PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT POLICY
INTRODUCTION
The Ethos and Mission Statement of our school, commits all members of our community to recognise each other as beloved children of God, who work and study daily in a community which has Christ at its heart. We are dedicated to ensuring the faith development of students, the mission of the Church and providing opportunities for our students to participate in acts of worship. We will work together to ensure that all can realise their humanity as children of God. We strive for all our students to attain their highest academic potential and be fully supported in their spiritual, social, emotional and moral development. The governing body has drawn upon existing good practice in the school in lesson observation, individual teacher review and target setting in preparing this policy.
We believe that performance management has the potential to develop all staff and improve teaching and learning and raise standards for all students.
This policy covers all teachers except teachers on contracts of less than one year and those in their induction year. It sets a framework for all staff to agree and review priorities and objectives within the context of the school’s Ethos and Mission Statement, School Improvement Plan and their own professional needs.
AIMS
To enable teachers to share in a commitment to high performance;
To help focus attention on more effective teaching, learning and monitoring;
To raise the quality of teaching and learning to benefit pupils, teachers and the school;
To provide appropriate and effective personal training and development to ensure job satisfaction, a high level of expertise, and progression for staff in their chosen profession.
We seek to improve school performance by developing the effectiveness of teachers, both as individuals and as teams in a Catholic school.
We will implement our performance management arrangements on the basis of:
(a) Fairness; we all need to be aware of the potential for unconscious discrimination.
(b) Equal opportunity; all staff should be encouraged and supported to achieve their potential. Including their potential to make a full contribution to the distinctive nature of our Catholic school. This will be achieved through agreeing objectives, undertaking development and having performance evaluated.
Performance management is set in the context of our school’s Ethos and Mission Statements and plans for development, against the background of the local Education Development Plan (EDP), national and local initiatives on improving teaching and any recent OFSTED report for the school. We have also taken into account the background of the Trust Deed of our Diocese, directives and advice of the Catholic Education Service, the Diocesan Commission for schools and the Diocesan Christian Education Centre.
The annual performance management review is conducted by the line manager in the Autumn term. For the teaching staff, the context of this review is:-
ä classroom observation;
ä pastoral work;
ä administrative responsibilities undertaken without remuneration but part of normal pay and conditions;
ä extra-curricular contribution to school life.
ä contributions to the aspirations and aims of the school
In addition to the above, staff with paid managerial responsibility will:
ä undertake an assessment of their managerial role
The review marks both the beginning and the end of the review process. Previous performance is reviewed, including self review, along with specific set objectives. New objectives are identified from school/department/improvement plans, together with the means to meet these objectives including the necessary support and Inset.
There can be no hard and fast rule about how many objectives there should be for a teacher but we expect a minimum of three and no more than five or six to be agreed. Agreeing objectives does not mean itemising every activity but picking out key expectation and yardsticks, including those which are specific to a Catholic school. All staff in our school are asked to set one objective which relates to our Ethos and Mission Statement.
Teacher objectives will cover pupil progress as well as ways of developing and improving teachers’ professional practice. Leadership group staff and those with management allowances will have objectives relating to their additional responsibilities.
The team leader should record the objectives, which will apply for the review period. These should be jointly agreed if possible. If there are any differences of opinion about the objectives, the teacher may add comments to the written record of objectives.
The head’s objectives will cover Catholic school leadership and management, as well as pupil progress.
The teacher and reviewer will keep progress under active review throughout the year using classroom observation and other relevant information. They will discuss any supportive action needed and keep development plans up to date.
The team leader should consult the teacher before seeking to obtain information, written or oral, relevant to the teacher’s performance from other people. This may include a person who can make an informed judgement about the teacher’s contribution to the school’s distinctive Catholic ethos and mission.
Classroom observation is accepted good practice with a minimum of one observation each year required by Regulations. In our school we have agreed to have two full lesson observations per year, supplemented by any fuller observation of whole or part lesson which are agreed to be useful for developmental purposes. The teacher should be informed in good time.
The annual review of teacher’s performance will use the recorded objectives as a focus to discuss his/her achievements and identify any development needs. It will be combined with agreeing objectives for the following performance management cycle.
