Leadership and management: managing the school workforce

HMI 1764

Leadership and management: managing the school workforce

HMI 1764 December 2003

 Crown copyright 2003 Document reference number: HMI 1764 To obtain an additional copy, contact: Ofsted Publications Centre Telephone: 07002 637833 Fax: 07002 693274 E-mail: freepublications@ofsted.gov.uk Web site: www.ofsted.gov.uk This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Main findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Managing the culture of the school . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Managing the staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Managing the working environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Managing change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 Annex A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 Annex B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

Introduction
1. In June 2003, Ofsted published Leadership and management: what inspection tells us, which summarised key inspection findings about leadership and 1 management in schools. It emphasised the central importance of good leadership and management in school improvement and in sustaining high performance, and drew out a number of common features of effectively managed schools. This report complements the earlier one and focuses particularly on the human resources dimension of school management how schools manage their workforce to ensure high-quality education for their pupils. This report is based on a survey carried out by Her Majestys Inspectors during the autumn term 2002 and spring term 2003, involving inspection visits to 80 primary schools and 70 secondary schools. The sample included inner city, suburban and rural schools that had shown consistently good standards, quality of education, and leadership and management, or significant improvement in these areas, from one section 10 inspection to the next. Inspectors held detailed discussions with school staff with a wide range of roles and responsibilities, including technicians, site managers, administrators, teaching assistants, class teachers, subject co-ordinators, heads of faculties and departments, members of senior management teams and governors. They also reviewed school policies and other relevant documentation. The inspection was carried out against the background of the proposed changes outlined in the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) document Time for standards: reforming the school workforce, the intention of which is to restructure the teaching profession and to reform the school workforce, involving: more time for high quality, more individualised lesson planning, preparation and pupil assessment a concerted attack on any bureaucracy that gets in the way of what matters most teaching and learning and raising standards of pupil achievement extra support inside and outside the classroom, with new support staff filling roles at every level in the school, so that teachers can 2 focus on teaching. A key element in the implementation of these changes was the signing, in January 2003, of a national workforce agreement between the government, 3 employers and school workforce unions. The phased implementation of this agreement from September 2003 (see annex A) is intended to achieve progressive reductions in teachers working hours by lessening administrative and clerical burdens and providing increased in-class support.

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1 Leadership and management: what inspection tells us, HMI 1646, Ofsted, 2003. 2 Time for standards: reforming the school workforce, DfES, 2002. 3 Raising standards and tackling workload: a national agreement time for standards (ATL, DfES, GMB, NAHT, NASUWT, NEOST, PAT, SHA, TGWU, UNISON, WAG), 15 January 2003.

Main findings
About a quarter of the schools managed their workforce very effectively. They showed how managers can make the best use of the staff and other resources to raise standards. These schools were well placed to take on the imminent challenge of implementing the national workforce agreement. In two fifths of the schools, management of the workforce was generally good although there were also weaker areas. While these schools are familiar with the governments remodelling proposals, they are likely to find some elements difficult to implement. Just under one in ten of the schools did not capitalise sufficiently on the strengths of their staff and did not do enough to ensure good staff management practice. Five of these had significant weaknesses in their management of staff and are likely to find remodelling a particular challenge. In summary, schools that manage their workforce effectively to help raise standards are those that actively: manage the culture by creating a climate in which staff can work together productively manage the staff by implementing effective policies and procedures which ensure that highly competent people are recruited, deployed, and trained and developed further manage the working environment by investing in it to make it a place where staff and pupils feel able to work hard and are motivated to do so manage change by harnessing the energies of the workforce to plan for and introduce changes that lead to better teaching and higher standards. Schools managed the culture effectively in the following ways: managers took deliberate steps to create a culture of openness that embraced all teaching and non-teaching staff. They recognised that the workforce needed to work together as a team if changes were to be implemented successfully schools had a clear set of values and aspirations that the workforce knew and agreed with. They held fast to these, measuring the value of new initiatives against them

Main findings

managers recognised the achievements and contributions of staff, individually and in teams, formally and informally teams were established in which all members of the workforce worked together productively. Schools managed their staff effectively in the following ways: the appointment process was fair and transparent, allowed for some negotiation of roles and responsibilities, and ensured that the most suitable people were appointed to the right jobs and remunerated accordingly managers deployed teaching and non-teaching staff effectively, and knew how to use and build on their individual strengths staff were well supported by the schools arrangements for continuing professional development (CPD), which included a wide range of different development opportunities the performance management procedures were used well to support staff development. Schools managed the work environment effectively in the following ways: there was investment in improving the quality of the physical working environment there were successful behaviour management policies and leadership teams were prominent in implementing them managers were aware of the need to promote a healthy work/life balance and had begun to use flexible approaches to staffing to achieve this managers had made conscious efforts to help staff manage their workload and had begun to implement plans to transfer responsibility for the 25 tasks (see annex B) identified in the national workload agreement. Schools managed change effectively in the following ways: change, including government initiatives, was introduced successfully because managers saw the potential benefits to the school, presented them to staff in a positive light, and took care to stage and time the introduction of the changes

 information and communication technology (ICT) was used increasingly to support effective management and teaching, and funding was used well to improve ICT resources and develop the skills of the staff in their use managers monitored the effect of their decisions on the work of the school through self-evaluation and external review and took account of the findings in future planning. There were barriers to change even in effective schools. The most significant were: headteachers were reluctant to use the new pay flexibilities available to them as they and their staff feared such decisions would be divisive in a minority of the schools, the historical allocation of management and incentive allowances restricted headteachers scope for making changes in staffing and the allocation of responsibilities although schools had used different funding streams imaginatively to increase the size of their workforce and promote staff to new posts that carry additional responsibility points, headteachers were concerned that the funding might not be sustained in the long term. This limited their scope for further development of the staffing structure teachers did not always have the knowledge and skills required to make the most effective use of the non-teaching staff who provided them with classroom and administrative support many schools did not have the space to provide suitable accommodation for an increase in the workforce few schools were good at evaluating the effect of CPD on teaching and learning in primary schools in particular, there was insufficient non-contact time to enable staff to carry out fully their management roles and responsibilities even where schools were introducing government initiatives successfully, many staff perceived that the approach was uncoordinated and the pace of change too rapid although the long-term benefits of ICT as a management tool were well understood, the introduction of new systems in schools had considerably increased the workload of some staff in the short term.

