1. The Role of Governors in Teachers’ Performance Related Pay (PRP) NAME OF FACILITATOR
Introductions

2. Welcome and introductions
TAILORED FOR INDIVIDUAL LICENSEES

3. Who is the workshop aimed at?
This presentation is aimed primarily at local authority (LA) maintained school governors. Academy governors attending will also find it useful, particularly if they are using the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) as the framework for their school’s pay policy.
Academy is used to cover (free schools, studio schools and university technical colleges).

4. Objectives of the session
At the end of the session, delegates should:
understand the governing body's (GB’s) responsibilities on Performance Related Pay (PRP) for teaching staff - i.e. what has changed and what they need to do about it
have had the opportunity to consider the opportunities and the challenges posed by the changes;
have had the opportunity to share policies and good practice;
be equipped to monitor the implementation of the PRP policy in order to ensure it is fair and objective; and
understand what else needs to be done in preparation for any appeal from September 2014 (although this is not training for appeal panel members).

5. Agenda
Individual licensees will need to build in appropriate break- times. (30 Mins) Introduction to GBs’ responsibilities on teachers’ pay (20 Mins) Table discussion (25 Mins) Report back from tables and group discussion (30 Mins) Ensuring consistent and effective implementation of PRP (15 Mins) Table discussion: (15 Mins) Report back & comment by trainer (15 Mins) Appeal process and the governors’ role (15 ) Plenary/Any questions (165 Mins total)

6. Core responsibilities of the GB
The governing body (GB) is responsible for ensuring high standards of performance in the school.
The GB has statutory responsibilities for pay and appraisal – including making final decisions about the pay of all teaching staff. (School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) 2013 paragraph 2.1 and the The Education (School Teachers’ Appraisal) (England) Regulations 2012 (as amended).
The performance of staff employed at the school will have a significant effect on the learning of pupils, and therefore their achievements.
The headteacher is responsible for managing the performance of the staff, and the GB is responsible for performance managing the headteacher.
The headteacher should provide information to the governing body about the quality of teaching and appraisal outcomes. If the GB is unaware of staff performance it will be unable to evaluate the school’s progress.
If teaching is not good, the GB needs to know and to assure itself that actions are being taken to improve this in order to fulfil its duty.

7. What is the STPCD?
STPCD is The School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document
It sets out the arrangements (including the minima and maxima of pay ranges) for teachers’ pay and other conditions of employment.
The STPCD is updated annually on 1 September
Mandatory requirement for LA maintained schools
Academies may choose to follow the STPCD – some teachers’ in academies may have a continuing right to be paid according to the STPCD.

8. The STPCD
School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document 2013 and guidance on School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions September 2013
‘LAs and governing bodies are required to have regard to the statutory guidance, and in respect of guidance on procedural matters a court or tribunal may take any failure to do so into account in any proceedings. Broadly speaking, this means that any party not following this guidance would need to have good reason not to do so and would need to be able to justify any departure from it.’
In other words …
The STPCD is statutory for LA maintained schools
It is contractual for many academies.
Just a reminder …

9. Teacher Pay Ranges & Allowances
Main pay range – for teachers not on the upper pay range
Upper pay range – usually more experienced teachers, who must meet the statutory criteria and those set out by the school
Leading practitioners range - for teachers whose primary purpose is to model and lead the improvement of teaching skills (similar BUT NOT THE SAME AS previous designations of Advanced Skills Teachers and Excellent Teachers)
Leadership scale – assistant heads, deputy heads and headteachers
Unqualified teachers range – for non-qualified teachers as defined in the STPCD
Allowances
Teaching and Learning Responsibilities (additional responsibility award may be applied to main pay range or upper pay range teachers)
SEN Allowance (additional allowance with specific criteria relating to working with children with Special Educational Needs)

10. What were the main changes to the STPCD 2013?
All pay progression to be based on performance
Main Pay Range (MPR) – removed six point scale and replaced it with a minima and maxima
Upper Pay Range (UPR) – introduced a single range with minima and maxima
Leading Practitioner Range – new designation – teachers to be placed on an individual range within the specified minima and maxima
Unqualified Teacher Range – removed six point scale and replaced it with a minima and maxima
For governing bodies to determine any progression points between the minima and maxima
Impacts on pay progression from September 2014

