ASCL’s newly appointed Pay and Conditions Specialist Louise Hatswell shares top tips on making sure that your pay and appraisal policies are up to scratch.

Policy refresh

I am delighted to have been appointed as Pay and Conditions Specialist for ASCL. Prior to joining the team, I spent 18 years working in education in school business leadership roles in Rotherham and, until the beginning of this year, I was a trustee for the Institute of School Business Leadership (ISBL) (formerly the National Association of School Business Management (NASBM)). Before my roles in education, I worked in the private sector in various finance and HR roles, covering recruitment, terms and conditions, training, payroll, absence and more. I first joined ASCL as a member in 2012 and received outstanding support from the Association; in fact, it makes me feel very proud to be working here now and seeing some of the work that goes on behind the scenes to support members.

In my new role, I will be working on ASCL’s response to the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) on the teachers’ pay award and carrying out research to support our claim for a fully funded significant increase for all teachers and leaders, in order to address recruitment and retention in the profession.

Part of my role also includes reviewing pay and appraisal policies in consultation with employers and attending Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) meetings. ASCL is committed to a system of national pay and conditions for support staff and will continue to appeal for a system that treats all leadership practitioners equitably. We have also published a guidance paper on Setting Pay for School Business Leaders and School Business Managers (www.ascl.org.uk/settingpay).

Policy top tips

Here are my top tips on what you should consider when devising your pay and appraisal policies:

• Schools must have a policy on Appraisal for Teachers (including arrangements for headteachers) in line with the Education (School Teachers’ Appraisal) (England) Regulations 2012 (https://tinyurl.com/msdloom). It is also good practice to have arrangements in place for support staff. This should complement your pay and capability policies.
• An appraisal policy is used in conjunction with a pay policy, so it is important to look at both together when making any revisions, and any changes you do make should be consulted on with staff, governors and trade unions. They should be reviewed annually in line with the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD). The DfE has produced a document with a model teacher appraisal and capability policy, which contains helpful advice on what schools should include (https://tinyurl.com/yy8k5dqo).
• It is important to remember that the appraisal period end date and pay review date should not be the same; time needs to be allowed following the appraisal period for any pay recommendations to be considered by the headteacher and the appropriate governing body committee.
• It is also important to ensure that your appraisal and pay policies adhere to the Equality Act 2010, and do not discriminate against staff with protected characteristics. An example of this is teachers who have been, or are on, maternity leave during the appraisal period. In these situations, any pay progression that would have been awarded if the member of staff had not been absent, should be awarded. In the absence of any evidence for the current appraisal period, information from the previous period should be used. There are also equality objectives that schools need to report on, relating to pay progression broken down by protected characteristics. Further information is available here: https://tinyurl.com/o5xqkvk
• Pay policies should also cover the arrangements for setting pay and pay progression for chief executive officers (CEOs) and executive heads/principals, to ensure transparency. See ASCL’s guidance to help you with this process, here: www.ascl.org.uk/settingpay-ExecHeads
• It is our view that the annual pay award (cost of living increase) should be kept separate to pay progression, and that any increases are applied to all points within each pay range, rather than just the minima and maxima. In addition, and as I have mentioned above, ASCL is urging the government to ensure that any increase to the teachers’ pay award is fully funded by the government.

I hope you find these useful.

Louise Hatswell
ASCL Pay and Conditions Specialist
@LouiseHatswell

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