Managing the culture of the school

Culture of openness
5. Leaders in the majority of schools in this survey understood that when teachers and other staff felt able to approach those in leadership roles with their ideas and concerns, and knew that their views would be taken seriously, they were likely to be more committed to the work of the school. Such schools promoted an open management culture and the following features were commonly present: the headteacher was accessible to staff there was a collaborative ethos in which staff were respected as responsible professionals there was an expectation that there would be negotiation and consultation about policy decisions, with consensus sought as far as possible once decisions had been made, there was an expectation that everyone would abide by them the headteacher was willing to confront issues and take hard decisions when the need arose. 6. In addition to promoting openness from day to day, some of the schools made a particular effort to consult staff in ways that enabled them to express their views freely. Effective strategies included off-site discussion groups, questionnaires and staff surveys. Primary and secondary schools in one local education authority (LEA) had participated in a staff well-being survey, which canvassed the views of all staff, including support staff and midday supervisors, on various aspects of school life. Staff had responded to questions on communication, the quality of management, work/life balance, team-working, career and professional development, and the quality of external agency support. The LEA carried out a detailed analysis of the results and fed these back to the schools. Headteachers were encouraged to consider all the ensuing recommendations and to publish the responses from the different sectors of the workforce so that everyone would have a better understanding of the views of the whole staff. School staff felt that this initiative had been highly successful, and schools used the results to help develop their improvement plans. Staff valued the opportunity to contribute to the development of school policy and, as a result, felt more committed to it.

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Where a less open culture existed, staff often felt that the senior management team paid only lip service to negotiation and consultation, and the rhetoric of openness was not matched by the reality. In spite of the often considerable energy invested in consultation, they believed that senior managers had generally already made up their minds and taken decisions without heeding the views of the staff. In such schools, the headteachers commonly believed their leadership style to be open, but failed to recognise how differently it was perceived by their staff. This dissonance was sometimes due to ineffective consultation procedures while, on other occasions, the staff failed to appreciate that it was not always possible for managers to accommodate their views. Whatever the cause, such situations often resulted in a degree of disillusionment and lack of commitment to implementing the decision that had been taken. In a minority of the schools, staff felt unable to express their views, or at least to do so without prejudice to their careers, and, as a result, often felt demotivated and less likely to give of their best. A change of school, or of management style within a school, could sometimes re-engage staff who were becoming disenchanted with their job. One teacher related how, in her previous school, to ask for help was seen as a sign of weakness, and this had almost led her to leave the profession.When she joined her current school, she recognised immediately that the headteacher promoted an open door policy where staff, pupils, parents and governors could approach him with their views and concerns. Staff knew that their comments would be taken seriously, and their views respected. For example, the headteacher agreed to one teachers request to develop a mentoring programme.This resulted not only in improving pupils attitudes to work, but also placed the school in a better position to introduce a comprehensive mentoring scheme, as was required as part of the Excellence in Cities initiative.The headteacher had created a climate where it was safe to try out new ideas and to learn from mistakes.The professional trust he placed in his staff was returned in their trust in the senior management team and in their loyalty to the school.

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Framework of values
9. The majority of schools in this survey had a clear framework of values which were known and understood by the staff.Where they had helped to shape them, staff generally felt more committed to them.To raise the achievement and self-esteem of the pupils and staff, most of the schools had values that promoted an inclusive ethos and collaborative approaches to working. In the minority of schools that lacked a well-understood framework of shared values, there was often a lack of common purpose and staff felt less motivated.This had a detrimental effect on the quality of education provided for the pupils.

Managing the culture of the school

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While the values in some schools were widely understood without being formally documented, in others they were expressed as a mission statement. Effective mission statements commonly emphasised the core values of high expectations, opportunities for pupils of all abilities, respect for others, personal achievement and partnership. At best, the schools values were well known to the pupils, staff and governing body and formed the basis for decision-making and action. The following mission statement from a primary school featured in its documentation and was prominent in classrooms and staff work areas around the school. It was drawn up after consultation with staff, pupils, governors and parents, and fostered a shared understanding of what the school valued: We believe pupils learn best when they work from first-hand experiences which engage their interest, help them feel good about themselves and give them opportunities to succeed. We believe pupils are entitled to a stimulating classroom which should be a place of order, of industry and well-organised resources. We believe that pupils should be challenged by their work and that this happens effectively when teachers set realistic targets and goals to which pupils can aspire.

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It was common to find newly appointed headteachers recognising the importance of revisiting the shared values of the school as a key priority following their appointment. The newly appointed headteacher in a large secondary school organised a training day to formulate a strategy for developing a shared view of the core purposes of teaching and learning, and for creating a clearer sense of values and vision for the school. Prior to the day, teachers were asked to identify two core purposes of teaching and learning. This revealed little common ground and the lack of a shared language. Their initial views were summarised in eight separate statements about possible core purposes and these formed the basis of an exercise to agree priorities. Staff then identified the barriers to achieving the core purposes. The outcomes of the day were used successfully to develop a policy on teaching and learning, a shared set of values for the school, and to confirm the importance of listening to one another and sharing ideas.

Recognising the achievements and contributions of individuals

12. Managers in the schools generally went out of their way to make time to show their appreciation for what individual members of staff had done or to praise them for the quality of their work. They understood that a workforce that felt valued was likely to be motivated to achieve more highly. The means by which achievements were recognised varied widely, but all managers took care to deal with staff individually. Simple actions such as sending thank-you cards or acknowledgements in the school newsletter were appreciated by staff as confirmation that their contribution was valued. Personal support from the headteacher at more difficult times, such as bereavement and ill-health, were also appreciated and signalled that they took a genuine interest in their personal and professional circumstances. In many of the schools, performance management was used to recognise and record individual achievements and to identify opportunities for development. For example, giving teachers a new or enhanced role, such as leading a whole-school working group, was sometimes used to develop their leadership skills and enhance their career prospects while, at the same time, benefiting the school. Such additional responsibilities were sometimes recognised by awarding temporary or permanent management allowances. Teachers achievements were also recognised financially by progress through the threshold to the upper pay spine. Another way in which the schools often recognised achievement was through encouraging and supporting staff to undertake professional development activities that would help to further their careers. In a secondary school, recognition of achievement was embedded firmly in the style of leadership and management and reflected in the processes of monitoring and evaluation. Clear and detailed guidance was given to subject departments on how to review their performance during the year. All staff, including technicians and teaching assistants, became effective at evaluating their own practice and contributing to the cycle of departmental and school development planning. This process of departmental review provided a sound evidence base for identifying those who had made a significant contribution. Teachers and support staff in a primary school particularly valued the ways in which the headteacher and governors had expressed their gratitude to them for their hard work and achievements by improving their working conditions. Three attractive work areas for staff had been created around the school through the refurbishment of stockrooms and cloakrooms. The staffroom had also been redecorated.

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Managing the culture of the school

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The extent to which schools felt that external recognition of success promoted good relationships varied considerably. Some felt that initiatives such as the Investors in People award, Beacon School status or the DfES Achievement Awards helped to reinforce a positive ethos. A significant number were more cautious, however, when financial rewards were involved, for fear of creating tensions among the staff. For example, one small primary school had considered refusing the financial element of a DfES Achievement Award on the grounds that it was potentially divisive. In the end, it divided the award equally among all the staff, after careful discussion and reflection.

