Review of the North Lanarkshire Council Scheme of Devolved School Management (DSM)
North Lanarkshire Council · 13 September 2022
Back to Education, Children and Families Committee — 13 September 2022 and its agenda
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Education, Children and Families Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref DB / TO’H Date 13/09/22 Review of the North Lanarkshire Council Scheme of Devolved School Management (DSM) From Derek Brown, Deputy Chief Executive E-mail BrownD@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 01698 302 534 Executive Summary The Education and Families Committee was previously advised, during the meeting of 22 February 2022, that the Service was reviewing the North Lanarkshire Council scheme of Devolved School Management (DSM) in accordance with national guidelines agreed by the Scottish Government and COSLA. A key requirement for the Service is to clearly outline the key financial principles which underpin the North Lanarkshire Council DSM scheme and illustrate how individual school and early years budgets, which fall within the scope of DSM, are calculated. In addition, the guidance highlights wider resources that schools, and early years establishments should be made aware of, and may utilise, but which fall outside the scope of the formal DSM scheme. The proposed Service approach is summarised in the accompanying appendices of this report. An authority’s DSM scheme should be reviewed and updated on a regular basis, with a recommendation that this review occurs, as a minimum, at least every three years. However, given the potential implications of the roll-out of national education policies referenced by the Scottish Government in the Programme for Government, the Service will ensure the North Lanarkshire Council DSM scheme is kept under ongoing scrutiny and further reports will be submitted to relevant committees if additional updates or amendments are required. Recommendations The Education, Children and Families Committee is asked to: 1) Approve the DSM key funding and operating principles outlined in Appendix 1 2) Approve establishment DSM budget methodologies outlined in Appendices 2, 3 and 4. 3) Approve the additional establishment funding and resource information as outlined in Appendices 5 and 6 The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve North Lanarkshire's resource base Ambition statement (25) Ensure intelligent use of data and information to support fully evidence based decision making and future planning
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1. Background 1.1 Devolved School Management (DSM) was introduced in 1993 and the policy was made a statutory requirement per ‘The Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc Act 2000’ which committed education authorities to operate a formal DSM scheme for individual schools. DSM is essentially a partnership agreement between an education authority and schools / early years establishments which delegates responsibility and control of a large portion of the school / early years budgets to individual Heads of Establishment. 1.2 The Scottish Government has periodically produced supplementary guidelines to support the practical implementation and operation of DSM schemes. Whilst the government guidance provides an overarching DSM framework, each authority can develop its own administrative and governance arrangements which reflect local needs and specific spending priorities. In this regard the Service regularly reviews best practice within our authority in comparison to the government guidance and through information sharing with professional networks such as the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES). 1.3 The North Lanarkshire Council DSM scheme was formally introduced in 1997 and has been subject to periodic review, updates, and amendments with the last review having been conducted in April 2018. This preceding review to the North Lanarkshire Council DSM scheme, in April 2018, incorporated the roll out of Pupil Equity Funding (PEF). The scheme is also periodically updated to take account of resourcing decisions which are agreed as part of the Council annual budget setting process. 1.4 The Service has a well-established DSM Review Group which has also served as a financial planning group, involving senior officers from Finance, HR and Head Teachers from all sectors and Heads of Early Years Establishments. This group has been key to the evolution of mechanisms by which the Service has developed the proposed budgeting and financial planning arrangements for establishments. 1.5 To support understanding and enhance confidence in the DSM scheme, the Service provides recurring training to aspiring leaders, newly appointed headteachers and other support groups involved in administering the scheme. Training opportunities will outline principles associated with DSM, best value and adherence to financial regulation and authority policies. 1.6 The information and proposals in this report have been agreed by the Deputy Chief Executive and Head of Financial Solutions. 2. Report Current Scottish Government Proposals 2.1 The latest set of DSM proposals and guidelines issued by the Scottish Government (Appendix 7 & 8) can be traced back to reviews and consultations which began in June 2018. The Scottish Government sought to gather evidence and feedback from authorities on potential changes to DSM as part of the wider “Fair Funding to Achieve Excellence and Equity in Education” consultation. A formal review of DSM guidelines was then agreed as part of the Education Reform Joint Agreement, published in late 2018 and a Fair Funding Reference Group was
