School Staff Policies

There are a number of staff policies that have been established to support staff in the management of situations and to protect their rights and welfare. • A Schools pay policy which is annually reviewed is determined by the governing body and clearly details the different pay structures for different members of staff from midday supervisors to senior management. • A schools performance management policy clearly states why it is necessary to monitor staffs performance and how it is done through appraisals and supervisions. It also has to state what action will be taken if a member of staff performance is deemed less than satisfactory. • The staff development policy outlines the opportunities of professional development for all staff
Individuals affected by the policies such as staff and governors should be consulted and given the opportunity to make amendments throughout the process, to make sure that it is fitting for all. However it is ultimately up to the governors to agree to and ratify the policy. Once the policy has officially been signed off it needs to be made available to all people who are connected to the school (i.e. governors, parents, investors etc.) through written forms of communication for example sending letters home or by publishing it online. Then in order to keep policies up to date with government schools should state when they are going to be review each policy and how regularly.
All schools will have their own variation of this process depending on a number of factors such as their size, in larger schools such as Colfeâ€TMs not all staff may be consulted about a new policy as there are simply too many of them. The way policies are communicated to the relevant people may also differ in ways such as; how much detail is given, who it is given to and through what mediums. For example Colfeâ€TMs school gives out written letters detailing new policies to all staff and publishes some of them on their school website whilst others need to be requested from the Headmasters secretary. Whereas Kingshilll School which is a much smaller school publishes all its policies
One of the main responsibilities of the Department of Education is the devising of educational policy (i.e. National Curriculum) which schools and nurseries practices and based upon. They are also required to offer and develop services of a high standard that support children (i.e. health and social services) under the children Act 2004 and the Every Child Matters report. Researches in to particular projects with educational aims are funded by the Department of Education, especially if they are relevant to their current objectives. For example the current areas of focus for the
Department of Education are the rethinking of childrenâ€TMs social care and their transition in to adulthood. They themselves also research new ways of working which are better and more effective than the existing ones. Once a more effective way of working is discovered, standards and processes are drawn up to enable schools to implement the change. Finally the Department of Education develops the way the third sector (non-government organisations) i.e. charities work with children, by advising them on particular issues and by clearly stating what their role in childrenâ€TMs education