Inclusive culture
15. Effective school leaders placed a strong emphasis on promoting an inclusive ethos by seeking to harness and develop the potential of the entire workforce to achieve the schools aims and objectives. One way in which they did this was to establish broadly based teams with responsibility for particular areas of the work of the school. Many had decided to involve all staff, teaching and non-teaching, in the professional and social life of the school. Strategies for doing this included ensuring that non-teaching staff were involved in performance management arrangements and staff development activities. Giving all staff access to the staffroom was sometimes as important symbolically as it was practically. Teaching assistants particularly appreciated being recognised as important members of the teaching team. A small number of the schools, however, treated them insensitively, for example denying them access to the staffroom at break. In several of the schools, teachers failed to make full use in the classroom of the skills and strengths of the teaching assistants or to consult with them over planning. They were reluctant to use them in a teaching capacity and this led some teaching assistants to feel undervalued and resentful.

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Managing the staff

Recruiting and retaining staff
17. Most of the schools had fair and transparent procedures for appointing staff. Headteachers and governors generally drew up well-defined job descriptions and specifications of the skills and experience that they were seeking for forthcoming appointments. The appointment process for teachers usually entailed a searching interview, with teachers and sometimes other staff represented on the panel. The candidates were often observed teaching a lesson. The panels generally used clear criteria to assess candidates capabilities, exploring, in particular, the extent to which they were likely to share the schools values and its approach to teaching and learning. Many of the schools reported that recruiting teachers was becoming more difficult and that the number of applicants for posts was declining. Schools involved in initial teacher training, however, had often been able to recruit high-quality teachers. Most headteachers and governors had a clear idea of the sort of person they required for a post and had the courage to make what they considered the best appointment, even when this meant disappointing an internal candidate who might have expected to get the post. Occasionally, however, headteachers reported feeling forced into making a poor appointment when what they perceived as a weak external field led them to promote an internal candidate about whom they had some significant reservations. Such appointments sometimes had unfortunate longer-term consequences, such as the underperformance of pupils in a particular subject area. In one school, for example, a weak teacher was appointed internally to lead the mathematics department; teaching in the department was subsequently unsatisfactory, standards of attainment declined, and the headteacher had to invoke competence procedures. A number of the headteachers had used monies from a variety of national initiatives to fund promotions to newly created posts and, in this way, sought to motivate and help to retain high-quality teachers. Excellence in Cities funding, for example, was used in many of the secondary schools to appoint co-ordinators to work with gifted and talented pupils. Some schools had appointed experienced and highly competent members of staff as advanced skills teachers to develop teaching and learning across the school. Specialist Schools saw the additional funding available to them as important, both because it enabled them to enrich the curriculum they offered through improved resources and also because they were able to create additional teaching and non-teaching posts. Conversely, schools which did not have additional funding of this kind were often acutely aware of their more limited scope for creating new posts or awarding additional responsibility allowances.

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Managing the staff

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Recruitment and retention allowances to attract high-quality teachers were used more frequently in secondary than in primary schools. Their use was not widespread, however, as many teachers opposed them on the grounds that they were seen to be divisive. Schools in areas where housing costs were particularly high were very conscious of the need to use their budgets imaginatively to help recruit and retain good staff. Some used all of their allocated recruitment and retention points, in one case awarding an additional responsibility point to all teachers to help retain them. In a large secondary school in the south east, arrangements were made for three young teachers to live rent-free at a local independent boarding school in return for some supervision duties. The same school found suitable accommodation for a recently appointed teacher who was unexpectedly evicted from her rented flat. Some schools arranged loans from school funds for newly qualified teachers to ease financial pressures in the early stages of their careers. All of these approaches were designed to help retain teachers because of the likely adverse effects of staffing turbulence on the quality of education provided and the standards achieved by the pupils, and because of the considerable management time expended in recruiting and training new staff. The schools generally recognised that succession planning is an important aspect of staff management. The degree to which schools gave priority to this often depended on their size and the extent to which they faced high turnover and recruitment difficulties. Good succession planning was helped by effective staffing policies and well-devised staff induction arrangements, for example paired working and shadowing before a member of staff took over a new role. In one primary school, a teacher shadowed the deputy head carrying out data analysis before taking on this area of responsibility herself. In another school, to induct a new special educational needs co-ordinator, the headteacher initially took on the role herself and worked with the less experienced teacher to prepare her for taking over full responsibility for special needs within the school. While senior managers generally worked hard to establish positive relationships and provide support for staff, they also recognised that, on occasion, it was necessary to deal with issues of staff competence and conduct and sometimes to take disciplinary action. Headteachers expected high standards of performance and conduct from every teacher and saw competence procedures as a necessary measure where staff had consistently failed to meet them.

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One headteacher admitted to being ruthless with staff when necessary. He felt that the role of senior managers was to give clear leadership, not to court popularity. He believed that he no longer had any weak teachers on the staff as they had been removed through pressure and disciplinary procedures. Although other staff often felt uncomfortable when a colleague was subjected to such procedures, they understood the reasons and appreciated the long-term benefits to the school.

Defining roles and responsibilities

23. In most of the schools, staff have clear job descriptions; these are generally shared to help colleagues with whom they work understand their roles and responsibilities. Some roles, such as heads of year, often have fairly generic job descriptions; other responsibilities are more precisely defined for an individual. For example, one deputy headteacher might be responsible for analysing achievement and formulating strategies to raise standards. In the most effective of the schools, managers used a variety of ways to clarify and illustrate their expectations of staff, in addition to stating them in the written job descriptions. In many of the secondary schools, for example, all members of the senior management team were linked with middle managers, had regular dialogue with them, and provided informal feedback on how well they were developing in their roles. Problems sometimes arose when staff were unclear about the roles and responsibilities of their colleagues. In one secondary school, for example, the light teaching timetable of a junior member of staff led to some resentment among colleagues who did not realise her job entailed considerable time supporting and training other staff in ICT. In a primary school, on the other hand, changes in roles and responsibilities were discussed at staff meetings before formal job descriptions were drawn up. This strategy ensured that everyone understood the expectations of the member of staff undertaking each new role. In some of the schools, the roles of particular post-holders had not developed in line with current expectations for the level of seniority of their posts. For example:

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Managing the staff

In a secondary school, a long-established deputy heads role included responsibility for health and safety, school visits, production of data for external requirements, primary liaison, day-to-day examination arrangements and acting as clerk to the governing body. It did not, however, include any significant input to the strategic management of the school. A significant number of the tasks she undertook were those that need not be carried out by teachers. The recently appointed headteacher used an analysis of the excessive costs of this inappropriate allocation of responsibilities in order to persuade the deputy head and other staff of the need to reallocate a number of these tasks. 26. Schools varied considerably in the way they drew up and reviewed job descriptions for support staff. In many, teaching assistants had clear job descriptions that accurately reflected their work and status in the school. In one school, for example, they undertook some teaching and marking of homework under the supervision of the class teachers. Where they took on additional responsibilities of this kind, these were generally included in their job description. In a minority of the schools, however, the individual strengths and expertise of teaching assistants were not used effectively. This was especially evident in those schools with no performance management system for support staff.

