learning matters (nz)
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Rest and Meal Breaks
There has been some discussion around the new amendment to the Employment Relations Act. This provides stricter guidelines (see bottom of this post) around the provision of rest and meal breaks for staff.
Interestingly the formal discussion emphasises that the new legislation is designed to protect vulnerable workers, such as part-timers and casuals. Many of these workers are not covered by collective employment agreements and may not currently have access to rest and meal breaks.
Teachers are covered by a collective contract. One that has evolved over time to meet the needs of both students and staff.
What we must now be careful that we don't throw out good practices to meet the mindless, lowest common denominator approach to the law. The guidelines strongly emphasise the need for employers and employees to discuss the matter and come to an appropriate arrangement.
There has been suggestions by some parties that schools must rigidly adhere to prescripted timelines. But first we need to sort out our priorities. Student learning and safety are paramount. As is teachers' wellbeing. Both goals can (must) be met to the highest level.
Schools are a community. Strong communities survive on give and take, when then is done fairly and equitably. Rigid legalism breeds a culture of fear and distrust, the antithesis of a good team.
The matter is now before the Minister of Education, Anne Tolley; who is now to talk to the NZEI, PPTA and other interested parties.
But I for one hope that schools can sort it out at their level. If we are a strong team, then we can do this. I believe that I work in a very strong team, and am confident that we will manage this ourselves.
Department of Labour Advice for Employers:
From 1 April 2009, employers are required to provide workers with paid rest breaks and unpaid meal breaks.
Workers are entitled to the following paid rest breaks:
- one 10-minute paid rest break if their work period is between two and four hours
- one 10-minute paid rest break and one unpaid 30-minute meal break if their work period is from four to six hours
- two 10-minute paid rest breaks and one 30-minute unpaid meal break if their work period is from six to eight hours.
Where employees work for periods longer than eight hours, these provisions automatically re-apply to each succeeding work period.
What is a rest break?
The legislation does not define the term rest break, but the intent of a rest break is to ensure that employees have the opportunity for rest and refreshment, and to attend to personal needs. The details as to how an employee’s work might be managed and the level of connection they need to have with their work while on their rest break will depend on the type of job that the employee does. For this reason, it is best that an employer and employee discuss how work will be managed during the break.
Can employees choose their break times?
The new legislation is designed to protect vulnerable workers, such as part-timers and casuals. Many of these workers are not covered by collective employment agreements and may not currently have access to rest and meal breaks.
Employees and employers can agree to the timing of the breaks. Where such agreement cannot be reached however, the rest and meal breaks must be evenly spread throughout the work period where reasonable and practicable.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Tolley Reduces the Toll of ERO
Accountability is essential, especially in the public sector. Without the immediacy of financial 'bottom lines', we need something that will drive performance instead. This ensures that we make the best use of scarce resources to maximise outcomes, in this case student learning.
In good schools this drive exists and is supported by effective systems. Such schools regularly review their systems and outcomes. Are their students achieving in formal and informal assessments? Is the school communicating effectively with parents? Are students safe? Are they delivering the best curriculum to their students?
These are just some of the questions asked by a good quality school. And by good quality faculties, and individual teachers. These schools, faculties, and staff are alive and pursuing the best for their students.
ERO reviews are time-consuming for schools and their staff. They are very useful, but as others suggest, let good quality schools focus their resources on what really counts ... teaching and learning. And let ERO use its resources and expertise to help those schools who need it.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
End of the Golden Weather
Don’t get me wrong. I welcome any debate about education and how to do the best for our children. However I wish we were able to get past the banal generalities that the papers and glossies throw at us.
Take school donations. The discussion around the exact legality of various school expenses, including the school donation, diverts the discussion away from the more meaningful debate about what we as a community want to spend on our children’s education.
At a national level, through the Government, how much of our taxes do we want put into providing the best possible teachers and resources? At a local level, how much time and personal resources will we put into meeting the specific needs of our own children and their friends?
More importantly, what outcomes do we want for our children and our neighbours’ children?
And league tables. These divert us into superficial comparisons of schools and debates over the validity of achievement data or one assessment type over another.
I am a strong advocate of accountability and the use of data to monitor performance. But let’s have the whole debate, not just half of it. We must first decide what our goals are, then our strategy … and then monitor our progress towards them.
School A should not aim to be better than schools B or C. All our schools should aim to do the best for their students – in and beyond the classroom. The progress of other schools helps to benchmark a school’s own goals and progress, but it does not define them.
All schools must focus on developing and implementing strategies that deliver the highest quality teaching in the classroom, and so ensuring students attaining personal excellence.
Now at the start of the academic year, and as co-curricular activities get underway (some are already well started), let’s focus on the goals of our children, the strategies for achieving those, and the resources that we will personally and collectively provide to support the attainment of those goals.
Labels: education, learning, new zealand, performance management
