In Sixth Form at Co-op Academy Bebington we have a number of study programmes that typically combine academic qualifications with other activities. We have a Level 3 programme where students study for three Level 3 qualifications (both BTEC and A Level) with five hours of taught time per subject. In addition to this, students will also study an enrichment subject (for example Core Maths, Extended Project Qualification, additional PE) for one to two hours per week. Students are also expected to attend two hours of supervised study as well as attend form periods where assemblies, careers advice and PSHCE will be delivered (two hours per week). Therefore, a typical level 3 student will receive 20 hours of directed time per week.

For our Level 2 programme (Work Skills) students will have ten hours of directed time for the Work Skills element for the course plus up to four hours of GCSE resit tuition depending on student need. They receive an hour of PSHCE, as well as attend a work placement of one day a week. Students are committed to complete seventy-two hours in their placement to pass this element of the course.

6th Form Staff Absence

There are a number of differences in the way lessons in KS3/4 and the Sixth Form are dealt with due to staff absence.

This is mainly due to the difficulty and amount of work that is required both in and out of the classroom in sixth form. Students will need to take control of their own learning and are expected to complete at least 4.5 hours of independent study in addition to their lessons for each of their subjects. The teacher/ staff will guide them with this and identify work to be completed. There is also an expectation the student sets aside time for revision, review and completion of wider learning activities. 

This in turn changes the way that short staff absence is managed - whilst it may be the case that colleagues can support classes that are unsupervised, we do not 'cover' lessons in 6th form all of the time -this is usual practice for a Sixth Form. There are a number of reasons for this. Namely, cover teachers with the level of skill and expertise required are not readily available via teaching agencies, it takes time to find the right person and complete the required checks. We also know that having a 'non-expert' has proven to be an ineffective use of the student's time; students report to us they do not like coming into school to be ‘supervised’ by a non-subject specialist. 

We compensate for this in a number of ways. We cover 6th form lessons where possible if we have the capacity in our cover team, if this is not possible there is a classroom space available every lesson where students can go to complete quiet study or complete tasks set on the Google Classroom by absent staff. However, most importantly we expect that our students are able to take responsibility and use any staff absence time to work independently.

If a teacher is unexpectedly absent for a short period of time:

• An email, or post on the Google Classroom, detailing the work to be completed during the lesson time will be sent. This work will have been set by the teacher and is designed to enable the students to work independently on a task pertinent to their current work. Teachers are asked to provide work sufficiently challenging for the subject with guidance on what to do if a student is struggling. Students will then go to the study room and complete the work.

• It is important to remember that if a staff member is absent it is often because they are too poorly to come into work and, as such, there may be occasions when they are too unwell to set work. In this instance the Curriculum Coordinator will work as quickly as they can to create and set the work. Again, your understanding that we are working as quickly as we can is appreciated. 

• Students may be expected to attend the class to use certain resources and complete tasks, however, this is not always the case. We do not cancel lessons, they are unsupervised learning episodes.

• It is important all students utilise the time and take responsibility for completing the work set as part of their on-going study programme.

What happens if a teacher’s absence is prolonged?

Upon official confirmation, by way of a note from a medical practitioner, that a teaching colleague will be absent for a prolonged period of time (2 weeks +) the school will arrange for appropriately qualified and experienced cover for lessons. It should be appreciated that this process takes time, during the interim the actions detailed above will be in place.

In these circumstances we work closely with fellow colleagues in the team to endeavour to increase the amount of supervision in classes. Our teams will support as best they can, around their own timetable and personal commitments, to ensure some (if not all) lessons have teacher led supervision.

Whilst very rare, we recognise that there can be a circumstance in which a high number of lessons have been affected for the same subject over a period of time/number of occurrences. 

We wish to reassure you that we do have a robust process in place for absence management. The welfare of our colleagues is very important to us and thus on return to work they meet with their line manager to discuss their absence, the work set etc. 

Mr Johns, the Director of Sixth Form and Curriculum Coordinators continuously monitors the impact of absence on student progress and learning. If it is felt that the student group have been adversely affected by teacher absence, then arrangements are made to create additional sessions and revision days at a key time of the year. In some cases it may be appropriate to re timetable the subject so that subject specialists are available.