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established. This group established four principles for further developing revised national DSM guidance: 1) Subsidiarity and empowerment 2) Collaboration 3) Accountability and responsibility 4) Clarity and equity These principles reflect the National Improvement Framework aims of excellence through raising attainment and achieving equity and the four key outcomes of the Fair Funding consultation highlighted below: 1) Support excellence and equity Ensuring every child and young person has the same opportunity to succeed. 2) Be fair Placing the needs of all children and young people at the centre. 3) Be simple, transparent, and predictable Ensuring the costs of delivering education can be easily understood and explained and that schools are able to manage and plan with certainty. 4) Deliver value for money Ensuring that every penny spent is used effectively. The final version of the revised guidelines now reflects and is integrated with the Education Reform Programme and priorities emerging from the Scottish Government and COSLA’s Education Reform Joint Agreement of 2018, including the Head Teachers Charter and principles around school empowerment. 2.2 The Scottish Government and COSLA agreed an initial target date for implementing the new DSM guidelines on 1 April 2021. However, this was delayed until 2022 due to the ongoing impact of Covid-19 and recent local government elections (May 2022), and thereafter authorities were advised to seek formal Committee approvals for their respective DSM schemes following the summer recess. The extended introduction reflects the emerging priority of the Scottish Government during this period which encouraged authorities to focus their efforts and resources on education recovery including the establishment of digital learning models. Comparison to previously approved DSM Scheme 2.3 The proposed overarching DSM scheme rules and principles remain unchanged from the previously approved scheme. This includes the maximum carry forward and virement limits which apply to school establishments. 2.4 There are specific DSM budget changes which reflect previously agreed policies and restructures. These include: a) Transfer of Schools Technicians Services to Business & Digital b) Transfer of Admin & Finance Assistants (AFAs) to Financial Solutions c) Deletion of School Librarian posts d) Alignment of Early Years carry forward limits in line with school establishments e) Realignment of facility support services, i.e. catering, janitorial, and cleaning service to Enterprise & Communities Service
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2.5 The proposed scheme clearly identifies budgets which are in scope of the DSM scheme and others that are held and managed centrally / cluster level. Implementation of the Revised DSM Scheme within North Lanarkshire Council 2.6 Pending approval of the revised DSM Scheme, there are number of actions the Service intends to implement and roll out as follows: 1) Consolidation of the information outlined in this report into a DSM Scheme Management Pack which will be made available on Council and individual establishment websites. 2) Circulation of a DSM training calendar to establishments and wider stakeholder groups. 3) Ensure that periodic management information provided to Heads of Establishment reflects the categorisation of budgets included in this report. 4) Ensure ongoing monitoring of the effectiveness and appropriateness of the approved DSM scheme. 3. Measures of success 3.1 Establishments successfully implement revised resource and operational parameters outlined in the updated DSM scheme. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1 – Key Principles of DSM Scheme 4.2 Appendix 2 – Early Years & Primary School DSM Budgets 4.3 Appendix 3 – Secondary School DSM Budgets 4.4 Appendix 4 – ASN School DSM Scheme Budgets 4.5 Appendix 5 – Establishment Budgets Outwith the DSM Scheme 4.6 Appendix 6 – Other School Resources 4.7 Appendix 7 – Devolved School Management Guidelines 4.8 Appendix 8 – Devolved School Management Framework Derek Brown Deputy Chief Executive
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5. Impacts ( http://connect/report-template-guidance ) 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality-and-fairer- scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☒ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts have been discussed and agreed with Financial Solutions? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? All associated financial aspects are contained within the main body and appendices of this report. 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts have been discussed and agreed with People and Organisational Development? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts have been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic Solutions? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? The DSM scheme is required by Scottish Government. The associated guidelines recommend that Local Authorities review the scheme periodically in line with statutory guidance. The scheme demonstrates how the local authority distributes funding to schools and early years establishments. Included at Appendix 7 & 8 of this document are Scottish Government Guidelines and associated Frameworks which pay reference to the legislative parameters of the national DSM scheme, the principles and requirements of which, underpin the prevailing DSM scheme of North Lanarkshire Council. 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒
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If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for technology, has an assessment been carried out (or scheduled) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☒ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? The joint Scottish Government / COSLA guidelines include a recommendation to publish the DSM Scheme as a public facing document. 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? The DSM Review group manages the service risks around budgeting and finance, and indeed the scheme itself manages the financial risks to the service in terms of how it distributes moneys to establishments.