Staffing structures and allowances

27. Many of the schools made effective use of financial allowances to motivate staff. In one secondary school, for example, the headteacher was faced with the need to motivate and develop a group of long-serving heads of subject departments, each of whom had a substantial management allowance. It was agreed that three quarters of the allowance should be for their substantive role and that the other quarter should be considered as payment for specified additional whole-school responsibilities. In this way, each of these very experienced teachers was able to make a more significant contribution to the school while having the stimulus of a new set of challenges. New headteachers sometimes found they had inherited a long-established staffing structure in which the allocation of management points either no longer matched the teachers roles and responsibilities, or did not reflect the direction in which they now wished to take the school. The degree to which headteachers had successfully managed such situations varied. Some had waited until a member of staff moved before making changes; others used their recent appointment as an opportunity to restructure the management teams and to redefine the roles and responsibilities of staff. When handled well, this restructuring helped to motivate the staff by providing them with new challenges that were matched to their strengths and interests. It also helped to ensure that key responsibilities for school development and improvement were held by those most able to carry them out successfully. 13

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A schools ability to award additional allowances occasionally failed to keep pace with rapid changes in responsibilities. Senior managers in these schools generally tried to maintain the commitment of the teachers by signalling that they were aware of, and would seek to eliminate, such inconsistencies as soon as possible. Although teachers generally attached more importance to job satisfaction than to pay, they did expect that the pay structure would be equitable and that they would be fairly rewarded for the jobs they were doing. Where schools were not systematic or transparent about awarding responsibility allowances, this sometimes led to a feeling of resentment among staff. Staff who thought the pay structure inequitable were sometimes difficult to manage and did not contribute fully to the life of the school.

Linking performance to pay

30. All of the schools in the survey were cautious about linking teachers performance to pay, with particular concerns about the use of the upper pay spine. Several of the headteachers had awarded all their eligible staff a rise on the post-threshold spine, despite having reservations about a small number of them. They felt they had been given insufficient advice about the criteria to use in determining whether individual teachers should progress. Teachers on the upper pay spine in a significant number of the schools had expected a pay increase and headteachers believed they would have been demotivated had they not received an increment. Although they recognised that the decision could turn out to be a costly precedent, they rewarded the performance of all eligible staff in the interests of harmony. The minority of schools which had sought to apply rigorous criteria to decisions about progress up the upper pay spine had found the process very time-consuming, and feared challenges from unsuccessful staff, especially since the decisions were not subject to external moderation in the way that threshold applications had been. Two further concerns occupied headteachers in making decisions about pay. The first was that, because of uncertainties over future funding, the schools budget might not sustain, in the long term, pay increases related to performance. The second was that, in some cases, there was a danger that pay differentials were becoming eroded. It was not untypical for some of the primary school deputy headteachers, for example, to find that their pay was similar to some of their senior staff on the upper pay spine.

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Managing the staff

Deployment of staff
33. Some schools were making increasing use of part-time and job-share arrangements to help recruitment and to retain staff who wished to change their work/life balance. In one secondary school, for example, the head-of-department roles in three subjects had been shared over the previous two years in response to the personal needs of the individual members of staff. These arrangements had provided excellent professional development opportunities for less experienced teachers, prepared them for future management responsibilities and secured effective succession planning. The arrangements ensured the school retained the services of good teachers who might otherwise have moved on or left the profession. The opportunity to develop the shared roles had been fortuitous, but the school had been creative in seizing and acting on the potential benefits of the situation. Such arrangements required careful management and monitoring by senior staff, however, to ensure that the quality of pupils learning was maintained. Several of the schools had recently increased significantly the number of non-teaching staff in order to carry out tasks that would otherwise be carried out by teachers. The schools commonly used non-teaching staff for tasks such as the organisation of supply cover, the administration of examinations and management of the learning resources centre. As well as enabling teachers to concentrate on teaching, these appointments often led to improvements in the way the non-teaching function was carried out. The appointment of an attendance mentor in one school, for example, not only released teachers from the daily burden of tracking absent pupils, but also led to better coordination of the schools attendance policy; trends and patterns were monitored more closely and liaison with the educational welfare officer was better informed. In an infant school, lunchtime supervisors were trained and deployed as lunchtime mentors to reduce the pressure on teachers. This relatively inexpensive initiative had additional benefits in that pupils now had access to a much wider range of activities during the lunch break, including construction toys and large apparatus. Teaching assistants were deployed effectively in most of the primary schools and made a valuable contribution to teaching and learning. Their attachment to specific teachers, classes and year groups contributed to their secure understanding of the teachers working practices and the needs of the pupils. Where they were attached to a year team, they were often involved in the teams planning and professional development sessions:

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In one primary school, each year group had its own dedicated teaching assistant who attended all planning sessions, professional development activities and year team meetings.Time was not wasted in giving instructions or receiving feedback at the end of each lesson because the teaching assistant was an integral part of the planning and assessment process.They moved up with the pupils into the next year.This arrangement provided continuity for the pupils and made it easier to pass on information about individual pupils previous achievements and difficulties.The teaching assistants were employed on a full-time contract and paid at the top of the scale in recognition of the importance of their roles and to ensure that they were available to join planning sessions and training events at the beginning and end of the school day. By contrast, in another primary school, teaching assistants were deployed across the whole school.While this provided them with variety, they were not part of the planning process. Their role had to be explained to them at the beginning of each session and time was taken up providing feedback to teachers at the end. This proved to be a very inefficient use of the time of both the teachers and the teaching assistants. 36. In the secondary schools, teaching assistants and other support staff frequently undertook a broader range of activities than in primary schools. This support helped teachers to carry out their duties more effectively. For example: In a rural community school, teaching assistants played a variety of roles in supporting teachers and pupils. Their deployment generally made best use of their individual strengths. One had particular responsibility for providing support in design and technology lessons. She had been trained in brazing and welding techniques, and in the use of design-related software. She worked very effectively alongside the teachers to support and supervise practical activities, to the clear benefit of both staff and pupils. Another member of the support staff held a certificate in behaviour management from a local university and was used to help identify causes and patterns of unsuitable pupil behaviour. Her role ranged from working with pupils who were given time out following bad behaviour in the classroom to monitoring absences and contacting parents where there were questions about unauthorised absence. She also supervised the team of 13 teaching assistants, arranged their timetables, carried out their performance management reviews, and appointed and inducted temporary teaching assistants.

