Appraisal Review September 2014

What is an Appraisal Review This is the evaluation process between you and your line manager that reviews your work over the last 12 months. It involves a meeting with your line manager and a written document supported by an evidence portfolio. The appraisal review is used to inform pay decisions and progression. Every member of staff in the school is part of this process including the Headteacher. All Appraisal reviews are confidential and will not be discussed outside of your direct line management line.

Why? It is your absolute entitlement as a professional and as a teacher to receive an Appraisal Review. It is a fundamental part of professional development to look back at all that you have achieved in the last year and reflect on what went well and to ask what could have been improved. It is a rare chance to take the time to look at your professional achievements and discuss your career journey and personal aspirations. It allows the school to recognise good and outstanding performance and reward it accordingly. It is used to evaluate progress against professional targets and to ensure the expectation of every member of staff is recognised and equally measured.

How does it happen? You will have directed time to collate a record of your work in your professional portfolio and to write a review of your year. You will be contacted by your Line manager to arrange a meeting. This will be a private meeting with just you and your line manager. You will have a chance to look through your professional development folder and discuss openly – “what went well” “even better if”. You will have a chance to discuss your performance against your targets, teaching standards and your written review.

What happens next? Your line manager will use notes from this meeting to reflect on your performance against targets and standards. They will make a recommendation to the Headteacher stating if they feel targets have been met, not met or exceeded. They will record evidence to support this recommendation. The Headteacher will use this to inform a recommendation to the pay committee.

What happens next? The pay committee will meet and review these recommendations before making a final decision on awarding pay progression. Pay will be back dated to September.

Upper Pay Point/ UPS UPS was replaced in our September 2013 pay policy for all new applicants to a UPP scale. Details of this are described in our pay policy. Movement to the upper pay points is not automatic. Staff who wish to be considered for the upper pay scale need to inform their line manager in advance and provide evidence (see pay policy) to support their application as part of their professional development folder.

Targets met/ not met/ exceeded Where targets are judged as met and a pay increase is recommended, staff will receive an incremental pay increase back dated to September. Where targets are judged as not met, pay will remain at the previous years pay point. Where targets are met and exceeded an additional pay point plus will be allocated.

Pay Point + In September 2013 Wrotham School introduced a PP+ to our pay policy. Those who have exceeded the stated expectations for receiving this will need to evidence this clearly in their appraisal review. Those who are successful will receive the additional PP+ scale backdated to September 2014.

Writing a Review To accompany your portfolio of evidence it is important that you also write a review of your year. This can be done in a variety of formats in whatever way suits you. Some prefer “essay” style paragraphs, others prefer bullet points. This is your opportunity to have your achievements recorded and recognised. Try to cover them all.

IMPACT The most important thing to remember is IMPACT. Whatever you are describing, state what impact your work had on the students and the school.

Honesty Don’t be afraid to reflect on the things that could have gone better or just plain failed. One of the most important skills of an outstanding member of staff is the ability to recognise when things haven’t gone to plan. One-sided “everything is great” reviews can look contrived and unbalanced. Avoid excuses. If something didn’t go as planned, state why but remain balanced and not defensive.

Line Managers/ Reviewers It is your responsibility to arrange a review meeting and coach your staff through the process. The process must be supportive and open. It is OK to guide staff on recognising what they have done well and how to communicate this. The meeting should be used to look through their review, portfolio and to add your feelings about their performance this year.

What to do? During and after the appraisal meeting you should transfer any notes onto the appraisal review form. You should make a recommendation on targets being met, not met or exceeded for each target agreed. This document MUST be signed by both parties.

How to measure progress against targets Aspirational Targets are not absolute. You can apply the following criteria, in balance when making judgments. -Has the member of staff made progress towards their target? If Yes, then to what extent? -Has the member of staff made every effort to achieve their target? -Has the member of staff been honest and reflective in their review about what could have been improved? -Were there exceptional circumstances? Are these supported by evidence? -A good quality review will do the most of this work for you, encourage staff to do this part of the process.

When targets are not met Explain clearly why you have made this recommendation. Have clear evidence to support the decision. Help staff understand why this decision has been reached. Hold to the decision, try not to get drawn into negotiation. All staff have a right of appeal against decisions but not at this time. Remember you are not making a direct pay decision. Pass any concerns to your own line manager.