The McCormac report was published at 10am this morning so these are my initial thoughts after a read of the recommendations.
Recommendation 1: Annex B of the Teachers’ Agreement should be removed and teachers should work to a set of standards developed by the GTCS as the basis for their professional practice.
So the outline of the teacher’s duties are to be replaced by set of standards – are these to be the current professional standards?
Recommendation 8: The 35 hours of contractual time per year that was allocated for CPD should remain but this should not be viewed as a time limit on CPD.
Glad to see this recommendation but should there not be a minimum amount of CPD rather than a maximum?
Recommendation 10: A rigorous and relevant programme of CPD should be made available to all teachers; spanning initial teacher education to masters level.
Recommendation 14: Supply teachers should have access to high quality CPD and should be entitled to engage in a PRPD process.
I have grouped these two recommendations together – I am pleased to see the recognition of supply teachers and their need for high quality CPD and being able to take part in PRPD process. As a supply teacher I actively seek CPD opportunities and I am member of CPDStepin. Supply teachers and those on short term contracts are valuable members of the teaching community. Although McCormac has acknowledged our need for CPD and PRPD, COSLA cut our pay from the start of this term.
These are my initial thoughts / rant on some of the McCormac Report recommendations. Will post again later.
