Purpose
The Teachers’ Agreement (2020) covers a whole range of areas including teachers’ Pay, Workload, Inspections and Health & Wellbeing. It also reminds us that each teacher should have a Directed Time Budget, so it is the professional duty of principals in all schools to ensure a Directed Time Budget is prepared for each teacher which gives due regard to their individual responsibilities. The Principal should make arrangements to ensure that teachers are consulted in relation to their Directed Time Budgets. However, teachers do not have freedom to decide for themselves how they allocate their time.
Furthermore, the 2024 Workload Agreement reminds us that “The time budget should be distributed prior to the commencement of the teaching year”. (Workload Agreement, TNC 2024/2, paragraph 4.3)
Resource
An online resource for school principals designed to support the development of Directed Time Budgets can be accessed by clicking on this link.
The resource consists of the following elements:
- Series of phase specific videos
- Directed Time Budget planning tolls including a comprehensive Checklist
- Key reference documents including Advice on Developing Directed Time Budgets
- Directed Time Budget Sway