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Managing the staff

In the same school, a member of the administrative team studied on a vocational ICT course alongside a class of Year 10 pupils. She developed her understanding of the pupils needs and, with the agreement and support of the teacher, undertook the role of informal learning mentor. This was particularly effective in the case of a group of pupils who understood the work but had difficulty in completing coursework. She used her knowledge of the course requirements to give closely targeted guidance, helping them to find strategies for organising their work to meet deadlines and to achieve a higher standard. She was particularly sensitive to the importance of providing support that matched and enhanced the work of the teacher with these pupils. 37. In some of the secondary schools, the deployment of support staff was less effective and teachers often continued to carry out tasks which could have been carried out by others, such as preparing equipment for lessons, mounting displays and collecting money for school trips. Some teachers in both primary and secondary schools were reluctant to delegate such tasks to others because they had habitually seen it as part of their job. Many more were reluctant to see teaching assistants given a more leading role in teaching groups of pupils or whole classes. Many teachers had not received sufficient training in making the best use of support staff. As a result, the potential of the teaching assistants was not realised fully, teachers spent time on unnecessary tasks, and the quality of education was less good than it might have been.

Opportunities for professional development

38. The most effective of the schools recognised fully the value of good professional development for their staff and ensured that teachers and teaching assistants had regular access to a range of suitable development opportunities. Staff in these schools felt valued because they recognised that their managers were investing in them and this increased their commitment to the school. Senior managers recognised the benefit to the pupils of investing in the professional development of the teaching staff. At best, staff were encouraged to take responsibility for their own CPD and each had an individual programme of appropriate development opportunities that was properly funded. The schools that planned CPD most effectively had a clear and open process by which professional development priorities were determined. They tempered school and departmental priorities against the career aspirations and development needs of individuals. Some imposed a common structure for performance management objectives; for example, in one secondary school all staff had a pupil-progress objective related to the whole-school priority for that year, a department-wide objective

39.

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reflecting an agreed priority, and an objective determined by the individual, related to their own teaching. These objectives were supported by well-designed individual training plans which fed into a whole school improvement plan and a staff training and development plan. Another feature of some of the more effective schools was that they held regular meetings for staff to discuss their work and learn from each other; in some, this took the form of a regular voluntary learning forum that allowed the sharing of successful practice, and encouraged teachers to be more reflective and to focus on the pupils learning. 40. In most of the schools, there was a well-organised programme of induction for all newly appointed staff, including those who were newly qualified. These programmes commonly consisted of a number of sessions after school covering topics such as the schools values and ethos, its pastoral system and behaviour policy, the use of assessment to improve teaching and learning, special educational needs and provision for gifted and talented pupils. High-quality support at an early stage in their appointment generally enabled teachers to establish themselves quickly and provided continuity for the pupils. It also commonly had the effect of strengthening their commitment to the school. Professional development was often built into the day-to-day life of the schools. Senior managers and teachers appreciated, for example, how opportunities to work with other colleagues in a variety of ways, from planning and teaching lessons to collaborating on projects, were often very influential in improving the teachers professional knowledge and skills. In one primary school, the staff had produced videos of good teaching and used them both to illustrate particular skills and to encourage lively professional discussion about the most effective teaching approaches. In another primary school, strong links had been developed with a local higher education institution to provide a co-ordinated and extended CPD programme on leadership and management skills. This replaced a staff meeting once a month and was seen by the headteacher as a model for developing tailor-made training for the school. Teachers with subject or year-group responsibilities had gained in confidence as a result of the training and were carrying out their roles more effectively. A junior school had given one of its senior staff responsibility for seeking out recent and relevant educational research to share with staff as the basis of professional debate and reflection on their classroom practice.

41.

18

Managing the staff

A 1419 college was involved in planning and teaching a transition uni for pupils in one of its partner middle schools. The exercise not only benefited the pupils but also had a clear advantage for the teachers who were working collaboratively in developing innovative approaches to their teaching. The most recent Investors in People evaluation of another secondary school confirmed that CPD was now firmly established within its culture, reflecting the commitment of the senior management team to the concept of the school as a learning community. The modern languages department, for example, held a good practice day once a year during which the teachers observed, shared and evaluated each others teaching. In addition, each departmental meeting included a clear focus on sharing practice. The second-in-department had responsibility for managing this process, organising the good practice days and establishing the focus of the departmental meetings. 42. In a minority of the schools, professional development was still too narrowly defined, largely in terms of external courses and whole-school in-service training. Staff were not seen as being entitled to a programme of professional development matched to their personal needs. In these schools, teachers often resented the lack of development opportunities and many failed to thrive. Ambitious teachers frequently looked elsewhere to develop their careers.

19

Managing the working environment

Physical environment and resources of the school
43. Where people work, and the conditions in which they work, often help to determine attitudes to their jobs. This applies as much to schools as to any other workplace. Parents recognise the importance of the right environment for their children, and good school managers recognise it as a key factor in allowing staff to carry out their job effectively. The majority of the schools in this survey had created an environment in which it was pleasant for teachers and pupils to work and which supported effective teaching and learning. There were generally sufficient learning and teaching resources, and many of the schools had placed a strong emphasis on improving the physical environment. There were, however, limits to what some schools could achieve. For example, few primary schools had adequate private study or working areas for teachers. Also, teaching assistants and others working with small groups of pupils often found it difficult to obtain a suitable room; this seriously impeded their ability to plan together or teach effectively. In one school, for example, investment in an additional teacher who worked with groups of high-attaining pupils was not wholly successful because of the unsatisfactory teaching accommodation to which the groups were assigned. Although sometimes rather cramped, staffrooms were generally well equipped to support the work and recreational needs of the workforce. A number of the schools had made good use of additional government funding to improve staffroom facilities. Many had also invested in improving the attractiveness of the outdoor environment and this had had a positive effect on the motivation of staff and pupils. Some school buildings required considerable improvement to meet fully the demands of the curriculum. Cramped and poor classrooms did not necessarily have an adverse effect on standards of achievement because of the efforts of teachers to overcome such constraints; they did, nevertheless, often affect staff morale. Teaching in shabby classrooms, and without a comfortable base in which to relax, to meet colleagues and plan work, often left teachers feeling undervalued and they were more likely to be seeking employment elsewhere. The most successful schools had a clear and coherent strategy for the development and use of ICT. Despite concerns about whether funding would continue to support the costs of updating computer systems, these schools had a programme for improving ICT resources that often drew on a wide range of funding sources. Staff were trained as new equipment was purchased and were able to make effective use of the resources for planning and administration, as well as for teaching. Teachers in these schools were able to work more efficiently, and to introduce their pupils to a greater range of teaching and learning resources and strategies.

44.

45.

20

Managing the working environment

46.

