School workforce reform: taking it further

A recent Ofsted report, Reforming and developing the school workforce, has found that schools and their teachers are now able to devote more time to pupils as a result of reforms to help 'reduce paperwork and refocus workload'. Three quarters of the teachers interviewed by Ofsted for the report believed that they have 'greater control over their work and more time to plan lessons, mark books and collaborate with colleagues'.

This is all very positive, although the fact that the remaining quarter of those interviewed had not experienced such good outcomes is clearly a cause for concern. But what are the next steps? How can we reach beyond to find professional development in workforce reform? These ideas will help.

• It's really important to link workforce reform to wider school improvement initiatives. Beyond that, this can link in to the prioritising of national agendas. Creating work-life balance, reducing workload and extending the roles of support staff are strong enough aims, but these also need to support the raising of standards.

• The wider workforce is a school's most valuable resource. Ensuring the full integration of all staff will help to maximise development potential.

• Do all members of your school's team, including supply teachers, receive high quality induction?

• How effective is your school at recruiting the right people? Does each role match the skills of the post holder?

• Does each member of your school's team have a sense of following a career path in education (regardless of the level the path may take)?

• How satisfied are you with the quality of development undertaken by staff members?

• According to Ofsted, very few schools use the time released by workforce reform to develop a culture in which thinking and practice are shared among staff members. This is a key source of professional development. How good is your school at achieving this effective and relatively inexpensive goal? Is there room for improvement?

As Christine Gilbert, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills pointed out, the challenge which remains is ensuring that the increasingly diverse workforce in schools receives relevant training and professional development so that standards and achievement can be raised.

Find out more

You can find a downloadable version of Reforming and developing the school workforce here.

Rewarding pro-social behaviour

There's enough column inches given to anti-social behaviour, but what about pro-social behaviour? Are we as willing to devote energy to recognising and rewarding the kind of behaviour we really want to see in and around our schools?

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has recently published research which focuses on the fact that young people can be unfairly demonised in society. The report explores two projects in Bradford and York aimed at rewarding the positive contributions made by young people .

The research reached some key conclusions which might usefully be transferred to the school setting:

• Reward schemes can help to stimulate volunteering, which in turn can help to tackle anti-social behaviour.

• It can be helpful to give young people ownership of specific and necessary tasks around the school.

• Reward schemes need to be developed with a clear rationale and philosophy which are understood and appreciated by all concerned.

• Consult with young people when devising reward schemes. They should emerge from collaboration, not imposition. Keep the schemes small and local.

• Make sure that reward schemes are properly staffed so that they continue with energy and enthusiasm.

Find out more

You can learn more about the Bradford and York schemes by downloading a copy of Rewarding young people for pro-social behaviour.

This e-bulletin issue was first published in September 2007

About the author: Elizabeth Holmes qualified as a teacher at the Institute of Education, London and is the author of several books specialising in the areas of professional development and teacher well-being.