior teachers: check your payslips
The department has informed the QTU that all applicants in this year’s round have been notified via email if they were successful (or not) with their application. Payments are due to be paid (including a back payment to eligibility date) in the last pay in August, i.e. 28 August.
Your new classification will be A0401 (four-year trained) or A2401 (three-year trained).