It wasn’t that long ago that restructuring within schools was so that rare that it examples of it happening could be treated as isolated case studies. However, with the collapse in school funds and accompanying rise in external costs – the latest example being the apprenticeship levy – heads are increasingly finding themselves having to make colleagues redundant.
As often happens with things that are deeply unpleasant, many among us have started referring to this process as ‘change policy’ to make it sound nicer, but the brutal truth remains that more heads than ever are having to make redundancies in order to get their budgets to balance.
I don’t know about you, but none of my training ever included guidance around redundancies (not even my NPQH studies), so to say it’s out of my comfort zone is a gross understatement – but unfortunately that’s no excuse for not handling it well. So what should we do to address this?
Transparent policies
Whilst it’s not a statutory requirement, your school should have a redundancy or ‘change’ policy. If not, good examples can be found at The Key and The School Bus and you should be able to obtain further advice from your LA or diocese. These policies are more like ‘how to’ documents, providing you with step-bystep processes to ensure that whatever the change, it’s seen to be as transparent as possible.
There are a whole host of reasons as to why schools have to change their structure. In my experience, these can include Ofsted report recommendations, government initiatives or a school’s financial circumstances. With more schools now spending well beyond their budgets, there can be a tendency among some leaders – let’s call them ‘camp A’ – to think ‘Let’s go into debt to demonstrate how tight our finances are.
If we keep balancing the books, the government won’t believe us!’ Others in camp B, however, will counsel, ‘No. Our duty is to balance the books, and in order to do so, some tough decisions might have to be made.’
Whilst I fully support what camp A suggests, I do also feel obliged to balance my books and look at how we can change our structure in order to make the money match the need. That said, I’d like to be clear on this point: we are approaching a tipping point, and even with the most careful restructuring and creative use of bookkeeping, schools are facing a hole that they’ll struggle to prevent themselves from falling into.
What are the options?
If I detect so much as the whiff of a need for change, I’ll reach for the phone and call the diocesan HR team, since both my schools are church schools, but an LA team should be able to address the situation equally well. It’s mainly down to who you have the best working relationship with, but get advice from somewhere – they’ll have much more experience than you, and be able to present some options that you might not have previously considered.
First and foremost, look to where you can make some natural redundancies. This might include restructuring how much teaching you, your deputy or out-of-class teachers undertake. I teach one day a week and still manage to run two schools in order to balance the books, as do my SENCos and Heads of School.
If a colleague is moving on or retiring, look at how that will impact upon the books – indeed, you should be planning for retirements. You could replace an experienced teacher with an NQT and save nearly £20,000. A TA might not have their role replaced at all. All of these options are far better than redundancy. Yes, by reducing the level of staff experience or number of adults on site you are increasing risk, but that’s less upsetting than going through the whole redundancy process.
At some point, however, you’ll get to the stage where you’ll either be working at a bare minimum or have exhausted your natural options. This is when you’ll have to carefully study your policy, and remember that the key to all of this is communication. Your governors should be made fully aware that there’s a risk, and then be informed as to what steps you’ve taken in order to reduce that risk.
The business case
At this point you’ll have to make a business case for your restructuring. A business case should be drafted to outline the proposed change(s) in more detail and lay out the rationale behind them. It will need to include your revised workforce structure, new ways of working, skills and workforce development requirements, alongside a comparison with the current structures. Any requirements for change should be highlighted around working arrangements, staffing numbers, skills and knowledge
You should also outline any new or updated job descriptions with person specifications, plus a rationale for any differences there might be in comparison with current job descriptions. Finally, there will also need to be a proposed timetable for consultation and implementation.
Fundamentally, we have a duty to balance our books, but in the current climate that’s getting harder and harder. It’s for those reasons that you must not only have an up-to-date change policy, but one that you’re familiar with.
Key points
Devise your change policy
This will be your guide throughout the redundancy process, and one you’ll get to know very well should you have to undertake it. Stick to its timelines and procedures, and the process should come across as honest, fair and transparent. Problems can occur if you start deviating from it.
Can redundancies be avoided?
Identifying opportunities where redundancies can be avoided will inevitably include everyone taking on more, but only you can judge at what point your school has reached capacity.
Know your limits
Ultimately, there’s only a limit on Reception and classes in Y1 to Y2 classes. Equally, there’s only a legal requirement for a teacher to be in the class. It’s entirely feasible that in the near future we’ll see schools that can’t afford any TAs if they’re to meet their minimum legal requirement. At that point, very serious questions will have to be asked if their budgets are required to shrink even further.
Anthony David is an executive headteacher of two North London schools.