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Key Principles of North Lanarkshire DSM Scheme Appendix 1 Introduction - Government & Cosla DSM Guidance North Lanarkshire will adopt the recommendations contained in the jointly produced Scottish Government and COSLA documents: 1) Devolved School Management Guidelines 2) Devolved School Management Framework Budget Overview The Education, Children and Families 2022/23 total budget is highlighted below. Based on the assumptions in this document, the total devolved DSM budget is approximately £254m for the 2022/23 financial year. Areas of Expenditure to be Devolved The North Lanarkshire DSM scheme classifies resources into the following categories: a) Establishment budgets which are devolved as part of the formal DSM scheme. b) Establishment budgets which are not part of the formal DSM scheme. c) Other Service resources available to establishments. Early Years 31,788,724 Primary Schools 128,030,242 Secondary Schools 127,090,309 Special Schools 20,176,565 Promoting Equity - Schools 0 Education Service Delivery 81,760,326 Children & Families 36,734,528 Justice Services 73,431 Active & Creative Communities 25,074,035 Employability 3,913,759 Community Learning 5,236,818 Welfare 2,072,882 Strategy for Young People 3,138,843 NET EXPENDITURE 465,090,462 DIVISION OF SERVICE ANNUAL BUDGET
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Council Governance and Best Value Structures The DSM scheme will operate within the Council’s wider governance and financial management structures. Heads of Establishment must take spending and resourcing decisions in accordance with the requirements outlined in the following key documents: 1) Council Financial Regulations 2) General Contract Standing Orders 3) 5 Year Medium Term Financial Plan (2022/23 to 2026/27) Establishment Governance Structures The DSM scheme should be used by Heads of Establishment to help achieve outcomes and be aligned to school and Service policies incorporating strategies and policies identified within The Plan for North Lanarkshire, improvement plans, and sector specific best practice guidelines and principles. Publication A link to the North Lanarkshire DSM scheme will be available to stakeholders on the Council and establishment websites. Training A DSM training plan and calendar will be prepared by the Service each year in conjunction with Financial Solutions staff. The training plan will include opportunities for both existing Heads of Establishment, aspiring Heads of Establishment, and other stakeholders who have a responsibility for DSM. Consultation, Engagement & Transparency The Service utilises a variety of consultation and engagement forums to help determine the resourcing and school staffing models which are reflected in the DSM scheme. Important groups include: a) The DSM Review Group. b) The Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) c) The Joint Negotiating Committee for Teachers (JNCT) d) The Scottish Joint Council (SJC) At a local level Heads of Establishment are expected to engage with stakeholders such as staff, parents and pupils to raise awareness of the role and purpose of the DSM scheme. Transparency The DSM scheme will be written in plain language and clearly identify budgets which are formally devolved to Heads of Establishment.
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One of the key aims of the DSM scheme is to ensure equality of access for all pupils including both curricular and extra-curricular activities. Collaboration Heads of Establishment will utilise the DSM scheme and wider resources to help achieve Service and Corporate Priorities. Staffing The calculation of unpromoted and promoted staffing entitlement for each establishment will be clearly outlined in the DSM Scheme aligned with The Joint Negotiating Committee for Teachers (JNCT) agreed management structures (F20) for school establishments. Establishment staffing budgets are calculated based on the funding required to support a full- time post which is usually 35 hours per week. A full-time post is referred to as 1.00 FTE (Full Time Equivalent). Establishments receiving part-time posts will be funded pro-rata, for example an employee working 28 hours per week = 0.80 FTE. Professional Support The main support for Heads of Establishments in operating the DSM scheme is their link Admin & Finance Officer (AFA). Each AFA will be attached to one of the 23 secondary school clusters. Heads of Establishment will also be able to access specialist advice and support from other Council Services is areas including: a) Finance and accounting. b) HR. c) ICT d) Procurement. e) Legal. f) Insurance g) Property Accounting - Budget Calendar Financial years will run from 1 April to 31 March. The preparation of annual establishment budgets for the forthcoming financial year will initially be based on estimated school or early years rolls provided by Heads of Establishment by the 31 January each year. Annual establishment budgets will thereafter be adjusted in year to reflect the actual August school or nursery roll. Accounting - Budget Virements Heads of Establishment have the authority to vire funds between individual DSM budget lines subject to the following limits:
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1) Virement from Teacher Salaries up to a maximum value of 1.00 FTE average unpromoted teacher annual salary. 2) Virement of up to £20,000 from any other DSM budget line. Accounting - Annual Carry Forwards of Underspends/Overspends Establishments can carry forward a portion of their annual DSM budgets funding from one financial year to the next. Maximum carry forwards are limited to 2% of the aggregate total value of DSM budgets allocated to establishments. If an establishment overspends on its devolved DSM budget during a financial year, the full overspend will be carried forward and applied to the succeeding financial year. Accounting - External Grants The Service will distribute funding to establishments in accordance with the specific award criteria and governance structures attached to each grant. As a result, external grant funding allocated to establishments sits outwith the scope of the Council’s DSM Scheme. Accounting – Other Council Services There are a number of functions undertaken by other Council Services that support the effective management and operation of education establishments. These include: a) Janitorial provision. b) Cleaning provision. c) School meals. d) Uplift of waste e) Corporate support function costs, e.g., Finance, HR, Legal, Procurement and Property f) Property Insurance The funding and financial management of these activities is outwith the scope of the DSM scheme. DSM Scheme Review The DSM scheme will be formally reviewed on a maximum 3 yearly cycle and a resultant report submitted to the relevant Council committee. The scheme rules will be automatically amended to reflect funding changes agreed during the Council’s annual budget setting process. In exceptional circumstances the scheme rules can be amended following agreement of both the Deputy Chief Executive and Head of Financial Solutions.
