Capita Education Resourcing

Qualified Teacher Status (A Summary of DCSF Guidance)

From 1st September 2008 the law changes so that only someone who holds Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) can work lawfully as a qualified teacher in a maintained school or non-maintained special school in England.

Up until now, trainee teachers who have completed their training courses but have not passed one or more of the skills tests have been able to work as unqualified teachers for up to a maximum of five years. The change in the law removes this five year period. 31st August 2008 will be the last date that recently trained teachers who are currently working without having passed their skills tests, and therefore without QTS, can be lawfully employed as teachers.

There will no longer be a category of 'unqualified teacher who has yet to pass their skills tests'. Instructors and support staff do not have to pass the tests because they do not have the same range of responsibilities and do not have to meet the standards that qualified teachers do.

Who does the law allow to teach?

From 1st September 2008 the following people can do 'specified work' in maintained schools or non-maintained special schools in England:

• Teachers with QTS;
• Trainee teachers on mainstream or employment based routes
to QTS;
• Overseas Trained Teachers who have worked here for less than
four years since the first date they did so;
• Instructors ('unqualified teachers' who the law allows to carry
out the same duties as qualified teachers.)
• Support staff (subject to their having the necessary skills and
being supervised and directed by a qualified teacher).

Teachers qualifying in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the European Economic Area (EEA)

Anyone who has qualified as a teacher in the UK or countries in the EEA can request the GTCE to recognise their qualifications and award them QTS without further training.

Recommend a friend to Capita and you could benefit from a bonus of £100*

How do I qualify?

1. You qualify for the bonus if your friend has never worked with Capita (in this case they will need to register) or if they haven't worked with us within the last three months (in this case they will need to update their details).

2. Contact us at enquiry.ers@capita.co.uk with details of your recommendation.

3. Once your friend has worked for 10 days within 7 weeks we will pay you £100*.

How many friends can I recommend?

There is no limit to the amount of friends you can recommend.

* subject to tax and national insurance

Completing Timesheets

Please ensure that your timesheet is correctly completed and sent to our office for arrival the following Monday. If you send an incorrect or incomplete timesheet, your pay may be delayed.

Please remember to:

Enter a valid weekending Sunday date.
Enter a client name.
Enter your first name and last name.
Daily Paid Assignments: Enter a cross in the appropriate box to indicate each day worked. Cross the am box for a morning only and the am and pm box for a full day.
Hourly Paid Assignments: Enter the number of hours and minutes worked for each morning and afternoon.
Complete the Total days worked or total hours to be paid box correctly.
Sign your timesheet.

Important Information for Overseas Trained Teachers

Teachers from overseas make a valued contribution to our schools. However there is a legal limit on how long you can teach in a relevant* school in England unless you have obtained qualified teacher status (QTS).

What are the rules for OTTs teaching in England?
The law allows you to work in a relevant school in England for up to four calendar years if you have successfully completed teacher training which is recognised by the authorities in your own country. This is often called 'the four year rule'. It is very important to be aware that you must have obtained QTS in order to continue teaching after four years.

How does the "four year rule" operate?
The four year period during which you are allowed to work without QTS starts on the day you first worked as a teacher in a relevant school in England and will expire exactly four years later even if you have not taught continuously throughout the four year period or if you were overseas.

How do I obtain QTS?
The best and quickest way is to undertake an employment based training programme, usually the Overseas Trained Teacher Programme, which allows you to work as a teacher and study for QTS simultaneously. It is sometimes possible to be awarded QTS without undertaking extra training by assessment only but the type and length of training depends on your qualifications and previous experience as a teacher.

What happens if I have not obtained QTS after four years?
It is unlawful to continue working in a relevant school although extra time is available if you have taken maternity, paternity, parental or adoption leave allowed under employment law. Otherwise, you should stop teaching and if you want to teach again study for QTS via a non employment based route such as the Postgraduate Certificate in Education.

More detailed help and guidance can be found via the link:

http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/wholeschool/overseastrainedteachers/

*A relevant school is a state maintained school or non-maintained special school.

Extracts taken from a document published by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Taking it Further

The Further Education Division is currently recruiting lecturers and A-level teachers across a broad range of both non-vocational and vocational subjects, for positions in September, throughout the UK.

If you have experience of post 16/adult education or know someone who does and might be interested, please call freephone 0800 316 1332 to discuss the opportunities in your area.

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Continuing Professional Development

If you feel you currently have unmet professional development
needs, why not attend one of our free Saturday morning
training events.

For further information or to book a place on one of the courses, contact your consultant on 0800 731 6871

To view a list of forthcoming events please click HERE.

Consultants On The Run!

Cancer Research UK's Race for Life began in 1994 to raise funds for the charity's pioneering work to help beat cancer. It is now the biggest women-only fundraising event in the UK; in 2007 665,000 women walked, jogged or ran 5k to raise £40 million pounds.

Here are just some of the Capita staff who will be participating in their local Race for Life later in the year. We wish them the best of luck!

Charlene Hodgett (Divisional Support), Leicester office.
Zoe Clarke (Divisional Manager), Jemma Levett (Divisional
Manager), Lois Grady (Consultant) and Canan Yusuf (Consultant) all from the Greenwich office.
Lizzie McDonnell (Principal Consultant), Tce McCann (Divisional Manager), Nina Thompson (Consultant), Elaine Berry (Principal Consultant) and Nicki Green (Marketing Co-ordinator) from the Liverpool office.
Sara Rotherham (Divisional Support), Southampton office.

Kojo Agyemang, Consultant at the Greenwich office, is taking things one step further and is currently in training for the 2008 London marathon. He is supporting the charity 'whizz-kidz', which helps disabled children lead a more independent life.

Laura-Anne Jones, Divisional Support, North Wales office, will be participating in a midnight 10 mile walk for Nightingale Hospice in Wrexham, which provides specialist palliative care services for cancer patients.

Digi-Search Puzzle....

If you would like to be in with the chance of winning £250 of High Street vouchers, then please click HERE to visit Capita Education Resourcing's website where you can view and download our Digi-Search Puzzle.

Simply print out the puzzle, complete it and return it to us before
Friday 2nd May 2008.

Congratulations...
To Emma Threlfall (Preston) who was the winner of the January 2008 Digi-Search Competition Prize and wins £250.

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Preston's Divisional Manager, Annette Bradford, presents the cheque to Emma Threlfall, Primary Teacher.