Academy Staffing Structures

[Badaz52]

Hi,

 

Not sure if this is in the right forum but here goes, I work for a large secondary school that has around 1300 pupils. We are looking to become an academy as in have gone through the consultation process and are now looking to convert. What I was wondering is there is a lot of talk about people being Tuped across with pay and conditions etc. however I cannot see how everyone can be Tuped across as some, especially those in senior positions will no doubt need to have a restructure in order to ensure that the top level staffing structure is right for an academy.

 

For example Headteachers become Principals, a board of directors has to be elected, the governors sit under the board of directors etc etc.

 

With this in mind, I wondered if some of you could share what sort of staffing structure you have at the top level and whether some people with changing job titles etc had to re-apply to keep their jobs. For example:

 

Board of Directors

Governing Body

Principal

 

Basically can the Headteacher expect to become the Principal or will they have to apply?

[RichP]

We converted to an academy back in 2011 with the primary aim that as little as possible would change. We adopted the NJC pay scales for support staff and the STPCD for teachers to form our new pay policy.

Our previous governing body now form the Board of Directors (as we are now a charitable company). Our Headteacher retitled himself Principal, and our assistant heads became assistant principal - more a title change than anything else so not a new job that needed to be applied for!

[LeMarchand]

Basically can the Headteacher expect to become the Principal or will they have to apply?

 

I don't know what the law states, but I'm pretty sure that if your head is the driving force behind the academy then they'll be the Principal.

 

Others here are less cynical and/or had better experiences of the process than I did!

[Tallwood_6]

When went academy staffing structure and titles all remained the same including the head and the governors took on the directorship although they still call themselves and are referred to as governors.

Pay scales all remained the same as well so I'm guessing a lot of the staffing changed are down to the establishment.

[Edu-IT]

When went academy staffing structure and titles all remained the same including the head and the governors took on the directorship although they still call themselves and are referred to as governors.

Pay scales all remained the same as well so I'm guessing a lot of the staffing changed are down to the establishment.

That could have been TUPE rights. Pay could change at some point I'm sure.

[Tallwood_6]

That could have been TUPE rights. Pay could change at some point I'm sure.

 

It theory yes but if a school is happy with its current structure and agrees to continue to use the LA to baseline jobs and follow the same banding then very little has to change.

Very few staff other than those involved with the work behind the transition to an academy really noticed the difference.

 

Ultimately it's all down to your governors / SLT in terms of the scope and scale of the changes that are made during the transition, the move to academy status doesn't require sweeping changes however.

[elsiegee40]

I am the Director of a small multi academy trust and Chair of governors in one of the Trusts schools, so am well qualified to to speak on this one.

 

Starting at the top....

 

If your school is becoming a standalone academy, some or all of the governors will be become Member Directors of the Trust. They will remain unpaid. These are effectively the shareholders of the company.

 

Those Members then appoint further directors to the Board if they wish. The Board may include paid employees of the Trust, such as the Principal, but the paid employees must be outnumbered by volunteers by 1:5

 

The Members also appoint a Governing Body for the school, this may be the same people as those who are Directors.

 

The Trust Board is running the company that is the Academy (i.e. the Academy Trust) and all staff will be employed by the Academy Trust. This necessitates a TUPE process to transfer employment from the LA. You are correct in assuming that it may not mean that everyone has a job under the new structure. Most schools will review their staffing at the time of conversion as the DfE will pay redundancy costs for converter academies.

 

If your school joins a Multi Academy Trust, staff are TUPEd over to that Trust's employment and again there are no guarantees of jobs for anyone... including the governors. Governance of a MAT is up to the Trust and there does not have to be a Governing Body for the school at all; the directors of the Trust can do everything themselves if they choose. Again, the volunteer non executive directors must outnumber the paid staff as directors in the same proportion I mentioned earlier.

 

I will be surprised if your school is allowed to become a standalone academy. If it's Good or Outstanding it will be expected to team up with at least one failing school to make a MAT and bring that school up to speed. If it is RI or worse it will have to join an existing Trust.

 

Few academy converters change pay and conditions on conversion; there's too much else to worry about without alienating the staff by doing this.

Edited November 20, 2014 by elsiegee40