Now is the time that Head teachers should be conducting Performance Reviews for all teachers in the school. This process is particularly important for teachers who passed the Threshold in September 2000 because it will be used to decide whether or not they move to the 2nd point on the Upper Scale. If you are eligible for the payment, key points to remember are:
You do not have to apply - the Head or Team Leader should know you are eligible and must conduct the process for you
You do not need to fill in any forms or supply extra information
You do not need a lesson observation as this should already have been done during the Performance Management cycle.
The NUT’s view is you should receive the point if you are working at the same level of effectiveness as you were when you passed the Threshold. If the Head thinks you are not, you should be told clearly which area of your work needs to be looked at and given time to address it. If you are unhappy about the way your Performance review is being conducted, please contact the Union office.
This year, European Health & Safety Week is adopting STRESS as its’ theme. During the week beginning 14th October, workplaces all over the country will be marking the week by staging events, adopting new systems etc in an effort to reduce stress. The NUT nationally is focusing on reducing workload as a good way to combat stress amongst teachers.
The Bradford NUT Officers are asking all headteachers to play their part in the Health and Safety Week by cancelling any meetings that are scheduled. We also want them to consider having a bureaucracy holiday by eliminating all non-essential tasks in this last week of the half-term. We are also reminding heads of the requirement to carry out risk assessments on stress.
It would be good to see school managements making a special effort to show they take Health and Safety seriously and that they value their staff. It would be even better if this initiated new systems to permanently reduce workload. We will be collecting details about what goes on in each participating school and making public our views about which schools are good employers.
For further information and a free Action Pack by phone the HSE campaign hotline on 0800 0850050 or go to their website at www.hse.gov.uk
The next few months will see construction programmes at some schools coming to an end and teachers moving into new or renovated buildings . In either case there are potential Health and Safety concerns.
Experience has shown us that there is sometimes pressure on school staff to move into premises which they should not be working in. Contact us if in any doubt.