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. It 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' — a change management programme to take on board the changes required by the national agreement.
The Workforce Agreement Monitoring Group
(WAMG)
The signatories of the agreement work together through the WAMG, which supports
the delivery of sustainable change in schools.
Since 2003, WAMG has been at the heart of school-workforce reforms including remodelling, 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 develops and delivers training support and materials in conjunction with WAMG. The group also provides further support through its WAMG Notes and information packs.
Guidance, entitled Time for
Standards, to accompany Section 133 regulations issued under the
Education Act 2002 has also been produced. It covers revisions to the
regulations which came into force on 1 September 2007 and elaborates on the
principles established in the regulations to assist schools as they apply them.
A hard copy can be ordered via the TeacherNet Online Publications website (reference:
00636-2007BKT-EN).
Managing change
The change-management process, which has helped remodel thousands of
schools, was 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 process is not prescriptive but provides schools with tools and techniques for identifying their own priorities and developing solutions 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 LAs in
developing extended services. The intention is to build on the work done in
implementing the national agreement on workforce reform, in 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 cascading 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 LA through the use of remodelling tools
and processes and by furthering partnerships with LAs and the community,
voluntary and private sectors. The Extended Schools
website sets out the advice and practical support available to schools
and LAs in developing extended services.
Last updated: 26 May 2009