Very few of the schools had exploited fully the potential for ICT to improve the working environment for staff and the learning environment for pupils. One school that had made the most of the opportunities provided by moving to a completely new building offers a possible vision of the future. In November 2002, this large secondary school moved to a new building. It took four years to plan and eighteen months to build. Throughout that time, the headteacher and the business manager led the school team in the strategic planning and managing of the project. They helped ensure that the new school was equipped with the latest technology to support teaching and learning, promote efficient administration and reduce the teachers workload. There were 26 classrooms, each equipped with at least one networked computer and every department had at least one interactive whiteboard and data projector. There were three computer suites. The technology rooms were fitted with the latest computer-aided design equipment and the five art studios had access to an adjacent ICT studio for activities such as digital photography. The learning resource centre included a book collection, a range of multimedia resources and an ICT centre. This significant investment in ICT had raised the expectations of staff but had also brought its pressures, in the short term, particularly in terms of technical support. An ICT manager had been appointed to manage the systems in the new building. The increased emphasis on ICT provision was having a significant impact on the working patterns of staff and on the motivation of pupils. All teaching staff and the senior teaching assistants had a laptop computer. They were exploring ways of maximising their use to support teaching and learning, in addition to assisting them with their day-to-day administration. For example, a geography teacher had transferred all his teaching materials and lesson plans to a CDROM and each pupil had a copy. Pupils downloaded worksheets and engaged in pre-lesson preparation. The school was monitoring the effect of this initiative on the pupils attainment. Improved electronic communication and resource areas for laboratory and technical staff had contributed to greater efficiency in the organisation and availability of equipment to support science teaching. The school was fully committed to exploiting the potential of ICT to improve organisational efficiency. An intranet was already in place and was improving communication within the school. Each departmental resource area had its own computer, scanner and small photocopier. For larger jobs, staff e-mailed their work to the dedicated reprographics unit for copying. This unit was equipped with all the latest technology for printing, laminating and binding. Careful planning had reduced the administrative workload of staff and enabled them to work more efficiently.

21

ICT developments were not confined to the increased provision and use of computers, digital cameras, interactive whiteboards and data projectors. Radio-controlled clocks had been installed in every classroom and there were no bells to signal the end of lessons. This had reduced congestion in the corridors between lessons, and improved behaviour. Closed-circuit television monitored all access and movement spaces around the school. This had a major effect on improving discipline and reduced the time teachers spend on tracking incidents of unacceptable behaviour. The school was committed to meeting the challenges of modern technology and exploiting its potential to create an innovative teaching and learning environment, where staff used ICT to enable them to work more efficiently and reduce their administrative workload. The challenges the school faced were the provision of a relevant training programme for all staff, tailored to individual needs, updating staff on new developments, and the provision of good technical support to ensure that the systems were fully operational.

Promoting a healthy work/life balance

47. The more effective senior managers monitored the workload of teachers and took effective action to support them in managing their work. In addition to planning and teaching lessons, the most time-consuming responsibilities of teachers are: marking work; attending meetings; writing reports; keeping records; planning for the medium and short term; covering for staff absence; and, for those with management responsibilities, monitoring the subject or aspect of the school that they lead. The schools used a range of strategies to help teachers meet these demands as efficiently as possible. The majority had taken steps to cut the amount of time spent in meetings, for example adopting more efficient procedures for conducting staff meetings. They insisted that meetings started and finished on time and had clear agendas which were followed closely, and that brief minutes were taken and circulated quickly. These changes often led not only to a reduction in workload, but also to an improvement in the quality of the activities. One secondary school had convened a number of groups to consider issues such as work/life balance and staff welfare. All staff were invited to join a group of their choice and, consequently, teachers and support staff were well represented. These groups generated a lot of useful ideas that led to improvements in the way their workload was managed. Another secondary school gave all members of each subject team protected non-contact time simultaneously so that weekly department meetings could be held during the school day. This resulted in more productive meetings as well as reducing the need for staff to remain in school at the end of the school day. In a third school, the dates for written and oral reports to parents were staggered to ease the pressure on staff. It also brought benefits for parents as they now

48.

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Managing the working environment

received two separate reports during the year, one oral, at the parents consultation interview, the other an annual written report. 49. A few of the primary schools had well-developed strategies for the use of ICT to reduce the workload of staff. For example, a rural primary school made good use of ICT as a management tool both to reduce bureaucracy and to improve the effectiveness of teachers planning: A wide range of material required frequently by the staff was held on the computer network, including registers, attendance records, pupil data and pupils reports. School development plans, school policies, performance management plans, financial management, curriculum planning and information for parents and others were generated using ICT, and could be quickly adapted to meet different needs. A subject leader for ICT was appointed on a fixed-term management allowance; a student technician was also employed for one day a week to sort out equipment problems.The ICT subject leaders job description was well defined and contributed to her success in introducing systems and staff training to support the effective management of ICT. As a result, teachers who had previously lacked skills and confidence in using ICT were generating all their planning on computer, using the Internet and e-mail regularly, and accessing appropriate software to support their teaching.They used pre-existing literacy and numeracy plans, and those for foundation subjects from the Qualifications and Curriculum Authoritys web site.They had templates for half-termly forecasts, lesson plans and assessment records, which they changed and adapted to suit their needs. Once set up, this system allowed teachers to plan quickly and efficiently. The plans were placed on the schools internal network and were available for others to see and for the headteacher, curriculum managers and ICT subject leader to monitor. Assessment records were set up and used by the teachers to identify individual learning needs; they used them with the teaching assistants so that they, too, could identify where individual pupils required support. In turn, the teaching assistants added to the records when they had further evidence of pupils progress. These records formed the basis for both interim and annual reports to parents. The school used its web site to provide details for parents of the homework set by teachers, and paid a teaching assistant to provide online homework support in the early evening. 50. Few primary schools allocated teachers regular non-contact time, with the result that subject leaders often had insufficient time to fulfil the responsibilities outlined in their job descriptions. One urban junior school, however, provided time for all subject co-ordinators to fulfil their monitoring roles and the headteacher was very clear and specific about the focus of this monitoring to ensure that time was used effectively: 23

A programme of weekly non-contact time for the deputy headteacher, subject leaders and the special educational needs co-ordinator was introduced to enable staff to have time to plan, monitor and evaluate their curriculum areas. Each co-ordinator was required to submit a plan showing how the time would be used and how it matched the priorities identified in the school improvement plan. Cover for teachers was provided by the headteacher and two part-time teachers. The school evaluated the effect of this initiative on the pupils learning and achievement and there was clear evidence of improvement in some curriculum areas. A questionnaire was also completed by teachers to gauge the effect on their workload and work/life balance. Overall, the effects had been positive. Subject coordinators felt better able to carry out their leadership roles, and they were able to point to improvements in the quality of the teaching in the school. 51. Where teachers took on too many responsibilities, and became overloaded as a result, the quality of support they could offer pupils suffered. This was especially true of newly qualified teachers, who, in their desire to involve themselves fully in the life of a school, sometimes took on too much. While managers in a minority of the schools failed to monitor the workload of staff, better managers intervened when there was evidence that a teachers workload was becoming unmanageable. A few teachers felt they had been required to set unrealistic targets for themselves, with a consequent sense of failure when they were unable to meet them, even though their overall performance had been good.

