LGA Update | COVID-19 School Workforce Issues

This article has been brought to you by Slough Borough Council's Service Lead for Schools, Johnny Kyriacou, for the attention of the all Headteachers.

Please see below the latest updates related to school workforce issues that have been recently published.

The DfE has updated their School Workforce Q&A. It confirms that maintained schools must continue to adhere to the school teachers' pay and conditions statutory guidance. This includes the requirement to ensure that all pay progression for teachers is linked to performance management.

However, DfE expect schools to use their discretion and take pragmatic steps, to adapt performance management and appraisal arrangements to take account of the current circumstances. This could include basing performance on the period schools were open, adjusting, if necessary, for expected trajectory had there been no closures. 

list of cancelled or postponed data collections relating to children’s care and education is now available online.

Update to Teacher Apprenticeship End Point Assessment

The Teacher Apprenticeship Trailblazer Group has announced that temporary alternative arrangements are being put in place for the lesson observation element of the End Point Assessment (EPA) for this Apprenticeship Standard due to the impact of COVID-19.

The lesson observation element can now be awarded based on assessment of observations during the consideration of the Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) award. The discussion element of the EPA is expected to go ahead as normal and these provisions only apply to apprentices whose EPA was due to take place before the end of the current academic year. You can read more here.