Classroom Release Time (CRT)

The Gorge Road School Board provides permanent teachers with classroom release time. 

Classroom release time (CRT) reduces the workload and improves well-being (hauora) for classroom teachers who hold prime responsibility for a group of students within the school. It does not apply to the principal, itinerant resource teachers, itinerant teachers, teachers wholly released by entitlement staffing, or teachers bound by another collective agreement.

Entitlement

·     Classroom teachers employed for 0.8 FTTE or more, or full-time relieving teachers (employed for a term or more) are provided with classroom release time.

·     Every part-time teacher employed for at least 0.8 FTTE, either permanently or fixed term for a term or longer, receives classroom release calculated pro-rata, based on the latest collective agreement.

·     When school sessions prevent precise allocation of classroom release time, the school tries to provide as close as possible to the entitlement including, where needed, advanced or delayed entitlement across the 4 terms of each school year.

·     Any teacher employed full time from a mixture of entitlement and board funding is entitled to full classroom release.

·     Classroom release is additional release time for teachers who have already been allocated release time for non-classroom responsibilities.

GUIDELINES

Staff will be consulted/informed during each term as to how the CRT time will be delivered.

Classroom release time will be used for:

 i)                Planning (individual, syndicate, and whole staff

 ii)               Reporting

iii)              Professional Development

iv)             Assessment and evaluation

v)              Other uses agreed on from time to time between teacher and Principal.

vi)             School/Classroom visits

Where release time cannot be provided this will be made up where practicable within the school timetable.

Classroom release time should not create extra work for the classroom teacher or the teacher providing the release.  The teacher providing the release will be expected to liaise with the teacher before they undertake the release time to ensure classroom programmes are not interrupted.  The release teacher will be expected to give feedback to the class teacher.

Teachers are expected to remain on the school site during classroom release time unless the Principal has agreed otherwise.

It is expected classroom release time will be taken in the term it is allocated unless agreed otherwise.

Salary Units

Salary units are generated by staffing and are provided for the purpose of recognising management, responsibility and/or reward.If entitlement staffing reduces the school's number of units, the collective agreement explains how this will be done. Performance Objectives relating to responsibilities are included in individual Job Descriptions and Performance Agreements. 

Reviewed May 2024