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Appendix 2 Early Years and Primary School DSM Budgets Early Years Allocations Early Years Staff Allocations NLC has developed general principles in relation to the staffing entitlement within Early Years establishments that incorporates the Care Inspectorate age related staff to child ratios to provide minimum staffing levels and a management structure for each type of establishment. NLC currently operates the following types of Early Years establishments: • Nursery Classes - Full Time • Nursery Classes - Term Time • Family Learning Centres - Full Time Table 1 – Staff to Child Ratios Age of Children Staff to Child Ratio 0 – 2 years 1 to 3 2 – 3 years 1 to 5 3 – 5 years 1 to 8 These principles were established by Education and Families Committees, and underpinned internal staffing structures and funding to external private, voluntary and independent partner providers. Early Years Operational Allocations Early Years establishments also receive funding for non-staff (operational) budgets as highlighted in Tables 2 and 3 below. Table 2 - Early Years Operational Budgets – Full-time Nursery Classes and Family Learning Centres Description Fixed Variable Health & Safety £366 £0.005 x 2400 hours x Establishment Capacity Car Allowance Mileage £400 £25.00 x Staffing FTE Staff Training £300 £25.00 x Staffing FTE TV Licence(1) £159 £0 Security Systems(2) £179 £0 Janitorial Supplies £0 £0.005 x 2400 hours x Establishment Capacity Medical Equipment £0 £0.002 x 2400 hours x Establishment Capacity Furniture & Fittings £0 £10.00 x Establishment Capacity x 2 Materials & Equipment £0 £0.01 x 2400 hours x Establishment Capacity Printing & Stationery £0 £0.0033 x 2400 hours x Establishment Capacity Postages £0 £0.001 x 2400 hours x Establishment Capacity (1) Uplifted annually to reflect Licence Fee (2) Stand-alone buildings only
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Table 3 – Early Years Operational Budgets – Term-time Nursery Classes Description Fixed Variable Health & Safety £290 £0.005 x 1140 hours x Establishment Capacity Car Allowance Mileage £400 £25.00 x Staffing FTE Staff Training £300 £25.00 x Staffing FTE TV Licence(1) £159 £0 Security Systems(2) £179 £0 Janitorial Supplies £0 £0.005 x 1140 hours x Establishment Capacity Medical Equipment £0 £0.002 x 1140 hours x Establishment Capacity x 2 Furniture & Fittings £0 £10.00 x Establishment Capacity Materials & Equipment £0 £0.01 x 1140 hours x Establishment Capacity Printing & Stationery £0 £0.0033 x 1140 hours x Establishment Capacity Postages £0 £0.001 x 1140 hours x Establishment Capacity (1) Uplifted annually to reflect Licence Fee (2) Stand-alone buildings only
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Primary School Allocations Primary Schools Promoted Structure NLC has an agreed promoted staff structure for Primary schools, as outlined in Management Circular F20, and is summarised below. Table 4 – Primary Promoted Structure Total Roll (Primary + Nursery Class + ASN Unit) Structure Up to 199 pupils Head Teacher + 1 x Principal Teacher 200 – 299 pupils Head Teacher + 2 x Principal Teacher 300 – 399 pupils Head Teacher + 1 x Depute Head Teacher + 1 x Principal Teacher 400 – 499 pupils Head Teacher + 1 x Depute Head Teacher + 2 x Principal Teacher 500 – 599 pupils Head Teacher + 1 x Depute Head Teacher + 3 x Principal Teacher Over 600 pupils Head Teacher + 2 x Depute Head Teacher + 2 x Principal Teacher Primary Schools Teaching and Support Staff Allocations The allocation of