11. Other changes to the STPCD 2013
Upper pay range – now for GBs:
to determine when/how often applications can be made
for GB to clarify criteria within the broad statutory framework
Leading Practitioners introduced as a new designation - teachers employed in posts that are for the primary purpose of modelling and leading improvement of teaching skills
Advanced Skills Teacher and Excellent Teacher designations abolished
Teaching and Learning Responsibilities (TLRs) – new fixed-term TLR 3 introduced
for time-limited school improvement projects or one-off externally driven responsibilities
Pay portability – GBs are no longer obliged to pay teachers the same salary they received for a previous job in another school and have freedom to reflect this in pay polices.

12. Implementation The new STPCD came into effect from 1 September 2013
GBs should have made decisions about Advanced Skills Teacher and Excellent Teacher posts, i.e. to convert or abolish, by 1 September 2013
A new pay policy should have been in place before teachers’ objectives were set for the 2013/14 academic year
Pay progression decisions in September 2014 must to be linked to assessments of performance.

13. Teacher appraisal
Revised arrangements for managing teacher appraisal in England came into force on 1 September 2012.
From 1 September 2013 – appraisal policies should have been amended to include the explicit link to pay
In LA maintained schools, appraisal of teaching staff (including the headteacher)
must take into account the Teachers’ Standards
must include objectives that, if achieved, will contribute to improving the education of the pupils at the school
must include objectives that, if achieved, will contribute to the implementation of the any school plan relating to improving educational provision and performance.
the GB must involve an external adviser in carrying out the appraisal of the headteacher

14. SMART objectives SPECIFIC Is the objective precise and well-defined?
Is it clear and understandable to all?
MEASURABLE
Achievement or progress can be measured.
How will the individual know when the objective has been completed?
Is it clear to all how success will be assessed/measured?
ACHIEVEABLE
Is the outcome within the individual’s control?
With reasonable, albeit challenging, amount of effort and application, can the objective be achieved?
Does the individual have the capability to achieve the objective?
Are the resources available to enable the individual to achieve the objective?
RELEVANT
Is it relevant to the individual’s role?
Is it relevant to the school’s priorities?
TIMEBOUND
Is there a deadline?
Is the objective achievable within the deadline?
Is there a review built-in?

15. Good staff development matters
Staff performance and development Are two of the most, if not the most, important levers for school improvement so it needs to be done well in order for children and young people to achieve their potential. Effective self-evaluation Governing 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 staff If 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 practice The 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.

16. Pay/appraisal policies: issues you need to consider
Pay and appraisal policies are linked and need to complement each other
Affordability – the budget must be sufficient to meet the stated rewards
Performance measures – absolute or relative or a combination of both?
What level of performance will be required for progression up the relevant pay range? This should be defined (in the pay policy)
How is progression differentiated so that the very highest performers can progress faster?
What sources of evidence will be used to assess performance e.g. self- assessment, peer review, tracking pupil progress, lesson observations, the views of pupils and parents?
Have all teaching staff been made aware of what they will need to do to progress up the relevant pay range?

17. Table discussion
Why attendees took the approach they did in their pay policies
What challenges they think they may face in September 2014
Report back from tables

18. How do you know if your policy is being applied fairly?
All teaching staff must be given an equal chance to progress up the relevant pay range
The level of expected performance may be different for a relatively inexperienced teacher compared to one near the top of the main pay range.
How does the GB know that objectives are consistent and offer all staff equal opportunities?
What briefing sessions were arranged for staff to ensure they understand the pay policy and its interaction with performance appraisal?
Have you asked the HT to confirm that s/he has carried out a moderation process to ensure consistency?
Have you seen anonymised appraisal objectives?
Have any staff raised any formal grievances about their objectives?

19. Possible challenges When did you approve your policy?
Was it communicated to all teaching staff?
If objectives were set before the policy was approved, were teachers given the opportunity to review their objectives?
Does the governing body seek information about how the appraisal process is carried out mid-year as well as at the end of year?

