What to do about a planning-time shortfall

Every hour a classroom teacher spends on planning is an hour somebody else is with their class, and in a primary school that is almost always a specialist. If the total specialist sessions in your week are fewer than the total release sessions your teachers are owed, no arrangement of those sessions delivers the entitlements. It is arithmetic, not scheduling.

• Let specialists’ spare time cover classroom teachers. Most schools have some and never count it. This is the most common genuine fix and it costs nobody anything.
• Add specialist sessions, either another rotation or extending an existing subject to more classes.
• Count meetings or time-block release that already return planning time, where your agreement allows it.
• Reduce entitlements by agreement with the affected staff. This should be the last option, because it is the only one where a teacher loses something.

The free specialist coverage checker compares what your school owes against what your specialist program supplies, in about a minute, without an account. It is worth running before you start a timetable rather than after it fails.