Performance Management Guidance for Governors
From September 2000 revised performance management arrangements will
come into effect for teachers, including headteachers, in England. This
guidance is designed to help governing bodies to understand their role
in the new performance management system. It explains the processes for
establishing a performance management policy, and for the performance review
of the headteacher under the new arrangements. Information about the links
between performance management and pay plus signposts to related guidance
on changes in the teachers’ pay system are also included. There is a summary
of the statutory requirements set out in the new Appraisal Regulations
for September 2000.
Pay and Conditions for Teachers in England and Wales, 2000 - 01
The Government has accepted the STRB's recommendation for teachers,
following on from the proposals in the Government's Green Paper 'teachers:
meeting the challenge of change' and the similar proposals set out in the
Green Paper The BEST for Teaching and Learning in Wales. The 3.3% pay increase
and restructuring will take forward the Government's commitment to supporting
the teaching profession, to making it more attractive to good quality graduates
through decent pay and career development, and to raising standards in
our schools. The Government has consulted with the teacher unions and others
on the recommendations. An information note, with the followin information,
has been sent to headteachers and chairs of governors.
Teachers' Pay in 2000-2001
A new Pay Order takes effect from 1 April 2000. The main points are:
A general pay increase of 3.3% will be paid in full from 1 April. From
1 September 2000, there will be a new upper pay range for qualified classroom
teachers who are successfully assessed at a performance threshold. Headteachers
will have a duty to assess threshol applications against the threshold
standards and other teachers should assist heads in this process when requested
to do so by the head.
Threshold Assessment
The Secretary of State has published the standards for threshold assessment after consultation. The same standards will apply in England and Wales although some of the administration will vary. We invite teachers in England to apply by 5 June. Application packs are being sent to English schools with this note and headteachers have been invited to one-day training events before Easter.
The Welsh Local Government Association and Association of Directors of Education in Wales will administer assessment in Wales, including training for heads. Application packs will be sent to Welsh schools in the summer term and the timetable adjusted accordingly.
In both England and Wales, outcomes should be known no later than February
2001. The salary increase will be backdated to September 2000.
Other Pay Changes
There are other changes to the pay structure from 1 September 2000. There will be further consultation on the detail before the 2000 Pay and Conditions Document is finalised. There will be a new Leadership pay spine based on the existing head teachers' pay spine. Heads and deputies will move to this spine. Schools will be able to appoint senior teachers to the new spine if they wish, and if those teachers play a major strategic role in the school.
Everyone on the Leadership pay spine will have an individual pay range which allows for further pay progression based on performance. The ranges will have 7 points for heads and 5 points for deputies and others.
We will give guidance on the leadership group arrangements after consultation. To make assimilation smoother, there will be a small upwards adjustment in the value of some of the leadership spine points proposed by STRB.
All classroom teachers will transfer to the new pay structure on 1 September 2000 on the following basis:
Points for experience and qualifications will determine teachers' equivalent position on the pay spine which
goes up to the threshold. The top of the spine will equate to the current Spine Point 9. Progression will be by annual increments. From September 2001, a double increment may be awarded for outstanding performance. An increment should be withheld only if capability procedures have started.
Points other than for experience and qualifications will be translated by the relevant body into new flat-rate
allowances:
5 allowances for management with values of £1,485, £3,000,
£5,151, £7,092, £9,573
2 allowances for recruitment and retention, with more for schools in
London and/or on special measures at values of £909, £1,782,
£2,703, £3,765
2 allowances for SEN worth £1,515, £3,000
Some teachers will benefit if the value of the new allowances is higher than the value of their current points . Where they are lower salary benefits will be protected over time until overtaken by the new salary entitlement. Details will be published after further consultation.
The upper pay range gives classroom teachers access to four further
points after the threshold for substantial and sustained achievement and
contribution to the school. The first will be available in September 2002.
Decisions will be taken at school level in the light of annual reviews
of teachers' performance.
Advanced Skills Teachers
ASTs will still have individual pay ranges on an AST spine. Governing
bodies can review ranges in the light of the new pay structure.
Fast Track
There will be provision for the pay and conditions of teachers entering
the new FastTrack. The National Assembly for Wales will consider whether
a Fast Track scheme should operate in Wales.
School Achievement Awards:
Teachers and support staff will be able to receive pay bonuses from the new School Achievement Award scheme. Details of this scheme (England only) will be announced this Summer term and the first awards made in the academic year 2000/01.
The National Assembly for Wales will consider whether a similar scheme
should operate in Wales.
Funding
The new structure will be supported in England in the initial years
by three new specific grants:
Schools can draw down £2,000 plus on-costs via their LEAs for
the extra pay of each teacher successful at the performance threshold.
There will be no quota. These costs will be fully funded by the Government.
Schools will be able to claim a one-off restructuring grant in academic year 2000/01 of £2,000 plus on-costs in respect of every teacher promoted to the new leadership pay spine. After the first year, the equivalent resources will be added to Education Standard Spending.
A cash-limited grant will support pay progression based on performance
for headteachers, deputies and ASTs. It will also support the assimilation
of deputies to the new leadership spine. Further details of this grant
will be announced later.
Teachers: Pay - the future
The School Teachers' Review Body (STRB) has recommended a new pay system for teachers. The Government is consulting on its recommendations. They offer teachers significant pay rises over and above the annual pay award.
Every teacher meeting national standards at a 'performance threshold'
criteria will be entitled to a £2000 pay rise on their basic salary,
Pay rises are effective from September 2000. The Government is providing
up to £1 billion for this and funding is guaranteed. Success also
means having access to a new uppeor pay scale. A new contract is not required.
We will send teachers guidance on how to complete the application and on
how assessment will be made against the national standards. This will be
available together with application forms later in March 2000.
The School Achievement Awards Scheme
The School Achievement Awards Scheme will fund staff bonuses in rapidly improving and high achieving schools. The scheme, which was first proposed in the Green Paper ‘teachers - meeting the challenge of change’, is designed to complement individual pay initiatives for teachers, but all school staff in award winning schools will be eligible for bonuses, including the full range of support staff.
On 23rd May 2000 the Government published proposals for the School Achievement Awards Scheme. A paper providing details of the scheme School Achievement Awards Scheme: May 23rd Paper (click here to view paper) has been sent to national bodies representing heads, teachers, local authorities and aided and foundation schools.
Facts about the Scheme:
All 24,000 maintained schools in England will be eligible for awards, including special schools, pupil referral units andnursery schools.
30% of schools will get awards each year (over 7,000 schools). An annual budget - £60 million in the first year, will be available for awards and running the scheme. An award could be worth about £6,000 to a typical 200 pupil school and £30,000 to a typical 1,000 pupil school.
For most schools, the size of an award will be based on the number of staff. For the great majority of schools, awards will be based on Key Stage test and GCSE/GNVQ results. For schools where such results don’t provide reliable performance indicators, awards will be based on nominations by chief education officers against specified criteria. Nominations will be assessed by national expert panels.
To encourage school improvement and help as many schools as possible win awards over time, three quarters of the awards will be for improvement. Most will go to schools whose results have improved much faster than average over the last three years. Every school leaving special measures in this school year will get an award.
A quarter of awards will go to schools whose results in a single year were particularly good compared with other schools in similar circumstances. For these excellence awards, most schools will be assessed in groups based on proportions of pupils eligible for free school meals. Grammar schools will be assessed in a separate group.
Everyone working at a winning school - the full range of support staff as well as teachers - will be eligible for a bonus.
Advised by heads, governing bodies of award-winning schools will decide
how to share an award between staff.
The first round of awards will take account of this year’s results
and be announced before Easter 2001.