Provision of administrative and technical support

52. Consideration of the 25 tasks identified in the national workforce agreement that need not routinely be carried out by teachers was leading many of the schools to increase the number and range of administrative and other support staff. There was an increasing focus on ensuring that teachers and senior managers were freed from tasks that could be done as well, or better, by others. Several schools had site managers who line-managed the caretaking and cleaning staff, and increasingly played a wider role in the school. In a specialist arts college, for example, the site manager was involved in supporting teachers and pupils through working with them on the lighting and sound requirements for drama examination coursework. He was also invited to staff meetings when decisions relevant to his work were being discussed. The headteacher had ensured that the site managers salary reflected his wider role.

53.

24

Managing the working environment

54.

Teaching assistants were used in a variety of ways to enable teachers to focus more on teaching the pupils. In one school, for example, departments were able to bid for the teaching assistants time to mount displays, file documentation, update resources, help to arrange field trips, and enter pupils attainment data on the schools ICT system. Another school had trained selected teaching assistants to invigilate examinations under the supervision of an experienced teacher, and had given a member of the administration team responsibility for managing the supply cover arrangements. This administrator also provided a detailed analysis of staff absence patterns to enable the senior management team to identify any matters of concern. A number of schools, especially larger ones, employed skilled finance and administration managers to provide support for the headteacher and other senior teachers. There was a lack of common status or salary structure for these posts and the roles varied considerably, for example the bursar in one school managed all administrative and premises staff; in another, the school manager was responsible for cleaning and technical staff as well as for the bursar and the finance officer. Only a minority of finance and administrative managers had qualifications and experience that were well matched to the job they were required to do. The lack of any clear career progression route was a significant concern for the most able and best qualified of them. All of the secondary and some of the primary schools benefited from the support of technical staff. The range and quality of practical work available to pupils in subjects such as science, ICT, design and technology, and art and design often depended crucially on the technical support available to the teachers and pupils. In the absence of such support, teachers were forced either to carry out the tasks themselves, or to reduce the opportunities for pupils to engage in practical work. The number of technical staff varied considerably between schools and also between departments within schools. There was often no clear rationale for the deployment of technicians; historical allocations of time and funding were sometimes an obstacle to progress.

55.

56.

Support for behaviour management

57. A key feature of the teachers working environment is the standard of the pupils behaviour. The majority of the schools in the survey had adopted a range of measures to ensure that high standards of pupil behaviour were promoted. In most, there was a behaviour policy based on rewarding positive behaviour, staff were expected to follow the set procedures and good behaviour was tied closely to an emphasis throughout the school on mutual respect. Senior managers in these schools constantly insisted that

25

good standards of conduct were maintained. They had introduced effective systems that supported teachers in dealing with difficult pupils and, through their high-profile presence around the school, set an example by implementing the agreed procedures themselves. 58. Many schools had simple but effective support systems, such as on-call arrangements for senior managers, to help teachers whose lessons were being disrupted. Some organised training for selected teachers to act as mentors to disaffected pupils. In a few schools, senior managers failed to provide effective support in behaviour management for teachers. As a consequence, some found it harder to teach successfully, and this depressed staff morale and levels of professional satisfaction.The majority of teachers, however, reported that good, school-wide behaviour management systems, fully implemented and backed by the personal commitment of senior staff, allowed them to manage their classes and to support pupils learning more effectively.The following example, from a large urban secondary school, illustrates how effective behaviour management systems can support teachers well: During the previous academic year, the school had noted a deterioration in pupils behaviour and had decided to make tackling this a priority for the year. This led to the introduction of a number of initiatives: a focus on identifying teaching and learning strategies that promote good behaviour and increase pupils motivation, and on providing professional development for staff to support the introduction of these strategies behaviour management training for teachers the establishment of a student support room (SSR) that made use of staff with particular skills in dealing with challenging behaviour, for example experience of working in a pupil referral unit the use of these support staff and teaching assistants in classrooms to target areas where behaviour was poor. An important aspect of the strategy was the use of the SSR to promote inclusion; this was set up to help pupils who found it difficult to cope with learning in the normal classroom. The aim was to reduce exclusions and the number of pupils on report. Those pupils who were sent to work in the SSR were identified through discussions with their personal tutor, teaching staff and head of year. They were required to work on individual targets with their teachers to achieve the necessary changes in their behaviour that would enable them to return to normal lessons. Pupils spent varying amounts of time in the SSR, based on their individual needs. A range of issues was addressed to help change the behaviour of pupils, including anger management and the development of the pupils social and life skills and their self-esteem.

26

Managing the working environment

Consultation and liaison with parents and external agencies formed an integral part of the work. A pupil tracking system and regular monitoring and evaluation were also key aspects of the programme. The schools special educational needs co-ordinator and the student support team also provided specialist training for teachers in behaviour management and in-class support. This focused support backed up the school-wide training in the use of teaching and learning strategies to promote good behaviour. Teachers in the school reported significant improvements in the behaviour of the individual pupils who had worked in the SSR. The training provided had enabled many teachers to reduce the incidence of poor behaviour in their classrooms. The number of exclusions fell dramatically. Teachers could now focus much more on their teaching and other pupils could focus on their work. This initiative had contributed to raising standards across the school. 59. Teachers in primary schools often used teaching assistants effectively to support pupils with behaviour difficulties. Good communication between teachers and teaching assistants resulted in a high level of understanding of appropriate behaviour strategies and in a consistent approach. Teaching assistants, who knew the class well, often provided valuable behaviour support to supply teachers who were covering the short-term absence of the class teacher.

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Managing change
Positive view of change
60. The theme of managing school development and change is one that has occurred a number of times in this report. In recent years, schools have been faced with the need for what has sometimes seemed like almost constant change in response to a series of central government initiatives. The more effective schools in this survey have combined the implementation of these changes with their own individual priorities, to support a process of continuous improvement. These changes have generally had a positive effect on the deployment, motivation, development and performance of teachers. Their introduction has required flexible but determined leadership. The most effective school managers are skilled in assessing the attitudes of the staff, are able to establish the scale of the changes required and are careful to be seen to be committed to them. They are generally quick to capitalise on new opportunities for their schools when they see potential benefits in them.

Use of funding
61. The effective management of change in the schools in this survey has often involved innovative use of the budget to achieve the schools aims. Many of the headteachers have tapped into a variety of funding sources, including government-funded initiatives such as the Specialist Schools programme, and made use of low-cost or no-cost services, to maximise the funds available for school buildings, resources and staffing. They have often made use of skilled finance managers to advise on how best to fund their plans for development and improvement. Conversely, the minority of schools which had not sought additional funding or made the most effective use of their budget, often felt that they were being left behind in terms of resources and staffing. Additional government funding, such as that from the Excellence in Cities or Specialist Schools programmes, had, for some of the schools, meant a significant increase in spending power. This had enabled them, for example, to provide additional ICT resources. Several of the schools had overcome budget difficulties by entering into consortium arrangements with other schools. By benefiting from the economies of scale offered by these arrangements, the headteachers were able to make progress with planned improvements at a lower cost than if they had worked in isolation. The sharing of the expertise of staff was sometimes an equally important outcome of collaborative working.

