The Role of the Governing Body
Appointing appraisers for the headteacher
- The Governing Body is responsible for setting performance objectives for, and monitoring and reviewing the performance of, the headteacher, through appointed appraisers and with the help of an external adviser.
- The governing body must appoint two or three governors to act as appraisers for the head. Where a school has a religious character, or is a voluntary aided school which does not have a religious character, at least one of the governors appointed must be a foundation governor. However, the Governing Body must not appoint any governor who is a teacher or other staff member to act as an appraiser.
Appointing the external adviser
- The Governing Body must appoint an external adviser to assist the appraisers. The adviser is a nationally trained expert who will advise and support the governing body on reviewing the head's performance. The local education authorities' consortia will allocate an external adviser to the school from a regional list of trained advisers.
- Governing bodies must involve the adviser in all stages of the performance management process but may choose to use their adviser in different ways. The adviser can help the governors on setting objectives, prepare for the review, conduct the review, and if required, draft the review statement in the light of the review meeting. The status of the adviser's input is exactly that - advice. Decisions are a matter for the governing body.
Agreeing the headteacher's objectives
- An objective is a statement of desired outcomes against which progress may be monitored and success judged. Without clear objectives headteachers will not know what is expected of them, will not be able to judge their progress and will not know when they have delivered the required results.
- The starting point for agreeing objectives should be a clear job description. The next step is to discuss the head's priorities, the needs of the pupils and personal priorities and then to agree specific objectives for the coming year. This should be done at a meeting between all the appraisers, the external adviser and the headteacher.
- Objectives should include at least one objective relating to school leadership and management and one relating to pupil progress. There is no statutory requirement for the number of objectives to be agreed but best practice indicates that at least three but no more than five or six is appropriate.
- Objectives need to be clear and concise. They should be challenging - neither too comfortable nor dauntingly unrealistic. Where they span more than one year it will be helpful to identify milestones for the annual review stage. Objectives can be revised at any time during the performance management cycle where the headteacher and all appraisers agree, and changing circumstances may make this necessary from time to time.
Monitoring the head's performance
- Performance management will be most effective when progress is kept under review during the year. At the initial planning meeting, in addition to objectives being set, the headteacher will discuss and agree procedures with the appraisers for monitoring the headteacher's performance against objectives. If procedures cannot be jointly agreed, the appraisers will have the final decision and will set and record the procedures to be used.
- The appraisers should agree with the head at the outset what types of information would be helpful, and at what points in the year discussions might take place. Monitoring progress throughout the year will allow objectives to be adjusted in the light of any changing circumstances. The appraisers may wish to seek advice from the adviser to help them do this.
Reviewing the headteacher's performance
- A review meeting must be held by the headteacher, the appraisers and the external adviser at the end of each performance management cycle. This must review the headteacher's achievements and identify any aspects in which further progress would be desirable, assess the extent to which he or she has met the recorded objectives, and identify any development needs and ways of meeting these.
- The headteacher must be given 10 school days' notice in writing of the date of the review meeting. The annual review meeting can be combined with agreeing objectives for the following performance management cycle.
- The head may wish to consider providing a self-evaluation of his/her own performance against any previously set objectives. This should be submitted to the appraisers at least 5 school days before the review meeting. This self-evaluation could additionally cover the benefits of any training undertaken or feedback given and particulars of any training which the headteacher considers would be beneficial, and any factors which he or she considers affected his or her performance against the set objectives.
- The procedure for the performance review of the headteacher could encompass the following:
- Prior to the review meeting the head provides relevant background documents for the governing body to send to the appraisers and adviser.
- The adviser reviews the information and provides preliminary written advice to the appraisers and the head regarding the areas on which the review may focus.
- On the day of the adviser's visit, the head has the opportunity to meet him or her prior to the review meeting. The adviser and the appraisers will then meet to discuss the handling of the review meeting.
- The review meeting takes place between the appraisers, adviser and the head. The meeting should cover the overall performance of the headteacher during the year, including achievements against set objectives. Any self-evaluation completed by the headteacher and any other information provided by him or her should be considered. Professional development needs and activities should also be discussed, the review meeting may be combined with a discussion to agree new objectives for the next cycle.
- Following the review meeting, the appraisers must prepare a written statement recording the main points made by all parties at the review and conclusions reached. The statement should be concise and provide a sound basis for future objectives and review. The review statement must include any identified development needs and activities (and ways of meeting these identified at the review) recorded in a separate annex to the review statement. It is recommended that the headteacher's self-evaluation form is also included. A copy of the statement must be given to the headteacher within 10 school days of the review meeting. The headteacher has the opportunity to add comments to the written statement, within 10 school days of receiving a copy. The headteacher is also entitled to appeal against the written statement.