PAY AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

The model pay policy for schools has now been augmented to become a model pay and performance management policy for schools. Once you have familiarised yourself with the contents of this letter click here for a Word version of the Policy. The Policy gives you options and allows the Governing Body to tailor the text to meet its needs.

It is hoped that the model policy is a practical document that will enable the complex issues of pay and performance management to be effectively managed. The guidance notes have been written to enable each school to produce it's own policy and to identify ways of actively managing the process as well as outlining key points for the regulations and recommended pay determination. The additional chapter on performance management, including the model performance management policy has been adapted from that prepared by the Rewards Incentives Group (RIG) and reflects the implementation of the revised performance management arrangements set out in The Education (School Teacher Performance Management) (England) Regulations 2006. These regulations come into force on 1st September 2007 with the first performance management planning statement under the revised arrangements needing to be completed by the 31st October 2007 for teachers and 31st December 2007 for headteachers. The revised regulations will apply for pay progression purposes from 1st September 2008.

The regulations require "that the governing body shall ensure that the performance of the teachers and the headteachers is managed and reviewed in accordance with the regulations and the school's performance management policy." The revised and augmented policy should be subject to agreement with the recognised trade unions, having regard to the results of consultation with all teachers. Accordingly you should ensure that all teachers are briefed on the performance management arrangements. That said, the policy has been subject to national consultation and this has been replicated at County level with the local recognised trade union representatives.

As the school is required to demonstrate the link between performance management, school improvement and it's development plan it is good practice to consult all teachers on the school improvement plan and self evaluation process.

The model performance management policy only applies at this stage to teachers including Leadership. There are no national or local performance management regulations which apply to support staff and there is no national or local agreement on performance management with support staff unions.

The model pay and performance management policy does not duplicate everything that is covered by legislation, regulations and guidance, rather is sets out what are considered to be key points or school policies. For this reason this policy should be read in conjunction with the legislation, regulations and guidance.

We will also be looking to develop a model continuous professional development (CPD) policy in the near future and I will write to you further separately.

If you have any queries or concerns about the content of the policy documents, please contact Bob Hedley on 01603 222418.

If you have any queries in relation to the application of these policies in your school, please contact your schools HR Consultant.