20. Possible challenges No surprises!
Are you confident that teachers are being managed well throughout the year?
Performance management should be a living process throughout the year – no individual should get to the end of the year and be surprised by the outcome, whether that is better or worse than anticipated
There should be informal dialogue throughout the year
Good practice to hold at least one formal mid-year review
Teachers must have the opportunity to address any concerns about their performance in-year
Issues on which you may need to seek advice from your HR provider
How will teachers on maternity leave be treated?
How will teachers on long-term sick be treated?

21. Ofsted
The Ofsted Framework (updated September 2013) revised and increased expectations in relation to appraisal and governors’ involvement in pay progression. Inspectors:
will evaluate the robustness of performance management arrangements, and consider whether there is an appropriate correlation between the quality of teaching in a school and the salary progression of the school’s teachers.
should consider whether governors:
understand how the school makes decisions about teachers’ salary progression
performance manage the headteacher rigorously

22. Ensuring fair appraisal
GBs must assure themselves that appraisals are as fair and objective as possible
What information has the GB received about what briefing those undertaking appraisals have received
Have the governors undertaking the headteacher’s appraisal been trained?
Have anonymised objectives been shared with the relevant GB committee?
Challenges are different in different phases and size of school
What processes does the headteacher have in place to ensure consistency?
The more people carrying out appraisals the bigger the challenge to ensure consistency of approach
Is the maths department being harsher than the geography department?
Are certain groups being treated more/less favourably?

23. Key issues to consider in monitoring objectives and appraisal outcomes
Inconsistency – has the policy been applied consistency? Were all objectives SMART? Did staff have equal access to CPD and support? Were mid-year reviews carried out?
Discrimination – do outcomes show that any particular group men/women, BME staff have better/worse outcomes compared to the generality of staff?
Staff morale - appraisal needs to ensure good teachers know their work will be recognised and rewarded, not a mechanism to depress salaries
Recruitment and retention – well-valued staff more likely to stay and the school be seen as good place to work
Appeals – well-defined system which is properly conducted is less likely to lead to appeals, but you need to well prepared to hold appeals if necessary.

24. Pay decisions
Has the relevant committee agreed appraisal/pay decisions?
What information should the committee see?
Can it demonstrate that these were considered carefully and not rubber stamped?
How many formal appeals have been lodged?

25. What would success look like for PRP for teachers ?
Table discussion:
What would the successful implementation of PRP look like for
teachers?
the governing body?
What do we need to do to ensure this is happening during this school year and in autumn 2014?

26. Appeal process and the governors’ role
The pay policy must include an appeals procedure
All teaching staff must be made aware of the procedure
Pay progression purely on the basis of performance means that appeals are more likely
Governors must be appropriately prepared to hear appeals before any appeals are lodged (good practice would be for the governing body to arrange a training session for these governors).

27. Grounds for appeal
Pay policy needs to be clear about the grounds for an appeal and the process to be followed, e.g.
Incorrect application of the STPCD
Failure to take proper account of statutory guidance in the STPCD
Failure to follow the school’s own policies (appraisal or pay) properly
Failure to take account of relevant evidence
Or taking into account irrelevant or inaccurate evidence
Unlawful discrimination against an employee
Objection to PRP is not a grounds for appeal.

28. Appeal panel
Panel to be made up of (usually) three governors not involved in initial pay decisions
Panel members must be familiar with:
the pay policy
the appraisal policy
Panel members should have received appropriate training in relation to the conduct of pay appeal hearings.
There is no mandatory requirement to train but it would be good practice
Seek early advice from your HR provider on appropriate training
Clerking – any appeal hearing must be properly clerked.

29. Review of pay policy post September 2014
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?
(Source: ‘NGA Knowing Your School: Governors and Staff Performance’)

30. Information sources DfE website – Teachers’ Pay 2013
and-conditions-2013
STPCD 2013
DfE Advice - Reviewing and revising your school’s approach to teachers’ pay, August teacher-pay
DfE Myths and facts teachers’ pay
The school’s HR provider
ACAS –

31. Review of session
What worked well?
What could have been better?

32. For more information Contact us NCTL By phone: 0345 609 0009By
rnors-role
NGA
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