The NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union is saddened to learn of the death of HM Queen Elizabeth II.
The Queen dedicated 70 years to public service as Head of State of the United Kingdom, Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories.
The NASUWT extends our deepest condolences to the Royal Family at this time.
Following the recent death of HM Queen Elizabeth II, this is a summary of the current proposals and the implications for NASUWT Representatives in discussions with employers.
Following the announcement of an additional bank holiday for HM Queen Elizabeth II’s State Funeral on Monday 19th September 2022, the Department for Education (DfE) has issued advice to education settings (pdf) in England which confirms the following:
‘The official date of the State Funeral will be a bank holiday. As with other bank holidays, it is at the discretion of individual settings whether they close or stay open.’
‘Schools are not expected to remain open on the bank holiday. It should be treated as any normal bank holiday.’
In addition, the advice goes on to state:
‘The bank holiday announcement will not mean teachers will be required to teach an additional day. We will reduce the minimum number of sessions for this school year via regulations and change the definitions in the school teachers’ pay and conditions document for the current year.’
In England, local authority-maintained schools operating according to the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) must open for 195 days.
Of these, a maximum of 190 days involve teaching children and young people. The remaining five days are non-teaching days, when teachers may be asked to undertake other duties related to their role as a teacher. These are often known as in-service training (INSET) days. These limits do not apply if you are paid on the leaders’ range.
Term dates are determined by school employers. The local authority is the employer for community, voluntary-controlled, community special or maintained nursery schools. For foundation, voluntary-aided and foundation special schools, the employer is the governing body.
The NASUWT has been made aware that the DfE is in the process of amending the draft 2022 STPCD to take account of the additional bank holiday and the reduction in the number of days that teachers need to be available to work from 190 (+5 INSET days) to 189 (+5 INSET days). The total school year will therefore be 194 days.
There will also be a corresponding reduction in the number of hours a teacher can be directed for during the academic year.
The Union has been advised that further information will be published but, in essence, teachers will teach one less day for the academic year 2022/23, down from 195 to 194 days (including INSET days), or down from 190 to 189 days (excluding INSET days), across 1,258.5 hours as opposed to 1,265 hours of directed time.
Academies, including free schools, set their own term dates and school day. Whilst the overwhelming majority adhere to the provisions set out in the STPCD, some academies operate terms and conditions which do not. As such, they can set a different directed time calendar, specifying working time which may be in excess of the 195 days a year identified in the STPCD.
NASUWT Representatives will therefore need to be cognisant of this when engaging in discussion with such employers, particularly in respect of those teachers who may have transferred into the academy/free school under the terms of the STPCD.
Part-time teachers
The situation for those working part time will depend on the nature of the contract and your working arrangements.
If you are not required to work on Monday 19th September 2022, this would be treated as any other week when you are not required to work on that day.
However, if you would normally work on the day or part of the day on 19th September 2022, then you would not be expected to work because of the additional bank holiday for HM Queen Elizabeth II’s State Funeral.
Irrespective of whether your day of work falls on the additional bank holiday for HM Queen Elizabeth II’s State Funeral, you should only be required to work for the number of days and hours in your contract, as adjusted for one less day and the corresponding reduction in working hours in the academic year 2022/23, where appropriate.
If you are a part-time teacher, you should carefully check your working days and hours to ensure that they have been appropriately adjusted. Where this is not the case, you should contact the NASUWT for advice and support.
If you work in England, your working days would be based on the pro rata amount of 194 days as opposed to 195, or 190 to 189 (excluding INSET days) across 1,258.5 hours as opposed to 1,265 hours of directed time.
It should be noted that academies, including free schools, can set their own term dates and school day. Whilst the overwhelming majority adhere to the provisions set out in the STPCD, some academies operate terms and conditions which do not. As such, this may impact the days and hours that you can be required to work as a part-time teacher, including in respect of the State Funeral.
NASUWT Coventry 