budgets to primary schools for Teaching staff and Support staff are determined by agreed formulas per the tables below. The allocation of these staff budgets takes cognisance of primary schools that also have a nursery class and/or ASN unit within the campus. Table 5 – Primary Teaching Staff Budgets Description Teaching Staff Formula Primary Unpromoted Teacher Unpromoted Teacher FTE for Mainstream primary classes is determined per approved Primary Staffing Tables shown below in the Primary School Staffing Tables (Mainstream) Primary Unpromoted Teacher for ASN Unit(3) Unpromoted Teacher to pupil ratio of 1:6 x ASN Unit roll + 1 FTE Promoted Post Primary Non-Class Contact Time(4) Total Unpromoted Teacher FTE (Primary Mainstream + Primary ASN Unit) x 0.11 FTE Primary Management Time(4) (Primary Mainstream roll + Nursery Class roll + Primary ASN Unit roll) x 0.0022 + 1 FTE Unpromoted Teacher Deprivation Total resource of 38.21 FTE Unpromoted Teacher allocated on SIMD data for each school (3) Applies to Primaries with an ASN Unit (4) Calculation includes Nursery Class roll and/or ASN Unit roll where applicable Table 6 – Primary Support Staff Budgets Grade Description Support Staff Formula NLC4 Senior Clerical Assistant (up to 449 pupils) 35 hours (1 FTE) NLC5 Senior Clerical Assistant (450 pupils and over) 35 hours (1 FTE) NLC3 Clerical Assistant(4) Fixed 25 hours + ((Primary roll + Nursery Class roll + Primary ASN Unit roll) x 0.12 hours) less Senior Clerical allocation NLC4 Classroom Assistant Fixed 25 hours per establishment NLC2 Dining Room Assistant (up to 300 pupils) 7.5 hours NLC2 Dining Room Assistant (301 to 400 pupils) 10 hours NLC2 Dining Room Assistant (over 400 pupils) 12.5 hours NLC2 Breakfast Club Supervisor 5 hours per Campus (4) Calculation includes Nursery Class roll and/or ASN Unit roll where applicable Note - Every school receives a minimum of a 35 hours Clerical post All support staff are on term-time contracts
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Primary Schools Operational Allocations In addition to staff budgets primary schools also receive funding for non-staff (operational) budgets that are again determined by agreed formulas. Table 7 – Primary Mainstream Operational Budgets Description Fixed Variable Teachers Absence Cover(5) £1,051.55 £307.83 x Teaching staff FTE Cover Prd £525.78 £89.87 x Teaching staff FTE Teachers In-Service courses £715 £44.48 x Teaching Staff FTE Car Allowance Mileage- Casual User £698.66 £69.83 x Teaching Staff FTE Support Staff Other Pay Items £302 £1.11 x Primary roll Early Intervention £300 £2.00 x Primary roll Parent Council £478 £0.23 x Primary roll Janitorial Supplies £100 £1.00 x Primary roll Printing & Stationery £60.02 £1.50 x Primary roll Postages £110.25 £0.80 x Primary roll Classroom Supplies £1,240 £24.07 x Primary roll Text books school library £126.07 £0 Education Journals/Directories £63.55 £0 Other supplies & services £192 £0 Memberships Fees & subscriptions £42.02 £0 Health & Safety £366 £0 TV Licence(1) £159 £0 Furniture & Fittings £354.65 £0 School Lets £638 £0 Security Systems £179 £0 (1) Uplifted annually to reflect Licence Fee (5) Fixed and Variable elements will be adjusted to ensure each establishment has budget to cover approved minimum cover days Where a primary school also incorporates an ASN unit additional operational budget allocations are provided per the below agreed formulas. Table 8 – Primary ASN Unit Operational Budgets Description Fixed Variable Teachers Absence Cover(5) £0 £533.00 x ASN Unit