Teacher Work

Teachers – meetings

Teachers can be required to attend up to two hours of meetings adjacent to the seven hours of daily attendance. These meetings will not exceed one hour unless otherwise agreed via consultation, and where a meeting exceeds one hour, the total required afterschool meetings for that week will not exceed 2 hours. 

Meetings adjacent to the school day will occur on Tuesdays and Thursdays commencing at 3.30pm, ending at 4.30pm: 

• staff meetings 
• Domain meetings 
• whole staff professional development sessions.  

Attendance at meetings for part-time staff is pro rata. This table is a guide to how many meetings staff will be required at per term based on their time fraction. 

Part time staff should attend a mix of domain and Professional Learning, and coordinate with their Domain leader(s) and Assistant Principal (Professional Learning) on which meetings they will be in attendance. 

30 + 8 Model

A full-time teacher will be provided with 30 hours of time to undertake the work  directly related to the teaching and learning program of their class(es) (such as face-to-face teaching, planning, preparation, assessment of student learning and collaboration),  with the duties undertaken within that time determined by the teacher. The remaining eight hours available for other activities (such as yard duty, meetings, and lunch). This will be pro rata for part-time teachers.

Should a teacher be unavoidably over-allotted and an alternative arrangement is sought (i.e. no yard duty, extra release at the end of the year), Consultative Committee will be included as part of the consultation process. 

Organisation of teacher work including the face-to-face teaching requirements

Face-to-face teaching is a maximum of 18.5 hours and all face-to-face teaching is  to be considered within the 30 hours of the 30+8 model.

A full-time face-to-face teaching allotment is 18 x 60 minutes (1080 minutes), and an extra every two weeks.

In lieu of an extra every two weeks, teaching staff may seek principal approval to facilitate: 

• A lunchtime or after school activity (not including meeting afternoons) for students to the equivalent of 30 minutes per week, or

• Participation on the after school tutoring program to the equivalent of 30 minutes per week, or

• Participation in a parent engagement project

Under-allotted teachers will be given replacement classes up to a full-time teaching allocation. Wherever possible, these will be allocated before extras and could also  consist of team-teaching, special programs or tutoring.

Pupil free days and teacher professional  practice days

In 2025 there will be five days over the year where teachers aren’t required to teach students, structured as follows:

• Tuesday 28 January  – pupil-free day – Berry Street Instructional Model Day 2

• Thursday 5 June  – pupil-free day – Whole Staff PPD*

• Monday 21 July  – pupil-free day – Curriculum documentation focus

• Thursday 21 August  – pupil-free day – Berry Street Instructional Model Day 3

• Monday 3 November – pupil-free day – Acquittal of TIL

* The work undertaken on professional practice days will be consistent with Departmental and school priorities and selected from the following areas: planning, preparation, assessment of student learning, collaboration, curriculum development, relevant professional development and peer observation including feedback and reflection (as outlined in VGSA 2022 clause 22(12)(b)).

Organisation of work of teachers in their first 12  months of teaching

Where possible, teachers in their first 12 months of teaching (in 2025) will teach a maximum of 17 hours face to face per week and will not be required to take ‘extras’, with the usual arrangements for replacement classes apply. In addition, where possible, teachers requested to act as mentor for a classroom teacher in their first 12 months will be allocated a one period time allowance per week per graduate mentored to support their mentee. 

Should either of these not be possible and alternative arrangement are sought (i.e. no yard duty, extra release at the end of the year), Consultative Committee will be included as part of the consultation process. 

Teacher replacement classes and extras

Where a teacher is absent or unavailable to take their class, a replacement teacher will be allocated to take the class. If a person is under-allotted and available, they will be  allocated the class prior to a teacher being given an ‘extra’ class or a casual relief teacher being used.

Where a teacher’s normal class is absent (e.g., attending an excursion), that teacher may be assigned a replacement class on the day their class is lost. Where a teacher’s  regular  class has been dismissed for the year (e.g., Year 12s finish in October, Year 10s and 11s finish in November), a teacher may be assigned replacement classes of up to 80% of their timetabled allotment in any given week.

A teacher who teaches a Year 12 class(es) will not be allocated replacement classes until the students in that class(es) has completed the final exam for that  subject. This is to ensure that a Year 12 teacher can continue to provide pre-exam support to students. The exception is during Year 12 Practice Exams; if these occur during school hours and students do not have their regular classes, Year 12 teachers may be assigned replacement classes of up to 50% of their timetabled allotment during that week.

Teaching Allotments 

Staff will be consulted through an allotment preference process during term  3 to enable them to identify their preferred allotment for the following year. Every effort will be made to provide preferred allotment’s submitted by domains.

Allotment Process guiding principles:

1. That the allotment process be genuinely consultative with teaching staff and leadership, and centred on supporting the best possible outcomes for students of Glenroy College 

2. To aim for an even spread of experienced staff at all year levels with diverse teaching loads across all year levels

3. That over time a fair rotation of staff occurs at all levels including VCE, to ensure appropriate succession planning

4. That 'Personal Learning' and 'Projects' classes are highly valued at this school, and teachers can anticipate being involved in these programs as part of their teaching load

5. That where possible, formal qualifications will be a factor in allocating staff within every specialist area

6. That managing teacher workload is a key consideration for allotment decisions The Assistant Principal (Teaching and Learning Innovation) will oversee the allotment process, manage the Domain leaders’ discussion of allotments, and review any grievance by staff based on the guiding principles

Allotment Process 

1. At the commencement of the allotment process, classroom teachers give an expression of interest to the Timetabler, Domain Leaders and Assistant Principal (Teaching and Learning Innovation). These will always be given serious consideration, but it is not always possible to accommodate all the requests of staff due to the constraints of developing a timetable.

2. Each Domain leader will develop a set of draft allotments that balances the requests of the teachers and the needs of the school and the expectations of this Policy.

3. The draft allotments of the Domains are put together in a meeting with the Principal Class and Timetabler to ensure that the needs of the school are met.

4. Domain Leaders should present and discuss modified allotments with Domain staff to allow any concerns to be discussed or requests for review of allotments to be considered.

5. A second meeting of Domain Leaders and Principal Class will be held to make changes to allotments that may be necessary.

6. Domain Leaders should be provided with support and advice regarding how to discuss allotment matters with staff. They can at all times liaise with the Assistant Principal (Teaching and Learning Innovation)

7. The Principal will remain involved in the allotment process and has the final decision. The Principal will keep the Consultative Committee informed through the process.

Headstart Program

As senior classes are dismissed at the end of the year, Glenroy Secondary College will run a week-long Headstart program for students entering Year 11 and Year 12 in the following year. Teachers required to teach these programs will be provided with an  allotment of not more than 80% of the teacher’s dismissed classes, in the week those classes were dismissed.

Yard duty

Yard duty will be shared equitably across the teaching staff (pro rata for part-time staff) and is to be considered as part of a teacher’s ‘other duties’ under the 30+8 model. Yard duty scheduled before and after school will occur with staff via consultation and agreement rather than allocation. 

Efforts will be made to ensure a teacher does not have yard duty directly after a class, or  directly before a class. Education support staff will not undertake yard duty.

Organisational Duties

Organisational duties, including any allocated time-allowance and special payment, will be reviewed through the consultative committee by the end of Term 3 as per the VGSA  2022 Clause (22) (11). A finalised list of positions of responsibility will be published during Term 4, to enable staff to express interest subject to a local merit-based selection process.