Managing school staff
3 articles
Conduct
- Allegations against staff: investigation reports Download our template report to record all the required details when investigating a safeguarding allegation against a staff member. Get guidance on working with your local authority designated officer (LADO) and how to store your records once the investigation has finished.
- Guide to difficult conversations with staff Prepare yourself for challenging conversations with staff by following our tips on how to give feedback, develop questioning skills and practice active listening, so you can approach your meetings with confidence.
- Staff drinking on residential trips Have your say and see if other schools let staff drink on residential trips and what rules they put in place.
1 article
Cover and supply arrangements
- 'Rarely cover' and 'foreseeable absence': rules and guidance Understand what is meant by, and the rules around, 'rarely cover' and 'foreseeable' absence, and find answers to common questions on who can provide cover. We also relay guidance from unions.
7 articles
Restructuring and transitions
- Advice for a new deputy headteacher If you're starting out as a deputy headteacher, understand your responsibilities and how to prepare to deputise. Be clear on the benefits of mentoring schemes and effective stakeholder relationships.
- Consulting staff: guidance Find out how you should consult staff about proposed changes, and use our model consultation letters to invite staff to express their views on issues such as staff restructures and changes to holiday and pay arrangements.
- Handover checklist for school business managers Download our handover checklist to help your new SBM settle into the role. It includes tasks and information related to finance, premises management and HR.
- How to reorganise your staff structure Follow our step-by-step guide to make sure you stay compliant when restructuring. It includes guidance on sharing staff across schools, the consultation process and making changes to an employment contract.
- New headteachers: questions to ask your SLT Ask your SLT these questions in the early days of headship so you can learn more about how your leadership team works, the strengths and weaknesses of your staff and the school's context.
- Salary safeguarding Teachers may be entitled to safeguarded pay if their role changes as a result of a restructure or the closure of the school. Understand how to calculate a safeguarded sum and the required duration of safeguarding.
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Succession planning in multi-academy trusts (MATs)
Strong MATs have good succession planning in order to deal with a change in leadership well. Here's how to get started with this in your trust.
For Trust Leaders
7 articles
Staffing structures
- How to create a cost-effective staffing structure Make sure your staffing structure is providing value for money. Take a look at our tips and strategies for finding what cost-saving structure will work best for your school.
- Leadership structures in 'outstanding' schools Find guidance from a school leader on how you can organise your staffing structure, and have a look at how some ‘outstanding’ schools have structured their leadership teams.
- Leadership structures in primary schools Get to grips with the different leadership structures available to you, and see examples of how schools are organising their senior and middle leaders.
- Leadership structures in small primary schools Get advice on how leadership in small primary schools might work in practice and find examples of leadership structures from other small primary schools.
- Organising a cost-effective support staff structure Read advice and case studies on achieving better efficiency in how you use support staff, and download our guide to calculating support staff salary costs.
- Primary school staffing structures: examples See examples of staffing structures from a range of primary schools.
- Staffing structures: special schools Read expert advice on reviewing your staffing structure, and see examples of structures from primary, secondary and all-through special schools.
24 articles
Workload and wellbeing
- 10 ways to support staff wellbeing and work-life balance Find out how 3 schools reduced workload and improved work-life balance for their staff. Use their ideas to retain great people, save on recruitment and make your school a happier place.
- Alcohol at staff parties It’s up to you to decide whether staff can drink alcohol at social events like Christmas parties. Take a look at some of the things to consider, and see how other schools approach this issue.
- Developing peer-to-peer mentoring Learn how to use peer mentoring effectively and what peer-to-peer sessions might look like, to create a supportive professional culture in your school.
- How one 'outstanding' secondary school cut its marking workload by 75%: case study Barr Beacon School cut down teachers' marking time to less than an hour a day by banning detailed written marking and improving the way staff give feedback to pupils. Read on and download this school's marking policy and other resources to learn how you can make this happen too.
- How to create a staff mental health and wellbeing action plan Know what good staff mental health and wellbeing looks like and get advice on achieving it. Use our template to help you create a staff mental health and wellbeing action plan.
- How to escalate staff wellbeing concerns As a line manager, find out how and when to escalate wellbeing concerns about your staff, so you can effectively support them at school.
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How to improve staff mental health and wellbeing across your trust
There's no silver bullet to improving mental health and wellbeing across your trust. The needs in one school will be different to another, so it's important you help your schools tailor an approach to their context. Find out what's worked for 5 leaders we spoke to and how you can make it work for you.
For Trust Leaders
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How to monitor and support the wellbeing of your headteachers
Be clear on how you can monitor your headteachers' wellbeing and make sure they feel supported – both during coronavirus and beyond.
For Trust Leaders
- How to offer flexible working to attract outstanding staff and boost retention: case study An innovative timetable enables Manchester Communication Academy to offer flexi days, staggered start times and part-time working – contributing to a 90% staff retention rate. Read on for ideas about how to implement flexible working in your school.
- How to run a working group to improve staff wellbeing: case study Hardenhuish School's wellbeing and workload working group comes together to discuss practical solutions to discrete workload burdens, and implement new initiatives based on best practice. Hear how Jo Glossop, the school's assistant head, set it up and how you can too.
- How to run welfare checks for school staff Know how to conduct wellbeing checks with your staff so you can effectively provide support and respond to any problems they have. Download our list of discussion questions to help you prepare.
- Marking mythbuster Separate fact from fiction around marking and reduce your staff's workload. Learn the truth in relation to Ofsted inspections and understand what effective marking looks like.
- New headteacher's presentation to staff Find out how to introduce yourself to staff for the first time and get advice on what you should cover to help you set the groundwork for building good relationships.
- Providing staff with perks and incentives Be clear on what non-financial rewards and incentives you can give staff, so you can show them some appreciation and stay compliant.
- Save time and improve wellbeing by cutting down internal meetings The Duston School made meetings both more effective and more enjoyable when it condensed them in response to coronavirus restrictions. Here’s how principal Sam Strickland gives his staff at least 3 hours of their week back and how you can too.
- Staff survey pack Everything you need to create your staff survey – a statement bank covering a range of topics (now including your school's response to coronavirus), plus a survey template and a letter to staff. See examples of staff questionnaires used by schools.
- Staff wellbeing: how to spot early signs of depression and anxiety With an open and honest wellbeing culture in place, you may be able to spot problems early. Get advice on what to look for and what to do if you have concerns.
- Staff wellbeing: how to use individual action plans Find out if individual wellbeing action plans are right for your school, so you can help support your staff. Download our template and see an example plan to help you confidently create your own.
- Staff wellbeing questionnaires See examples of questionnaires and find guidance on how to analyse the results.
- Staff wellbeing toolkit for line managers The pressures of coronavirus mean that looking after the wellbeing of your staff is especially important. Use these resources to help you spot wellbeing challenges, take the appropriate next steps, and support a whole-school focus on wellbeing.
- Teacher workload audit tool Use our teacher workload audit tool to spot workload issues and cut down on time wasted on ineffective or unproductive tasks.
- Trans staff: summary of legal rights Understand your legal responsibilities around supporting staff that identify as trans in the workplace and learn how to make informed decisions around the arrangements you put in place.
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Whole-trust approach to staff mental health and wellbeing: case study
Find out how a 4-school trust developed a trust-wide approach to staff wellbeing, and how you can do it too.
For Trust Leaders
- Workload: get to the heart of what's overloading your staff with 'keep, tweak or ditch' Keen to address workload but don't know where to start? See the wood from the trees with Kensington Primary School's democratic, no-nonsense way to spot and solve the biggest burdens for everyone on your staff team.