Teaching staff FTE Cover Prd £0 £246.35 x ASN Unit Teaching staff FTE Teachers In-Service courses £0 £116.00 x ASN Unit Teaching staff FTE Car Allowance Mileage- Casual User £0 £69.87 x ASN Unit Teaching staff FTE Support Staff Other Pay Items £0 £1.11 x ASN Unit roll Early Intervention £0 £3.53 x ASN Unit roll Janitorial Supplies £0 £1.94 x ASN Unit roll Printing & Stationery £0 £1.81 x ASN Unit roll Postages £0 £0.80 x ASN Unit roll Classroom Supplies £0 £51.62 x ASN Unit roll Text books school library £0 £1.24 x ASN Unit roll Furniture & Fittings £0 £0.84 x ASN Unit roll (5) Fixed and Variable elements will be adjusted to ensure each establishment has budget to cover approved minimum cover days
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Primary School Staffing Tables (Mainstream) Roll FTE Roll FTE Roll FTE 1 1.3000 51 3.3333 101 5.5556 2 1.3000 52 3.3333 102 5.5556 3 1.3000 53 3.3333 103 5.5556 4 1.3000 54 3.3333 104 5.5556 5 1.3000 55 3.3333 105 5.5556 6 1.3000 56 3.3333 106 5.5556 7 1.3000 57 3.3333 107 5.5556 8 1.3000 58 3.3333 108 5.5556 9 1.3000 59 3.3333 109 5.5556 10 1.3000 60 3.3333 110 5.5556 11 1.3000 61 3.3333 111 5.5556 12 1.3000 62 3.3333 112 5.5636 13 1.3000 63 3.3573 113 5.6036 14 1.3000 64 3.3973 114 5.6436 15 1.3000 65 3.4373 115 5.6836 16 1.3000 66 3.4773 116 5.7236 17 1.3000 67 3.5173 117 5.7636 18 1.3000 68 3.5573 118 5.8036 19 1.3000 69 3.5973 119 5.8436 20 1.3000 70 3.6373 120 5.8836 21 1.3000 71 3.6773 121 5.9236 22 1.3000 72 3.7173 122 5.9636 23 1.3000 73 3.7573 123 6.0036 24 1.5511 74 3.7973 124 6.0436 25 1.5911 75 3.8373 125 6.6667 26 2.2222 76 4.4444 126 6.6667 27 2.2222 77 4.4444 127 6.6667 28 2.2222 78 4.4444 128 6.6667 29 2.2222 79 4.4444 129 6.6667 30 2.2222 80 4.4444 130 6.6667 31 2.2222 81 4.4444 131 6.6667 32 2.2222 82 4.4444 132 6.6667 33 2.2222 83 4.4444 133 6.6667 34 2.2222 84 4.4444 134 6.6667 35 2.2222 85 4.4444 135 6.6667 36 2.2222 86 4.4444 136 6.6667 37 2.2222 87 4.4444 137 6.6867 38 2.2342 88 4.4804 138 6.7267 39 2.2742 89 4.5204 139 6.7667 40 2.3142 90 4.5604 140 6.8067 41 2.3542 91 4.6004 141 6.8467 42 2.3942 92 4.6404 142 6.8867 43 2.4342 93 4.6804 143 6.9267 44 2.4742 94 4.7204 144 6.9667 45 2.5142 95 4.7604 145 7.0067 46 2.5542 96 4.8004 146 7.0467 47 2.5942 97 4.8404 147 7.0867 48 2.6342 98 4.8804 148 7.1267 49 2.6742 99 4.9204 149 7.1667 50 2.7142 100 5.5556 Table 1 Primary Pupil Roll between 1 and 149 pupils P1 - P7P1 - P7P1 - P7
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Primary School Staffing Tables (Mainstream) Roll FTE Roll FTE Roll FTE Roll FTE 1 1.1111 51 3.3333 101 5.5556 151 7.7778 2 1.1111 52 3.3333 102 5.5556 152 7.7778 3 1.1111 53 3.3333 103 5.5556 153 7.7778 4 1.1111 54 3.3333 104 5.5556 154 7.7778 5 1.1111 55 3.3333 105 5.5556 155 7.7778 6 1.1111 56 3.3333 106 5.5556 156 7.7778 7 1.1111 57 3.3333 107 5.5556 157 7.7778 8 1.1111 58 3.3333 108 5.5556 158 7.7778 9 1.1111 59 3.3333 109 5.5556 159 7.7778 10 1.1111 60 3.3333 110 5.5556 160 7.7778 11 1.1111 61 3.3333 111 5.5556 161 7.7938 12 1.1111 62 3.3333 112 5.5796 162 7.8338 13 1.1111 63 3.3653 113 5.6196 163 7.8738 14 1.1511 64 3.4053 114 5.6596 164 7.9138 15 1.1911 65 3.4453 115 5.6996 165 7.9538 16 1.2311 66 3.4853 116 5.7396 166 7.9938 17 1.2711 67 3.5253 117 5.7796 167 8.0338 18 1.3111 68 3.5653 118 5.8196 168 8.0738 19 1.3511 69 3.6053 119 5.8596 169 8.1138 20 1.3911 70 3.6453 120 5.8996 170 8.1538 21 1.4311 71 3.6853 121 5.9396 171 8.1938 22 1.4711 72 3.7253 122 5.9796 172 8.2338 23 1.5111 73 3.7653 123 6.0196 173 8.2738 24 1.5511 74 3.8053 124 6.6667 