Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA)

Local Education Authority (LEA)

National Joint Council for Local Government Services ( NJC)

Planning, Preparation and Assessment (PPA)

Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA)

Workforce Agreement Monitoring Group (WAMG)

CATS Points - What Are CATS Points? You may have noticed that some course modules carry either 10 or 20 CATS points and you may be wondering what this means. CATS is the Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme. This is a UK-wide scheme used across Further and Higher Education to signal how hard and long courses are. 1 CAT is the equivalent to a notional 10 hours of study, 60 CATS indicates around 600 hours of study etc. Modules at Masters level have M level CATS points attached to them.

D

DCSF - Three new departments were set up by the Prime Minister on 28 June 2007. They replace the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) is responsible for improving the focus on all aspects of policy affecting children and young people, as part of the Government’s aim to deliver educational excellence.

H

HLTA - HLTAs work in the school alongside the teacher, providing valuable support for teaching and learning activities. You could be working right across the curriculum; acting as a specialist assistant for a specific subject or department; or helping to plan lessons and develop support materials.

L

LEA - Local Education Authority or Local Authority (LA). The Local Education Authority has responsibility for the delivery of statutory education services in the local council.

N

NJC - National Joint Council for Local Government Services. National body for negotiating the pay and conditions of staff employed by local authorities. It consists of representatives of the trade unions recognised for local government staff and the employing authorities.

P

PGCE - A Postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) course focuses primarily on the development of your teaching skills, and not on the subject you intend to teach. For this reason, you are expected to have a good understanding of your chosen subject(s) – usually to degree level – before you start training to become a teacher.

PPA - Planning, Preparation and Assessment. Time set aside for the planning and preparation of classes in schools and time for assessment of pupils i.e. writing reports and marking. As part of the workforce agreement teaching staff are guaranteed time away from the classroom to do this work.

Q

QTS - To teach in a state-maintained school you will need qualified teacher status (QTS), achieved through completing initial teacher training (ITT) and demonstrating that you have met the required standards.

T

TDA - Training and Development Agency for Schools Agency established by the government to oversee the training needs and requirements of the whole school workforce.

W

WAMG - Workforce Agreement Monitoring Group Group established by the government to oversee the implementation of the workforce agreement. It includes representatives of teacher, head teacher and staff unions, the national employers and the DfCSF. It supports and advises stakeholders on remodelling and has produced guidelines and advice of the implementation of the agreement.