62.

28

Managing change

The headteacher of an inner-city infant school was very active in the management of a number of Excellence in Cities projects. She was particularly aware of the ways in which the school might benefit from projects involving laptop computers and became a key member of the management groups for two such projects. In one of these, she worked with another local primary headteacher to devise a project for a consortium of 13 primary or nursery schools to develop innovative ways of using laptop computers in teaching. The pooled Excellence in Cities funding allowed her to purchase a set of 24 laptop computers and other hardware to give greater flexibility in the classroom, also a range of software. The schools in the consortium recognised that they needed a specialist teacher to devise curriculum materials and to manage the technical aspects of the project. The consortium seconded a primary teacher to lead the project who had been the ICT co-ordinator at a local primary school and was seeking a new challenge. The impressive outcomes from this project could not have been achieved with the staffing and other resources of the infant school alone. By pooling resources, all the schools involved in the project were able to purchase sufficient laptop computers.The specific expertise of the teacher employed to lead the project was considerably greater than that of any of the teachers in the infant school. 63. The provision of improved ICT resources led to the use of more up-todate materials in the classroom and the introduction of a wider range of teaching styles. At the same time, it helped to reduce the workload of staff. There was a consequent improvement in morale and motivation in many of the schools. However, the additional resources sometimes brought unwelcome pressure to bear on teachers who were less confident with ICT. For example, one small rural primary school decided to buy laptop computers for pupils and teachers, as well as electronic whiteboards in classrooms. It was hoped that the purchase of this equipment would lead to greater integration of ICT within classrooms. Most of the teachers welcomed the initiative and quickly learned how to use the technology to support their teaching. Nevertheless, a minority of teachers felt they were under peer pressure to keep up with their colleagues and were having to spend a considerable amount of additional time in preparation.

29

Careful introduction of initiatives

64. Staff responded positively when the introduction of initiatives was staged effectively. The key factor was ensuring that the agreed change was manageable and that staff were persuaded of the benefits both to themselves and to the school. Negotiation before and during the process of change was important in securing the agreement and commitment of all staff. In a few schools, managers had failed to prioritise effectively or to phase the introduction of new initiatives with sufficient care, leaving staff feeling overloaded and, at times, demoralised. Most of the schools were cautiously optimistic about the introduction of the National Workforce Agreement. Debate prior to the agreement had stimulated many of the schools to consider their own approach to staff workload issues. They had often found that the agreement was largely in line with their developing thinking. Some headteachers, however, expressed concern over the funding implications of this initiative, especially whether their school budgets would enable them to employ sufficient support staff to relieve teachers of the 25 tasks listed in the agreement.

65.

Structured approach to self-evaluation and monitoring

66. The quality of strategic and operational planning was a significant strength in the majority of the schools. They established clear priorities based on rigorous self-review. A minority of the schools made effective use of external consultants, for example to lead off-site self-review days to explore what staff felt about the school and to collect their views on its future direction. Staff were generally involved in identifying priorities and planning for improvement; their views were listened to and taken into account where possible. Managers were mostly skilled at convincing staff of the need for change even when there were initially signs of reluctance. Staff completed a questionnaire which took the form of a personal self-review and included the management of faculties and departments.Within the questionnaire they noted the strengths of their current practice and where changes might be needed. They then indicated whether current practice was mainly satisfactory (in which case it might be maintained), was suitable but could be improved upon significantly, or was not working. The questionnaire results were then analysed. This analysis provided a clear profile of the schools strengths and weaknesses, and gave a strong steer for improving the quality of education.

30

Managing change

A large 1118 secondary school had successfully developed its evaluation of the management of teachers as part of a whole-school strategy that employed systematic processes of monitoring, evaluation and review. Staff were interviewed and asked to reflect on their responsibilities in terms of job description, training received, promotion and career prospects, goals and targets, appropriateness of support received to carry out responsibilities and the working environment. The headteacher developed a questionnaire for staff to evaluate the effectiveness of management in the school. Each member of staff was asked to judge key areas of management in relation to leadership, communication, teaching and learning, behaviour management and improvement planning. They were also asked to rate these areas according to what was most important to them. The design of the questionnaire allowed the strongest features, weakest features and features falling short of expectation to be identified and cross-referenced against importance ratings. The results raised some interesting issues, not all expected. There was strong agreement, for example, that support given to new staff was good. However, all staff agreed that the feature falling short of expectation was the lack of non-teaching staff input into school development planning. There were also some clear messages for the leadership team regarding behaviour management. Their perception was that this was a strong feature of the school. However, the features falling short of the staff s expectations were disruption not being dealt with promptly,pupils not clear about standards of behaviour and pupils not respecting teachers. The headteacher also developed a questionnaire for staff to evaluate the effectiveness of departmental management, to provide a platform for teachers within the department to give their views. One head of faculty managed a large team, many of whom were older and more experienced than himself.When the responses to the questionnaire were collated, the majority were favourable. However, there were two negative responses relating to communication with the head of faculty. He was aware of the disaffection of two colleagues but had not known how to approach them. This gave him the opportunity to evaluate his own management style and to act on evidence rather than his own instincts. He arranged individual interviews with the members of staff concerned to discuss the issues raised and this led to improved relationships. 67. Where less effective practice was observed, managers failed to seek evidence of the impact of their management strategies. In these schools, there was a limited understanding of how monitoring and evaluating the quality of leadership and management could be used to inform planning for change designed to improve provision and raise achievement.

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Annex A
The National Workforce Agreement
The National Workforce Agreement, signed in January 2003 by the government, employers and the majority of the school workforce unions, will be introduced in three phases, summarised by the DfES as follows: Phase 1 2003 Promote reductions in overall excessive hours Establish a new implementation review unit Routine delegation of 24 non-teaching tasks Introduce new work/life balance clauses Introduce leadership and management time Undertake review of use of school closure days Phase 2 2004 Introduce new limits on covering for absent teachers Phase 3 2005 Introduce guaranteed professional time for planning, preparation and assessment Introduce dedicated headship time Introduce new invigilation arrangements

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Annex B
The 25 tasks
The DfES commissioned PricewaterhouseCoopers to undertake an independent study of teachers workloads which was completed in December 2001. It revealed that, on average, teachers spent around 20% of their time on activities that do not directly support classroom teaching and that could be done by others. The following common tasks were identified as those which need not be carried out by teachers, and should as soon as possible be transferred to support staff: collecting money chasing absences bulk photocopying copy typing producing standard letters producing staff lists record-keeping and filing classroom display analysing attendance figures processing examination results collating pupil reports administering work experience administering examinations invigilating examinations administrating teacher cover ICT trouble-shooting and minor repairs commissioning new ICT equipment ordering supplies and equipment stocktaking cataloguing, preparing, issuing and maintaining equipment and materials minuting meetings co-ordinating and submitting bids seeking and giving personnel advice managing pupil data inputting pupil data. 33