174 8.8889 25 1.5911 75 4.4444 125 6.6667 175 8.8889 26 2.2222 76 4.4444 126 6.6667 176 8.8889 27 2.2222 77 4.4444 127 6.6667 177 8.8889 28 2.2222 78 4.4444 128 6.6667 178 8.8889 29 2.2222 79 4.4444 129 6.6667 179 8.8889 30 2.2222 80 4.4444 130 6.6667 180 8.8889 31 2.2222 81 4.4444 131 6.6667 181 8.8889 32 2.2222 82 4.4444 132 6.6667 182 8.8889 33 2.2222 83 4.4444 133 6.6667 183 8.8889 34 2.2222 84 4.4444 134 6.6667 184 8.8889 35 2.2222 85 4.4444 135 6.6667 185 8.8889 36 2.2222 86 4.4444 136 6.6667 186 8.9209 37 2.2222 87 4.4524 137 6.7067 187 8.9609 38 2.2382 88 4.4924 138 6.7467 188 9.0009 39 2.2782 89 4.5324 139 6.7867 189 9.0409 40 2.3182 90 4.5724 140 6.8267 190 9.0809 41 2.3582 91 4.6124 141 6.8667 191 9.1209 42 2.3982 92 4.6524 142 6.9067 192 9.1609 43 2.4382 93 4.6924 143 6.9467 193 9.2009 44 2.4782 94 4.7324 144 6.9867 194 9.2409 45 2.5182 95 4.7724 145 7.0267 195 9.2809 46 2.5582 96 4.8124 146 7.0667 196 9.3209 47 2.5982 97 4.8524 147 7.1067 197 9.3609 48 2.6382 98 4.8924 148 7.1467 198 10.0000 49 2.6782 99 4.9324 149 7.7778 199 10.0000 50 2.7182 100 5.5556 150 7.7778 200 10.0000 Table 2a - Primary 1 to Primary 3 FTE Allocation Total Primary Pupil Roll 150 pupils and over P1 - P3 P1 - P3 P1 - P3 P1 - P3
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Primary School Staffing Tables (Mainstream) Roll FTE Roll FTE Roll FTE Roll FTE 201 10.0000 251 12.2222 301 14.4444 351 16.6667 202 10.0000 252 12.2222 302 14.4444 352 16.6667 203 10.0000 253 12.2222 303 14.4444 353 16.6667 204 10.0000 254 12.2222 304 14.4444 354 16.6667 205 10.0000 255 12.2222 305 14.4444 355 16.6667 206 10.0000 256 12.2222 306 14.4444 356 16.6667 207 10.0000 257 12.2222 307 14.4444 357 16.6667 208 10.0000 258 12.2222 308 14.4444 358 16.6907 209 10.0000 259 12.2222 309 14.4764 359 16.7307 210 10.0080 260 12.2622 310 14.5164 360 16.7707 211 10.0480 261 12.3022 311 14.5564 361 16.8107 212 10.0880 262 12.3422 312 14.5964 362 16.8507 213 10.1280 263 12.3822 313 14.6364 363 16.8907 214 10.1680 264 12.4222 314 14.6764 364 16.9307 215 10.2080 265 12.4622 315 14.7164 365 16.9707 216 10.2480 266 12.5022 316 14.7564 366 17.0107 217 10.2880 267 12.5422 317 14.7964 367 17.0507 218 10.3280 268 12.5822 318 14.8364 368 17.0907 219 10.3680 269 12.6222 319 14.8764 369 17.1307 220 10.4080 270 12.6622 320 14.9164 370 17.7778 221 10.4480 271 12.7022 321 15.5556 371 17.7778 222 10.4880 272 13.3333 322 15.5556 372 17.7778 223 11.1111 273 13.3333 323 15.5556 373 17.7778 224 11.1111 274 13.3333 324 15.5556 374 17.7778 225 11.1111 275 13.3333 325 15.5556 375 17.7778 226 11.1111 276 13.3333 326 15.5556 376 17.7778 227 11.1111 277 13.3333 327 15.5556 377 17.7778 228 11.1111 278 13.3333 328 15.5556 378 17.7778 229 11.1111 279 13.3333 329 15.5556 379 17.7778 230 11.1111 280 13.3333 330 15.5556 380 17.7778 231 11.1111 281 13.3333 331 15.5556 381 17.7778 232 11.1111 282 13.3333 332 15.5556 382 17.7778 233 11.1111 283 13.3333 333 15.5636 383 17.8178 234 11.1111 284 13.3493 334 15.6036 384 17.8578 235 11.1351 285 13.3893 335 15.6436 385 17.8978 236 11.1751 286 13.4293 336 15.6836 386 17.9378 237 11.2151 287 13.4693 337 15.7236 387 17.9778 238 11.2551 288 13.5093 338 15.7636 388 18.0178 239 11.2951 289 13.5493 339 15.8036 389 18.0578 240 11.3351 290 13.5893 340 15.8436 390 18.0978 241 11.3751 291 13.6293 341 15.8836 391 18.1378 242 11.4151 292 13.6693 342 15.9236 392 18.1778 243 11.4551 293 13.7093 343 15.9636 393 18.2178 244 11.4951 294 13.7493 344 16.0036 394 18.2578 245 11.5351 295 13.7893 345 16.0436 395 18.8889 246 11.5751 296 13.8293 346 16.6667 396 18.8889 247 12.2222 297 14.4444 347 16.6667 397 18.8889 248 12.2222 298 14.4444 348 16.6667 398 18.8889 249 12.2222 299 14.4444 349 16.6667 399 18.8889 250 12.2222 300 14.4444 350 16.6667 400 18.8889 P1 - P3 P1 - P3P1 - P3 P1 - P3 Table 2a - Primary 1 to Primary 3 FTE Allocation Total Primary Pupil Roll 150 pupils and over
