The Governing Body’s Role in Teacher Appraisal and Pay Partnership of Jewish Schools Clare Collins...

The Governing Body’s Role in Teacher Appraisal and Pay

Partnership of Jewish Schools

Clare CollinsNGA Lead Consultant

21st October 2015

© NGA 2013 1www.nga.org.uk


Welcome and Introductions


NGA is a membership organisation

• Representing the governors and trustees in all state funded schools in

England

• Our aim to improve the effectiveness of governing bodies by providing expert

and tailored information and advice, and challenge when appropriate

Standard governing body membership is £77

GOLD governing body membership is £260

and includes an advice line


Purpose of the Session

At the end of the session, governors should understand the governing body’s

responsibilities on teacher appraisal and pay. We will cover:

– Why performance should be managed

– The School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document

– Staff appraisal and pay policies

– Headteacher appraisal

– Monitoring objectives and appraisal outcomes

– What does success look like?

– Appeals procedures


Terminology

Performance management system - usually an annual cycle which includes:

– A starting point at which objectives for the year are agreed

– A mid year review of progress towards achieving the agreed objectives

– An end point with an appraisal meeting

The appraisal or annual performance review meeting – is the annual

meeting at which appraiser meets with the member of staff to discuss

performance against the objectives agreed at the beginning of the year

NB Appraisal and pay are not necessarily linked


Staff development matters

Staff performance and developmentBeing the most important lever for school improvement and therefore performance management and appraisal, it needs to be done well in order for children and young people to achieve their potential.

Effective self-evaluationGoverning bodies have a statutory responsibility to conduct their schools so as to promote high standards of education; if there is no formal appraisal then the picture of the school is incomplete and it will not be possible to set an effective improvement strategy.

Continuing professional development (CPD) for staffIf there is no formal appraisal process then it is difficult to determine and arrange appropriate CPD, which again will impact on the standard of education offered.

Good employment practiceThe governing body has a duty of care to its staff, and appraisal is part of any effective organisation’s staffing procedures. All staff deserve to be managed well and, as part of this, to have an effective appraisal which is carried out properly and informs their CPD.


Discussion

What challenges face GBs in carrying out performance management?


Challenges for GBs

Time

Evidence

Defensivenss

Inconsistency

Discrimination

Equal pay

Staff morale

Recruitment and retention

Appeals


In the best schools I know, teachers at all levels of competence are encouraged to improve their practice; in the worst schools, a climate of fear reigns and teachers who find the job challenging can be left unsupported, made to feel inept, and often go on to leave the

profession.

Good Seeds Grow in Strong Cultures, Saphier and King:If we are serious about school improvement and attracting and

retaining talented people to school careers, then our highest priority should be to maintain structures that nurture adult growth and sustain the school as an attractive workplace.

Make PRP supportive not penal. I am in the process of completing the annual Performance Developmentcycle of 30 Huntington teachers. It is my core work, the most important thing I do in the school year becauseit is the vehicle through which I can most influencethe quality of teaching.


Core responsibilities of the GB

• The governing body is responsible for ensuring high standards of

performance in the school.

• The performance of staff employed at the school will have an enormous

effect on the learning of pupils, and therefore their achievements.

• If the governing body is unaware of how well members of staff are

performing in their roles, it will be unable to evaluate the school’s progress.

• If teaching is not good, the governing body needs to know to ensure actions

are being taken to improve this in order to fulfil its duty.

• The governing body also has to manage the performance of the

headteacher.


Appraisal and pay policies

Academies

Have freedom to establish their own appraisal and pay policies: it is good practice to have a formal policy for staff appraisal (including appraising the headteacher/principal)

LA maintained schools

Are required to have appraisal and pay policies for teaching staff which must take into account the teaching standards and include objectives relating to the performance of the school - academies may wish to consider adopting similar procedures

Inspection

Ofsted inspectors will look at the correlation between performance appraisal, pay and the quality of teaching. The September 2012 Ofsted Framework revised and increased expectations in relation to appraisal and governors’ involvement in pay progression.


The School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document

•The STPCD is statutory for maintained schools and is contractual for many academies

•From September 2013 any school subject to the STPCD document had to

revise its pay policy to ensure an explicit link between pay and performance

•Teacher pay has to be set taking into account their individual performance

AND the context of the school: in other words … pay increases are not

automatic but are based on successful performance


Budgetary Implications

While schools will need to consider the budgetary implications of their pay

decisions, these changes are about enabling schools to pay teachers in line

with their performance rather than progressing every teacher at the same rate

regardless of performance or arbitrarily limiting pay progression.

The changes will allow schools to use their funds to reward excellent

performance rather than continue to be locked into statutory pay arrangements

that mean year on year pay bill pressures that are beyond their control.

DfE Teachers’ pay reform – myths and facts


Measuring Performance

• Performance measures can be absolute or relative or a combination of

both

• Levels of performance required for progression to be awarded should be

defined

• Progression needs to be differentiated so that the very highest

performers can progress faster

• Sources of evidence must be determined e.g. self-assessment, peer

review, tracking progress, lesson observation, the views of pupils and

parents

• The GB will need to monitor the outcomes and impact of the policy


In practice

The GB will need to:

•Convene a pay committee with terms of reference for its delegated powers

•Appoint governors to carry out the headteacher’s appraisal and to make pay

recommendations to the pay committee

•Ensure that those involved are trained: both governors and staff

Remember, many governors will be performance managed by their employers

and will be confident and knowledgeable about the systems and behaviours

required for successful performance management.


Headteacher appraisal

See handout:

true or false?


Setting HT objectives

Consider:

– How many objectives should be set?

– How high level e.g.

• Primary: boys in Y3 make better than expected progress in writing

• Secondary: geography results improve by 10%

• The improvement strategy KPIs have been met

– What evidence will be required?

– Who will advise the GB?

– The HT has reached the top of the pay scale but has met all her/his

objectives: should s/he get a pay rise?


Monitoring objectives and appraisal outcomes

• Must be a mid year review

– GB reviews HT’s progress

– HT / SLT review staff performance

• Progress must be evidenced

• Performance must be understood and reported to the GB

• And pay – in general, anonymised terms

• The GB should be made aware of any issues and how these are being

addressed

• Ofsted will expect governors to know about the link between performance

and pay and will comment on it


Appeals

• Appeals are a possibility and should be planned for

• A procedure should be appended to the pay policy

• A panel of three governors should hear appeals

• Governors will need to understand the performance management system

• There may be training implications


To summarise

The governing body has to:

•Approve the appraisal and pay policy

•Be familiar with the performance management system in the school

•Performance manage the headetacher

•Decide how to find out if performance management is applied consistently and

in line with policy

•Be able to explain its knowledge of performance and action being taken

•Be sure that the criteria in the pay policy contributes to rising standards

•Establish an appeal process

•Consider its training needs


Questions GBs should ask

1. How effectively are the staff appraised?

2. How effectively do we appraise the headteacher?

3. What should our pay policy say about performance and progression?

4. What is the correlation between appraisal outcomes, pay and the quality of

teaching and learning?

5. How effective is performance management in improving teaching and

learning?

NGA Knowing Your School: Governors and Staff Performance


Reviewing the session

We have covered:

– Why performance should be managed

– The School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document

– Staff appraisal and pay policies

– Headteacher appraisal

– Monitoring objectives and appraisal outcomes

– What does success look like?

– Appeals procedures

Any questions?


www.nga.org.uk

[email protected]

0121 237 3780

The Governing Body’s Role in Teacher Appraisal and Pay Partnership of Jewish Schools Clare Collins...

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