Governors Monitoring Performance Related Pay Welcome

Aims of this session To develop understanding of the governing board’s role in monitoring performance related pay in schools. To ​look​ at​ best practice for governors monitoring the staff appraisal process and reviewing pay award recommendations.

Why do we have to monitor performance related pay? Question Why do we have to monitor performance related pay?

What is the governors’ role in staff performance? The governing board is responsible for ensuring high standards of staff performance. The performance of the staff will have an enormous effect on the learning of pupils, and therefore on their achievement. If the governing board is unaware of how well members of staff are performing in their roles, it will be unable to evaluate the school’s progress. Q: How do we ensure that a robust staff performance management and appraisal process is in place?

Reasons for robust performance & development systems: School Improvement Effective staff appraisal and development linked to the school’s current key priorities is one of the most important levers for school improvement. Effective school self evaluation Without rigorous and regular appraisal of the staff’s performance, the picture of where the school currently is in terms of its strengths and weaknesses would be incomplete and it would be impossible to create an effective school improvement plan.

Reasons for robust performance & development systems: Staff Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Without a formal appraisal process it is more difficult to identify, agree on and arrange appropriate CPD for staff, and to assess the impact it has had on their professional practice. Good employment practice The governing board has a duty of care to its staff – and appraisal is part of any effective organisation’s staffing procedures. All staff deserve to have regular appraisal which informs their CPD, sets expectations and targets, and rewards high quality performance.

Reasons for robust performance & development systems: Inspection: Ofsted inspectors will look at the correlation between performance appraisal, pay, and the quality of teaching. Under the current Ofsted Framework there is an increased expectation in relation to staff appraisal and governors’ knowledge of the correlation between teaching quality, pupils’ progress and pay progression.

What might this look like? Ofsted inspection teams will consider whether governors understand how the school makes decisions about teachers’ salary progression and performance. Q - How could we evidence this to Ofsted? Note: Ofsted Update (March ‘18) - inspectors are no longer requesting school leaders to provide anonymised reports on the number of teachers achieving pay progression.

Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ descriptor: “Leaders and governors use incisive performance management that leads to professional development that encourages, challenges and supports teachers’ improvement. Teaching is highly effective across the school. “ Q - How do we know how staff training and development is linked to appraisal? Q – How do we know what impact CPD is having on the quality of teaching and pupil progress?

School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions (STPCD): The School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) is a statutory publication which sets out the framework for teachers’ pay. It applies to all local authority maintained schools. Academies are not required to follow the provisions of the STPCD but many choose to do so. The STPCD is generally updated annually and comes into force from 1 September each year.

Questions for governors to ask Do all staff receive an effective annual appraisal? How effectively do we appraise the headteacher? What should our pay policy say about staff performance and pay progression? How does our board monitor the correlation between appraisal outcomes, staff pay, and the quality of teaching and learning? (What’s the process?) How effectively is our school’s performance management improving teaching and learning?

Who takes responsibility? Governing bodies of maintained schools must review the pay of all teachers annually. Academies are free to set their own pay policies, including how often pay will be considered. When setting the pay policy, the governing board will determine whether to delegate its pay review responsibilities to a committee (made up of at least three non-staff governors) or to the headteacher.

If delegated to a committee… May be a performance and pay committee with the remit of monitoring the appraisal process and fulfilling the governing board’s duties relating to staff pay, eg receiving recommendations and ratifying pay awards. Or it may be that a committee with a broader remit (eg resources committee) has the delegated authority to receive recommendations and ratify pay awards. It is not good practice for pay recommendations to be reviewed / ratified by the full governing board, as this can compromise the mechanism to hear pay appeals.

Performance and Pay Review meetings Recommend 2-3 times per year: At start of appraisal cycle:- a strategic review of (anonymised) objectives being set for the year Mid-term review: - monitoring the progress towards objectives, and CPD, to date End-of-year review, including ratifying any pay awards based on the recommendations received (if this is in the committee’s remit)

At the start of the appraisal cycle Points to consider how is it evidenced that staff objectives are being linked to the strategic priorities of the school? how is it evidenced that staff CPD has been linked to the strategic priorities of the school? how does the school support staff well being?

At the end of the appraisal cycle Points to consider Did the achieving of objectives, and the CPD undertaken over the year, have the desired impact on the quality of teaching & the pupils’ progress in the strategic priority areas? What lessons have been learned from this year? How will this be fed into next year’s appraisal cycle? For example, consider if…

Considerations; if… standards are falling but most appraisal objectives have been met - is the appraisal system sufficiently robust?

Considerations; if… standards are staying level and appraisal objectives have all been met – are the objectives sufficiently stretching?

Considerations; if… standards are staying level and appraisal objectives are not generally being met – are the objectives realistic? – is staff CPD having the required effect?

Considerations, if… standards are staying level and appraisal objectives are not generally being met – are the objectives realistic? – is staff CPD having the required effect? However, if standards are rising and appraisal objectives have been met – this suggests that appraisal is probably sufficiently robust.

Guidance for Pay Committees (see handout) Intended to assist pay committees in fulfilling their responsibilities for monitoring teachers’ pay and performance and for making pay decisions. Should be discussed with the headteacher and protocols agreed. The data sheets in the appendices should be tailored to fit the needs and practices of the school. Governors should be mindful to not impose additional or onerous administrative or reporting burdens upon the headteacher and other staff – use existing format (anonymised) data where possible.

Example mid-year report:

Example end-of-year report:

? Any questions? Clive.Haines@achievingforchildren.org.uk Rebecca.Walker@achievingforchildren.org.uk