When it comes to performance management, the SBL has a few different roles and responsibilities. In this article, Rebecca Cunliffe explores what could be expected of you and how you can prepare to make the process as easy as possible
Supporting the Head Teacher with Teacher appraisals
Teacher appraisals take place during the Autumn Term. It is not our role to determine pay changes, however for the Head Teacher to carry out a fair appraisal and relevant pay review we should provide information on all pay scales. It may be helpful for this information to include the previous two years’ pay information, where possible.
When financially planning we should plan for the most expensive pay review scenario and assume all teachers will move up the pay scales. Having this document, or something similar will help SBLs to process the correct pay increases and to hold evidence of the Governor / Trustee decisions. Academies have moved away from performance-related pay however, this information will still be useful for the Head Teacher when carrying out appraisals.
It may also be helpful to send the Head Teacher details of any CPD teachers who have attended during the academic year. This can prove useful when the Head Teacher evaluates the impact of CPD and informs their planning of CPD for the next academic year.
SBLs need to understand the process to support and be a critical friend to the Head Teacher. Teacher appraisals should be intrinsically supportive, it is not only the role of the Head Teacher to determine appraisal outcomes and targets, school leaders and Governors should also be involved, but workload and professional development should also be considered, performance meetings should take place regularly (recommended termly) to ensure ongoing reviews and feedback are provided and teachers should be provided with an opportunity to disagree with feedback and informal support should always be offered before any capability procedures are arranged.
Support staff performance management meetings
Support staff performance management can be undertaken by any school leader as delegated by the Head Teacher. Records of the meetings should be kept and both the person carrying out the review and the employee should sign to confirm that the record is accurate and that they agree to the targets set.
Job descriptions are a good starting point for the meetings and alongside the previous years’ review meeting record these provide an excellent tool for the structure of the meeting. Spend some time reviewing the job description to ensure it accurately reflects the duties carried out and then review the previous years’ targets and any CPD completed. Allow the employee time to discuss how they feel they are performing, any successes they want to record and any areas they would like to receive CPD. The following headings may help with the conversation flow;
Progress towards previous targets
Comments made by the employee to support their progress towards the targets and / or reasons why targets have not been achieved or may no longer be relevant
Constructive feedback on their performance and be clear on how they have performed against the agreed targets
Support required? If yes what support, provided by who and when? Agree on a review date
Share the School Improvement Targets. How can the employee support the progress toward completing these?
Discuss and agree on targets for the next academic year (use comments from the previous point to ensure the targets align with the whole school vision)
Set a date and time for the mid-term review of targets
Discuss pay – where are they on the pay scale? if the employee is at the top of the pay scale discuss if they want to continue to progress and how they may do this (i.e. Teaching Assistant level 3 to HLTA)
CPD – note requests for CPD and provide updates at an agreed time
Summary of an SBL role
As an SBL, even if you don’t carry out the meetings, you should ensure that every employee has a fair review. You can do this by reviewing the information provided to you following the meetings. Have you been given an appraisal/performance management outcome document? If not why not? When you are provided with these files, check that they have been signed by both parties. This makes it clear that the employee has been informed of the outcome, has been given targets and has had an opportunity to discuss/challenge their performance review. Have you been provided with the pay outcomes for employees so you can inform payroll of the changes? Have requests for CPD been approved? Have you been asked to agree on the costs for this, if there are any? If you have concerns about any part of the process, raise them immediately. The employee may not feel strong enough to do this and as the critical friend to the Leadership Team, we should challenge decisions if we feel they are unjust and ensure we understand reasons why pay increases have not been awarded or where more than the recommended pay has been agreed.
Help is readily available in all areas of performance management and providing supportive CPD to all staff, here are a few to get you started:
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