Written question asked by David Laws (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 11 January 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 13 January 2010. It was answered by Lord Coaker (Labour) on Monday, 18 January 2010 on behalf of the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Headteachers

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether he plans to end the three hour limit on lesson observation by headteachers; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: The statutory framework for performance management in England is provided by The Education (School Teacher Performance Management) (England) Regulations 2006, SI 2006 No. 2661.The amount of observation that is planned and agreed should reflect and be proportionate to the needs of the individual teacher and reflect their individual circumstances. The regulations specify a limit of three hours in any review cycle for classroom observation. However, where evidence emerges which gives rise to concern about a teacher's teaching performance a revision meeting is held and additional classroom observations may be arranged. There are no plans to change these arrangements.

Secondary information