Laying the groundwork with governors on performance related pay progression is very important if you don’t want to fall foul of Ofsted in the future, says Sara Ford.

Be prepared

September 2013 saw the introduction of performance-related pay progression for all teaching staff. Over the last few months you will have put in place new pay policies and agreed objectives with staff. And while September 2014 will be the first time that these objectives are used to make pay recommendations, there is still a lot to be done between now and then, particularly in relation to preparing governors.

As some colleagues have already discovered, Ofsted will expect the new arrangements to be well understood by governors. We are already hearing that there is an expectation that the new arrangements will be ‘embedded’. So you can expect that when they visit they will be asking your governors how the pay policy is being used to drive up standards.

Preparing your governors now is key. If you haven’t done so already, it is worth holding a training session with all governors so that you are confident that they are conversant with what changes have been brought in and how you are using each of them.

Specifically, Ofsted will expect your governors to understand how the “no pay progression without recourse to capability procedures” element will work, as well as how you propose to use accelerated progression to reward the very best practice. Indeed, from September 2014 when the first awards have been made, schools can expect Ofsted to challenge hard those schools that can’t point to someone they haven’t progressed or double jumped.

That’s not to say that that wasn’t the right decision, but you will need to make sure that your governors understand and can justify why it was the right thing to do.

They will also need to be ready to explain why you may not have adopted some of the flexibilities permissible under the School teachers’ pay and conditions document 2013 (STPCD 13). For instance, if you have decided not to adopt the leading practitioner range, be sure that your governors understand why and can defend that decision.

Equally, governors will need to be able to explain the rationale behind whether or not you have adopted pay portability. It will not be sufficient for them to say that it reflects what you have always done; they need to put forward a proactive case – that it will help with recruitment, for example.

They also need to be clear about their role in the process. This is not only for Ofsted but also because all too soon they will need to be using the policy in anger for the first time.

First and foremost, they need to be clear that they are the ones who make the final decisions on pay awards. While school leadership teams (SLTs) and the principal will ensure that the process is correctly applied and that awards are consistent, they will only be making the final recommendations. It is the governing body who will sign them off and who will be the final decision-maker. So, in order to carry out this function correctly, they will need to know about and understand the processes, assurances and moderation exercises that you have put in place.

Sample appraisals

They will also need to put in place their own assurance processes. One example of good practice would be for them to have a sample of appraisal reports to look at from right across the performance spectrum so that they can assure themselves that the moderation you have done is appropriate.

Even if you did sessions with your governing body at the end of last term or at the start of this one, it would be worthwhile to plan another one with them in the spring to go through how the moderation and decision making process will work so that it is fresh in their minds.

They will need to hear appeals, too, and if you’re not confident that you have sufficient governors who understand how to do this then you should look at getting some training in place early in the New Year.

Finally, if you haven’t already, you may want to review your committee structure. The link between pay and standards may mean that you need to have a more explicit link between committees. Ofsted will, in time, want to see the correlation between the highest paid teachers and the best outcomes, so you will need to show that the governing body is considering the two in tandem and not considering each in isolation.

The new arrangements have some significant implications for governors and the more you can do now to ready them for September next year the better. And if you’re due an Ofsted this year, well then time is of the essence if all your hard work is not to be undermined by an ill-prepared governor.

• Sara Ford is ASCL's Pay and Conditions Specialist

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