2008 STAFFING STRUCTURE REVIEW COURSE

REMEMBER THE GREAT STAFFING STRUCTURE REVIEW DISASTLR OF 2005?


MAKE SURE YOUR SCHOOLS ARE BETTER PREPARED FOR 2008


The botched introduction of staffing structure reviews – and hopelessly short timescale – left many heads with no option other than to “go for assimilation”. We worked with over 4000 schools in 53 LA’s at the time – and have kept in touch with many of them since. As a result, we have a unique understanding of the much more radical structures that many heads have sitting in their filing cabinets.


As remodelling and the growing school leadership crisis develop side by side, the imperative for system change becomes more urgent, and we detect a growing willingness amongst heads (especially where they are part of a strong school network) to face the challenge head-on and go for what they really want. If this were to happen overnight across the country, it is our firm view that we would awake to a landscape in which there were fewer (highly skilled and highly paid) teachers directing the work of a better paid support staff workforce with a more differentiated pay structure and representation on the senior leadership team. We would also expect a decline in middle and senior management posts (within individual primary schools in particular) and a growth of better paid leadership posts with system-wide accountability.


No sooner is the lid taken off this debate, than the question arises of whether the solution that is under discussion is actually legal! The Price Waterhouse Coopers Report on School Leadership is pretty scathing about the complexity of the STPCD Document and recommends that “the legal and regulatory barriers to some of the more innovative school structures should be removed, eg sharing accountability across a number of school leaders and formally recognising in the legal framework the post of executive head.”


In order to help school leaders clarify their thinking about appropriate structures well ahead of the need to begin a formal consultation process, we have developed a one day workshop which will be available from November 2007. Our ideal model is to run this in partnership with LA School Improvement and HR services, but the workshop can also run for school networks.

The workshop offers the following broad components, but can be tailored to fit with local priorities

  • Why traditional leadership structures are not sustainable
  • Definition of the functions that any new system needs to deliver – leadership for excellent teaching and learning; leadership for operational efficiency; leadership for seamless extended services delivery
  • Examples of alternative school and system-wide structures seen by Head Support in its work round the country
  • Time for attendees to discuss and articulate their own priorities
  • Q and A session on the legalities of what they’re proposing, dealing with issues such as
  • hard and soft federation
  • cross school accountability at middle and senior leadership level
  • running a 10 class school with less than 10 teachers supported by am increased number of support staff
  • running a school where all the teachers are either AST’s ET’s or Fast Track and TLR posts are replaced by Assistant and Deputy Heads
  • establishing a limited company whose employees are accountable to a board of governor directors for the provision of HR, finance and site management services
  • Recap on the regulations governing staffing structure reviews


A one day workshop for up to 25 delegates costs £1695 plus VAT including travel and accommodation; additional delegates are charged at £35 plus VAT each

Please contact Nigel Middleton on 01530 563442

 

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