The focus of the review is on how to develop the Catholic Ethos and Mission Statement, and to raise performance and improve effectiveness. It will involve:
ä discussing the school Ethos and Mission Statement;
ä reviewing, discussing and confirming the teacher’s essential tasks and objectives;
ä recognising strengths and achievements and taking account of factors outside the teacher’s control;
ä confirming action agreed with the teacher at other reviews;
ä identifying areas for development and how these will be met;
ä recognising individual professional development needs; and
ä agreeing new objectives.
The team leader should evaluate the teacher’s overall performance, including an assessment of the extent to which objectives have been met. It should take account of the stage the teacher is at in his/her career, e.g. teacher with two to three years service, advanced skills teacher, senior manager. Sensitivity should also be paid to the faith adherence and commitment of individual staff when reviewing the objective relating to the Ethos and Mission Statements.
Within ten days of the review meeting, the team leader will prepare a written review statement recording the main points made at the review and the conclusions reached, including any identified development needs. Training and development needs will be given to the person responsible for training and development. The teacher may within ten days of first having access to the statement, add to it comments in writing. Good practice shows that the review statement should be written as soon as possible after the review, whilst the facts are still fresh in the reviewer’s memory.
All staff will have a copy of their review statement and the headteacher will have copies of all review statements. The head will use these statements to report on performance management to the Governors’ staffing committee, who will in turn provide a summary report to the full governing body. the Governors’ staffing committee, in association with the Head, will make informed decisions about the awarding of performance pay points to eligible teachers.
Up to threshold, teachers can expect an annual increment if they are performing satisfactorily. (The governing body reserves the right to award double increments for exceptional performance when justified by review outcomes). Consideration of withholding annual increments will only occur in circumstances where a teacher is subject to the agreed formal capability procedures. The reviews of teachers who want to move to the upper pay spine will be used to inform the applications by the teachers and the head’s assessment. For teachers above the threshold, ASTs and teachers in the leadership group, performance reviews will form part of the evidence used to make decisions about the award of performance pay points.
The school has appointed five governors to carry out the headteacher’s performance management review, two of whom are foundation governors. The chairman of the governing body will not be part of the panel. He/she will act as review officer in the case of an appeal by the headteacher.
An external adviser will provide advice to the governing body’s representative on the setting of performance objectives for the head and will support them in reviewing performance at the end of the review cycle. The DfES and CEA have agreed the adviser will need to be familiar with the distinctive nature of education in a Catholic school. The head’s objectives will cover school leadership and management as well as pupil progress. If the head and governing body representatives are unable to agree objectives, the governors appointed to review the performance of the head should set and record objectives. The head may add comments to the written record of objectives. A copy of the head’s review statement will go to the Chair of Governors. A summary of the performance assessment section of the head’s review statement will be provided by the Chair of Governors to the CEO on request.
Deputies and assistant heads will have annual objectives relating to pupil progress and school leadership and management.
For members of the leadership group the team leader will normally be the headteacher.
All support staff will have an annual review recognising strengths, achievements and areas for development. Objectives will be set, to be monitored throughout the year, and the necessary training to fulfil these objectives will be identified.
Good management, with clear expectations and appropriate support, will go a long way towards identifying and handling weaknesses in performance.
The review meeting and review statement does not form part of any formal disciplinary or capability procedures. However, relevant information from review statements may be taken into account by those who have access to them in making decisions and in advising those responsible for taking decisions, or making recommendations about performance, pay, promotion, dismissal or disciplinary matters. Weaknesses will be dealt with in a Christian spirit of justice and every effort will be made to provide the training and support needed to improve performance.
The individual plan and the review statement are personal and confidential documents and should be kept in a secure place. The principles and provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 should be followed at all times by those who have access to the documents.
There will only be two copies of the review statement – one held by the teacher and another held by the head on a central file, to which the team leader or governors responsible for making decisions regarding pay could request access. A copy of the head’s review statement should go to the chairman of the governing body. The DfES and CES recommend that a copy of the headteacher’s statement should also go to the Diocesan Education Office but this can only happen with the permission of the headteacher.
