While schools may not receive Beginning Teacher Support Funding until later in the year, this does not mean additional release from face-to-face (RFF) and mentoring shouldn’t be provided from the beginning of the school year to eligible teachers.
Schools are informed at the beginning of every year of the number of eligible first- and second-year teachers at their workplace and the associated funding.
Funding is provided to schools per beginning teacher:
| FIRST YEAR FUNDING | SECOND YEAR FUNDING | |
| PERMANENT TEACHERS |
2 hours/week additional RFF 1 hour/week mentor release |
1 hour/week additional RFF |
| TEMPORARY TEACHERS (full time + full year engagement) |
2 hours/week additional RFF 1 hour/week mentor release |
N/A |
It’s important that all beginning teachers and Federation members understand the policy and its intended implementation.
We hear all too often of beginning teachers being provided with one day off †at the end of a term as their beginning teacher entitlement. This is not best practice, nor does it meet the requirements of the policy.
The policy states: Although the funding is costed at the equivalent of teacher release hours, the funding can be used flexibly to meet the individual needs of the beginning teacher.
However, it is anticipated that these funds will primarily be used to provide regular release time for the beginning teacher as well as an experienced teacher to provide mentoring support.
Specifically, the Beginning Teacher Support Funding should be used to enhance the professional growth of teachers during their induction period in a variety of ways.â€
If we don’t ensure the current policy is implemented properly and all of the funding allocated to teachers is utilised, it could lead to the stripping back of entitlements the membership fought so hard to obtain.
Contact Federation early for support, clarity and assistance regarding beginning teacher entitlements.
Conditions won through members’ efforts
Beginning Teacher Support Funding was fi rst implemented by the Department in 2014, after eight years of campaigning by Federation members.
Under the Department’s original Beginning Teacher Support Funding policy, temporary teachers only attracted funding in their fi rst year of gaining permanency. This was a significant flaw; the same amount of funding would be spent on the initiative, but many teachers would receive the support too late in their careers. Your union continued with campaigning and from 2017 eligible temporary teachers have been able to access their funding in their first year of teaching.