School workforce remodelling
In January 2003, Raising Standards and Tackling Workload: A National Agreement was signed by school workforce unions, local government employers and the Government. The Agreement ushered in a series of important changes to teachers' conditions of service and also opened the way for enhanced roles for school support staff. The changes introduced by the Agreement became part of the School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document in three annual phases, beginning in September 2003.
The Agreement also called for workforce 'remodelling' — use of a change management programme in order to take on board the changes required by the National Agreement.
The signatories of the Agreement work in social partnership on an ongoing basis through the Workforce Agreement Monitoring Group (WAMG) which supports the delivery of sustainable change in our schools.
Since 2003, WAMG has been at the heart of school-workforce reforms including remodeling, changes to the teachers' pay structure, review of whole-school staffing structures, revisions to teachers' performance management and new professional standards. The common purpose is to support schools in raising standards and tackling workload issues for staff. A key delivery partner is the Training and Development Agency (TDA) in England, which, in conjunction with WAMG, develops and delivers training support and materials. WAMG also provides further support through its WAMG Notes and information packs.
Guidance Time for
Standards to accompany Section 133 regulations issued under the
Education Act 2002 has also been produced. It provides guidance on revisions to
the regulations which will come into force from 1 September 2007 and elaborates
on the principles established in the regulations to assist schools as they
apply them. A hardcopy is orderable via Online Publications (ref: 00636-2007BKT-EN).
Managing change
The change management process, which helped thousands of schools to
'remodel', has been designed to enable teachers to focus more
effectively on their teaching, increase the role of support staff and provide
every pupil with a chance to achieve greater success.
The change management process is not prescriptive but provides schools with tools and techniques which allow them to identify their own priorities and to develop solutions which are appropriate to their own circumstances.
You can read more about the change process, including case studies of schools' experiences of remodelling, on the TDA website.
The change process and extended schools
The TDA has been appointed to support schools and local
authorities in developing extended services. The intention is to build on the
work done in implementing the National Agreement on Workforce Reform/reducing
teacher workload and enable schools to use the remodelling tools and processes
they have developed to introduce extended services. As with workforce
reform, extended schools remodelling uses a cascade structure with 14 regional
remodelling advisers and an Extended Schools Remodelling Adviser (ESRA) in
every local authority. The ESRA's role is to lead the development of
extended services in schools across the local authority through the use of
remodelling tools and processes and by furthering partnerships with local
authorities and the community, voluntary and private sectors. The extended schools website sets out the advice and
practical support available to schools and local authorities in developing
extended services.
Last updated: 29 July 2008