The head should keep review statements for at least 3 years.
Within ten days of receiving their review statement:
Teachers and Support Staff
They can record their dissatisfaction with aspects of the review on the review statement. Where these cannot be resolved by the team leader, they can raise their concerns with the head. Where the head is the team leader, they can raise the issue with the chairman of the governing body.
Headteachers can record their dissatisfaction with aspects of the review on the review statement. Where these cannot be resolved with the appointed governors, they can raise their concerns with the chairman of the governing body. Where the chairman of the governing body Is unavailable due to health, family or work reasons, the governing body should appoint one or more governors who have not participated in the head’s review to act as review officer. No governor who is a teacher or staff member can be involved in performance.
The review officer (who could be the head, the chairman of the governing body or the governors appointed by the governing body) will investigate the complaint and take account of comments made by the jobholder. The review officer should conduct a review of the complaint within ten working days of referral. They may decide that the review statement should remain unchanged or may add any observations of their own. The review officer may decide, with the agreement of the person responsible for carrying out the initial review, or in the head’s case all the appointed governors, to amend the review statement; or declare that the review statement is void and order a new review or part of the review to be repeated. Where a new review is ordered, new governors will be appointed to carry out the review of the headteacher. For teachers, the headteacher will appoint a new team leader. Any new review or part review ordered should be conducted within a further fifteen days.
OBLIGATIONS REQUIRED BY THE POLICY:
The Governors’ should:
ä agree the school’s performance management policy and any future amendments;
ä ensure that the performance of teachers at the school is regularly reviewed;
ä review the headteacher’s performance;
ä make decisions, based on performance review, concerning the awarding of performance pay points to eligible teachers;
ä monitor the performance management process.
ä implement the school’s performance management policy;
ä ensure that performance management reviews take place;
ä decide, in consultation with senior staff, who shall act as reviewer for each teacher on the basis of responsibilities for learning in the school, a judgement about who has the best overview of the teacher’s work and the ability to provide support to staff;
ä report annually to the governing body on performance management in the school, including the effectiveness of performance management procedures, and the training and development needs of teachers. In doing this reference will be made to the distinctive nature of this process in a Catholic school.
The Assistant Head (Personnel) should:
ä organise the school’s review programme and link to the training cycle;
ä provide relevant training to target review objectives;
ä ensure that individual training and development needs are reflected in the School Improvement Plan and the programme for professional development;
ä assist staff with threshold applications;
ä encourage the development of PDPs.
ä be aware of review targets of individual staff relating to pastoral work so that they may be monitored throughout the year;
ä supply information for annual reviews.
Heads of Department/Line Managers should:
ä ensure that all staff in their departments or areas of responsibility have an annual review;
ä monitor review targets throughout the review cycle;
ä undertake formal and informal classroom observation of the teaching staff;
ä recommend staff for internal promotions and threshold assessment where appropriate;
ä assist staff with threshold applications;
ä provide evidence to the Headteacher to allow him to make a judgement concerning threshold assessment and future progression on the upper pay spine.
All staff should:
ä regularly monitor and assess review targets:
ä inform the Assistant Head (Personnel) of Inset requirements;
ä maintain a Professional Development portfolio;
ä work in empathy with the Mission Statement of the School.
The head shall provide an annual report to the governing body on how effective the performance management procedures have been.
As a school committed to ensuring that individual teachers, teams and the school continues to improve, the governing body and the headteacher will check that effective and challenging objectives are set, that all reviews are completed on time and the assessment of performance applied in the school. We will evaluate the effectiveness of the policy in helping to improve standards of teaching and learning.
Judgements on the overall effectiveness of the performance management process will include all aspects of school life. As part of our ongoing commitment, the governing body and the headteacher will update and amend the documentation and the process, as required, after consultation with all staff, to incorporate any major changes introduced either by the DfES, the CES, the diocese or the school to ensure that the policy is up to date and effective in our school.
Copies of all standard documents, which we will use – the individual plan, which includes the review statements and the classroom observation form, will be issued to staff in the Staff Handbook.