December 2012

The know zone

  • A sixth sense
    Make sure your admissions criteria add up if you want to avoid attracting the wrath of the LGO, warns Richard Bird. More
  • Quids in
    How much teaching does £1 buy? It’s a crude estimate but with finances under increasing scrutiny, it could be a useful starting point for assessing value for money, says Sam Ellis. More
  • The leader as servant
    Janet Nevin is principal of Ashton-under-Lyne Sixth Form College in Lancashire, which was named outstanding school or college of the Year in the 2012 National BTEC Awards. A former part-time Ofsted inspector, she has also researched and reported on the career experiences of women managers in Catholic sixth form colleges. More
  • Red Nose Day 2013
    Red Nose Day is back – a chance for schools and colleges to have some fun, raise money and transform the lives of people in desperate need. More
  • Lead vocals
    Quotes from Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela, Oscar Wilde, Winston Churchhill, Indira Gandhi More
  • Adding value
    When budgets are tight, keeping staff healthy ensures your workforce is productive and supply costs are kept to a minimum. More
  • Telling fortunes?
    Will the government’s plan to replace GCSEs with EBacc Certificates have the potential to help raise standards as is intended? Or will it have the opposite effect? More
  • Leaders' Surgery
    The antidote to common leadership conundrums... More
  • Cause for grade concerns
    The ASCL Council meeting in Reading on 11-12 October was dominated by curriculum and qualifications – not just the GCSE English legal challenge, but also proposed changes to GCSE exams and the introduction of the English Baccalaureate Certificates (EBCs). More
  • Supporting success
    Many very capable leaders are put off working in challenging schools because of the vulnerability of the roles. It is better support, not higher pay, that will turn this around, says Brian Lightman. He outlines what an effective support package should look like. More
  • A war of nerves?
    Trying to win over the hearts and minds of potential students and parents is no easy feat – in many aspects it’s as daunting as facing the dreaded Ofsted inspector, says Ross Morrison McGill. More
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Leader's Surgery

The antidote to common leadership conundrums...

Warning for whistleblowers

Q. A member of staff has posted a comment on his blog saying that the school’s internet security is rubbish. He has admitted posting the comment but claimed that he was whistleblowing and so is protected. We have published a whistleblowing policy that he has ignored. Is he protected?

A. No, he is not. There is protection for whistleblowers for revealing confidential information but only under strict conditions. It must be in the interest of the public to know the information – not just that aroused. Essentially the revelation should be about a breach in the law. If your systems are indeed insecure, this would be a breach of the Data Protection Act and would qualify. However, the person revealing the information must reveal it in good faith. He should also have attempted to raise the matter with a line manager, unless he reasonably believes that his attempt to do so would be ignored; or that he would be unfairly treated; or that as a result of his efforts, evidence of wrongdoing then, he should have raised it with a ‘prescribed person’ (who should be specified in your policy) and should not have published it online. Since he did not raise it, and there is no reason for him to have bypassed the school’s management or the ‘prescribed person’, he is not protected. Unless further investigation reveals new information that changes the complexion of affairs, you should contact your HR provider with a view to commencing disciplinary procedures.

Business Managers' pay and conditions

Q. My role as a business manager has changed significantly in the last two years, absorbing many additional strategic responsibilities associated with the increasing autonomy encouraged by the government. What steps is ASCL taking to ensure that our remuneration is aligned with our other leadership colleagues?

A. ASCL was one of the first professional associations to acknowledge the leadership role of many business management professionals working in schools and colleges, offering open access to membership from 2005.

The association has been campaigning for more equality in the assessment of business managers’ pay and conditions since 2009. More recently, ASCL Council discussed the issue through its Pay and Conditions Committee, and agreed a formal position statement appealing for a mechanism that would allow the remuneration of this group of leadership professionals to be more closely aligned with their senior leadership team colleagues.

A further opportunity to keep this issue at the forefront of national discussion presented itself during the recent School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) review consultation process. Our response to the consultation states, “We would also raise the issue of school business managers (and other non-teachers who occupy leadership positions). Although not paid in accordance with the 2002 Act (and therefore not subject to the STPCD [School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document]), nevertheless business managers have become instrumental. There is already a precedent in the STPCD that allows the pay for unqualified teachers to be determined via the document. We see no reason why legislation cannot be adjusted to incorporate this group of employees whose work is very important to continued school success.”

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