Nut Briefing for Home Tutors

YOUR PROFESSIONAL EXPECTATIONS

NUT BRIEFING FOR HOME TUTORS

SEPTEMBER 2011

This briefing gives you information on the NUT’s policies on the organisation of home tuition services and your professional expectations with regard to support and professional development as a member of this service.

A SPECIALIST CAREER

Home tutors provide invaluable support to their pupils who need education out of school, ensuring the continuity of their education and their access to the curriculum.

It is a matter of continuing concern to the NUT that many home tutors work in difficult circumstances with inadequate facilities, few opportunities for career development, lack of recognition for their skills and expertise and under short-term contracts.

Home tutoring is a specialist career and should be recognised as such. Home tutors have a high level of expertise and skills and therefore their role as educational professionals should be respected and valued. The NUT believes that home tutors should have job security, career prospects and fair treatment.

As with all teachers, home tutors working within home tutoring services need to have access to professional advice and continuing professional development. The provision of support should be a normal expectation.

THE LEGAL POSITION

The Education Act 1996, as amended by the Education Act 2002, established a statutory duty for education authorities to provide education otherwise than at school. Section 19 provides that:

“ Each local authority shall make arrangements for the provision of suitable education at school or otherwise than at school for those children of compulsory school age who, by reason of illness, exclusion from school or otherwise, may not for any period receive suitable education unless such arrangements are made for them.”

Local authorities do not have a duty to provide education otherwise than at school for young people not of compulsory age, but they have a power to do so. Section 19 (4) of the Education Act 1996, as amended by the 2002 Act, provides that:

“ A local authority may make arrangements for the provision of suitable education otherwise than at school for those young persons who, by reason of illness, exclusion from school or otherwise, may not for any period receive suitable education unless such arrangements are made for

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‘Special Educational Expenditure’ is one of the four main blocks of expenditure which may be retained by local authorities under ‘fair funding’ within the Local Schools Budget. The ‘Special Educational Provision’ expenditure in England and the ‘Provision of a Specialised Nature’ expenditure in Wales includes as one of the categories the education otherwise than at school of pupils, including for sick children in hospital or at home and for excluded children in pupil referral units.

The NUT has argued consistently that to retain flexible and coherent support for schools, funding for special educational needs support services should be provided centrally by the local authority, on the basis that the incidence of special educational needs vary between schools.

The NUT believes also that any teachers working for voluntary organisations or charities, which provide education for pupils otherwise than at school, should be entitled to the same conditions of service and pay as qualified teachers.

A CHARTER FOR TEACHERS IN THE HOME TEACHING SERVICE

The NUT believes that home tutors are entitled to similar pay, conditions and professional development of their colleagues in schools. The NUT’s charter for home tutors, which the NUT encourages local education authorities to adopt, is set out below.

Secretaries of the NUT’s divisions will know whether there are such agreements for home teaching services in place with local authorities. The NUT has asked its divisions to seek agreements on the checklist set out below.

 Where staff teach wholly or mainly children with statements of special educational needs they should receive additional spine points.

 Non-contact time should be available for preparation, assessment and record- keeping and also for liaison work with other professionals, the child’s own school, if appropriate, and home.

 There should be allowances for travelling time and expenses, for example, in the case of home teachers.

 Home tutors should have access to in-service training provided for all teachers by the local education authorities.

 Home tutors should have access to specialist courses, which should include child protection training and counselling skills. Such specialist training may be organised on a regional basis.

 Specialist teachers should be available to teach specific subjects.

 There is a need for appropriate non-teaching and clerical administrative support in order to minimise the bureaucratic burden faced by teachers in order to safeguard their professionalism.

 Teachers themselves should have access to support, including counselling, when

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 There should be clear lines of responsibility.

 There should be security and regularity of employment to attract teachers with the necessary skill and expertise.

The NUT believes firmly that the teacher’s role as an educational professional should be respected and valued. All teachers, including home tutors, should have job security, career prospects and fair treatment.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The professional development of home tutors is not only beneficial to those teachers personally but to all those involved in the education of pupils otherwise than at school, including the pupils themselves. The entitlements under the Standards Fund should apply to teachers in home teaching services.

The NUT believes that all teachers are entitled to high quality professional development. They should have the same rights as any other qualified teachers.

Home tutors, by the very nature of their work, need to be highly skilled teachers who apply these skills to a variety of situations, e.g., teaching children who may be excluded, or ill. The need for a flexible and adaptable approach should be accounted for in any specialised training offered.

The NUT believes that all organisations, whether private agencies or local education authorities, should be required to ensure that consistent, high quality, continuing professional development is provided to all staff they employ, including home tutors.

GETTING ADVICE FROM YOUR UNION

The NUT advises members who are home tutors and who wish to seek advice about the issues covered in this briefing to contact the appropriate NUT Regional Office or, in Wales, the NUT Wales Office, NUT Cymru.

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