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PPA Time: A definition and its effectiveness.
on Feb 14 in newsThe change to the management process, which helped thousands of schools to ‘remodel’, has been designed to enable teachers to focus more effectively on their teaching, increase the role of support staff and provide every pupil with a chance to achieve greater success.
The change management process is not prescriptive but provides schools with tools and techniques, which allow them to identify their own priorities and to develop solutions, which are appropriate to their own circumstances. One of these tools is known as Planning, Preparation and Assessment time – PPA time. This stipulates that teachers must spend 10% of their working week out of contact with their class in order to plan, prepare and assess class work.
PPA time has presented an opportunity for Sportscape Leisure Ltd. to provide all children with the chance participate in sport to develop life skills and movement skills encouraging the ethos of ‘sport for life’.
Sportscape Leisure Ltd. aim to provide a high-quality product, delivering education through sport in a fun and safe environment.
Our range of services means we can provide sports participation and education for people of all ages while ensuring each is learning at a level, which is challenging for them. Working within the boundaries of the National Curriculum, Sportscape Leisure Ltd. provide PPA cover for over 30 schools in Cheshire East, Cheshire West, Shropshire and North Staffs and deliver most curriculum sports from Football to Gymnastics, Hockey to Athletics, Cricket to Tag Rugby.
Sportscape Leisure Ltd. also provides school with a complete PPA package. This includes completed Short and Medium Term Plans for all sessions and assistance with assessment of children during PE activities; this further cuts down on administration for teachers as Sportscape provide complete Physical Education coverage.
In the event of poor weather, Sportscape Leisure Ltd. will amend all plans to adapt their session to continue with development whilst using an indoor facility and schools that cannot guarantee us access to safe hall space children can also benefit from our unique Primary Sports Science Pack or our Applied Sports pack for KS1.
Sportscape Leisure Ltd. also consider all types of learner and all children’s educational and behavioural needs by working in close coordination with class teachers and by following school behaviour policies and all class strategies to provide children with continuity throughout their day, this also allows PPA time to mean none contact when we are providing PPA cover.
Three-quarters of Head Teachers agreed that teachers having PPA time had impacted positively on teacher morale, planning and the effectiveness of lessons and case study teachers were generally appreciative of having PPA time with those in primary schools reporting a greater impact; this related to having the time in substantial blocks when they could focus on their work, and in some cases work with colleagues and over two-thirds of primary school Head Teachers and teachers were satisfied with the impact of their PPA arrangements on teachers’ workloads and on standards.
Since the inception of PPA time further research carried out by the London Metropolitan University has found that
- Around half the primary class teachers said that their PPA time was arranged so that they could plan with other staff at least some of the time, Primary case study interviewees were very positive about the benefits of working collaboratively during PPA time
- A majority of case study interviewees echoed these findings. Planning was most often undertaken by those in primary schools during PPA time, allowing teachers to make effective use of their time and better quality of contact time.
PPA time has proven to be a success amongst Teachers and Head Teachers alike. It provides more effective use of Teachers expertise and also allows subject specialists, such as Sportscape Leisure Ltd the opportunity to develop and inspire children in sport and healthy living ideas. This can also be supplement by Sportscape Leisure Ltd after school club programme. This programme is based around healthy living and exercise whilst having as much fun as possible. After school clubs are often sports specific and regularly provide the basis for school teams, however are often skill development clubs, where children can take part in a number of sports throughout the length of a half term.