Leaders' surgery

Simple situations can require careful and deft handling. Here, David Snashall, ASCL Hotline Leader, talks about three real situations from the calls received recently through the hotline.

Count the cost

Q I am a business manager, and a member of staff handed me £32 cash, saying that it was the proceeds from the eBay auction of some equipment the department said it no longer needed. This feels wrong – what do I do?

A In simple terms, this is theft. Whatever the good intentions have been, this is serious and the member of staff is in difficulty both in terms of his/ her employment and in terms of the criminal law. The issue originates within the department and, even though it may have been a departmental allocation that bought the equipment, it belongs to the school and it is only those authorised by the school who may dispose of the equipment. There is normally a section of the school financial regulations or policy that indicates what should happen. The moment that a member of staff removes the equipment from site without permission then they are guilty of theft. In this case, it is compounded because eBay and other auction sites require sellers to declare that they own the item being sold – here is another potential offence (‘fencing stolen equipment’), and to the buyer he/she has misrepresented himself. Lastly, the element of bringing in cash where the transaction has been electronic is likely also to break financial regulations – indeed is this small-scale money laundering? Disciplinary action should follow, and most school’s financial regulations would require misappropriation of public-funded items to be reported to the police.

Stick to the plan

Q I am a deputy head and one of our trade union representatives has come to say that teachers are not going to write lesson plans as required by the governors’ new and (up to then) agreed teaching policy. What action can I take?

A Under normal conditions, teachers are required to follow the policies of the school. This is not only a contractual obligation but a professional requirement in the Teachers’ Standards. Planning is a requirement under the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD), although that does not specify the format of the planning to be undertaken. For these reasons, it would almost certainly be a breach of contract for teachers not to follow a ‘reasonable and lawful instruction’ from their employer to plan in the given way.

Such misbehaviour is usually subject to disciplinary action by the employer. However, the long-running trade dispute by the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT)/the National Union of Teachers (NUT) does make an issue of teachers writing plans in a proscribed format, and their members are instructed not to do this. This instruction does not remove the breach of contract, or the lawfulness of a school taking disciplinary action, but caution should be taken not to escalate the union action.

A school leader’s role here is to be an ‘honest broker’ between the union demand and the governors who are the employer. It is important that senior staff do not take on the employer role and decide what to do – it is a governors’ policy decision as to how to respond to breach of contract and misbehaviour, and the school leaders need to put this into action.

The ‘honest broker’ role is important in keeping relationships good after the action ceases. Can the school still check that a teacher is planning and not cross the union guidelines? Yes, it can – ask for the teacher’s plans (in individual format) or talk to them about what they plan to do, but best of all assess it through the outcomes of the lesson.

Please sir, can we have some more?

Q I am a headteacher and the governors at my school have been carrying out my performance management and have set six targets where the policy says a maximum of four. What do I do?

A This is one of those occasions where a head needs to have a ‘split personality’. A head is both the governors’ professional adviser, and an employee, and one here with a sense of injustice. In the first instance, the head should be the ‘adviser’ by bringing the breach of the policy to the governors’ attention. It is important to do this as their professional adviser and be completely ‘de-personalised’ from the advice.

A good guide would be to imagine that you are writing because someone else has brought to your notice the fact that the committee have not followed the governors’ own policy. In the letter – and such advice should be in writing via the clerk – advise them about the course of action they should take following such a failure to follow their own documents, for example, ‘I would advise you to reconvene the committee and reduce the number of specific objectives in line with the policy.’

This will normally be enough, but if no change comes, then you need to raise the matter as an ‘employee’ who has been wronged by the process; there is often an appeal process within the performance management policy itself, or, failing that, it would be a matter for grievance (although this should be a last resort).

ASCL members concerned about leadership issues should call the hotline on 0116 299 1122 or email hotline@ascl.org.uk

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