New Half Term

Another half term has started and we are half way through the academic year. Time flies when you have targets to meet!

Earlier this week I met with my School Improvement Partner - part of an initiative launched by the Government to enable schools to have access to advice, support and challenge from an external person other than the local authority. In essence this is a very good idea - but our SIP is actually the same person as the local authority used as their link adviser to the school so nothing has really changed. We have a three to four hour meeting every half term and we discuss issues pertinent to the school at the time. Mostly we discuss data - figures that show how well our children are progressing towards the targets that have been set for them and collectively how the targets compare with our current academic position. We also talk about contextual issues and matters relating to the future of the school. The process is not a great deal of fun and involves lots of paperwork and poring over figures. The government intention is that the process is useful to Headteachers - well it isn't to this one!

Last night after school there was a Governors Personnel Committee meeting. The agenda wasn't particularly full but there was a lot to talk about. Most of our time was spent discussing something called "Single Status". This is another Government initiative that is supposed to address a few issues in relation to the employment of staff members who are not employed on teachers contracts. The intention is to ensure that people employed in the same or very similar jobs are paid the same or very similar and have common working expectations. Sounds simple really. Sadly it isn't and has caused quite a lot of work, some anxiety and tension. The process may calso cost a lot of money to implement and may result in less people being employed in the long run. What is supposed to be easy and straightforward has turned out to be a bit of a nightmare!