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Primary School Staffing Tables (Mainstream) Roll FTE Roll FTE 401 18.8889 451 21.1111 402 18.8889 452 21.1111 403 18.8889 453 21.1111 404 18.8889 454 21.1111 405 18.8889 455 21.1111 406 18.8889 456 21.1191 407 18.9049 457 21.1591 408 18.9449 458 21.1991 409 18.9849 459 21.2391 410 19.0249 460 21.2791 411 19.0649 461 21.3191 412 19.1049 462 21.3591 413 19.1449 463 21.3991 414 19.1849 464 21.4391 415 19.2249 465 21.4791 416 19.2649 417 19.3049 418 19.3449 419 19.3849 420 20.0000 421 20.0000 422 20.0000 423 20.0000 424 20.0000 425 20.0000 426 20.0000 427 20.0000 428 20.0000 429 20.0000 430 20.0000 431 20.0000 432 20.0320 433 20.0720 434 20.1120 435 20.1520 436 20.1920 437 20.2320 438 20.2720 439 20.3120 440 20.3520 441 20.3920 442 20.4320 443 20.4720 444 21.1111 445 21.1111 446 21.1111 447 21.1111 448 21.1111 449 21.1111 450 21.1111 Table 2a - Primary 1 to Primary 3 FTE Allocation P1 - P3 P1 - P3 Total Primary Pupil Roll 150 pupils and over
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Primary School Staffing Tables (Mainstream) Roll FTE Roll FTE Roll FTE Roll FTE 1 0.0428 51 2.1817 101 4.3206 151 5.9628 2 0.0856 52 2.2244 102 4.3633 152 6.0023 3 0.1283 53 2.2672 103 4.4061 153 6.0418 4 0.1711 54 2.3100 104 4.4489 154 6.0813 5 0.2139 55 2.3528 105 4.4917 155 6.1208 6 0.2567 56 2.3956 106 4.5344 156 6.1603 7 0.2994 57 2.4383 107 4.5772 157 6.1998 8 0.3422 58 2.4811 108 4.6200 158 6.2392 9 0.3850 59 2.5239 109 4.6628 159 6.2787 10 0.4278 60 2.5667 110 4.7056 160 6.3182 11 0.4706 61 2.6094 111 4.7483 161 6.3577 12 0.5133 62 2.6522 112 4.7911 162 6.3972 13 0.5561 63 2.6950 113 4.8339 163 6.4367 14 0.5989 64 2.7378 114 4.8767 164 6.4762 15 0.6417 65 2.7806 115 4.9194 165 6.5157 16 0.6844 66 2.8233 116 4.9622 166 6.5552 17 0.7272 67 2.8661 117 5.0050 167 6.5946 18 0.7700 68 2.9089 118 5.0478 168 6.6341 19 0.8128 69 2.9517 119 5.0906 169 6.6736 20 0.8556 70 2.9944 120 5.1183 170 6.7131 21 0.8983 71 3.0372 121 5.1461 171 6.7526 22 0.9411 72 3.0800 122 5.1739 172 6.7921 23 0.9839 73 3.1228 123 5.2017 173 6.8316 24 1.0267 74 3.1656 124 5.2294 174 6.8711 25 1.0694 75 3.2083 125 5.2572 175 6.9106 26 1.1122 76 3.2511 126 5.2850 176 6.9500 27 1.1550 77 3.2939 127 5.3128 177 6.9895 28 1.1978 78 3.3367 128 5.3406 178 7.0290 29 1.2406 79 3.3794 129 5.3683 179 7.0685 30 1.2833 80 3.4222 130 5.3961 180 7.1080 31 1.3261 81 3.4650 131 5.4239 181 7.1475 32 1.3689 82 3.5078 132 5.4517 182 7.1870 33 1.4117 83 3.5506 133 5.4794 183 7.2265 34 1.4544 84 3.5933 134 5.5072 184 7.2660 35 1.4972 85 3.6361 135 5.5350 185 7.3054 36 1.5400 86 3.6789 136 5.5628 186 7.3449 37 1.5828 87 3.7217 137 5.5906 187 7.3844 38 1.6256 88 3.7644 138 5.6183 188 7.4239 39 1.6683 89 3.8072 139 5.6461 189 7.4634 40 1.7111 90 3.8500 140 5.6739 190 7.5029 41 1.7539 91 3.8928 141 5.7017 191 7.5424 42 1.7967 92 3.9356 142 5.7294 192 7.5819 43 1.8394 93 3.9783 143 5.7572 193 7.6214 44 1.8822 94 4.0211 144 5.7850 194 7.6608 45 1.9250 95 4.0639 145 5.8128 195 7.7003 46 1.9678 96 4.1067 146 5.8406 196 7.7398 47 2.0106 97 4.1494 147 5.8683 197 7.7793 48 2.0533 98 4.1922 148 5.8961 198 7.8188 49 2.0961 99 4.2350 149 5.9239 199 7.8583 50 2.1389 100 4.2778 150 5.9517 200 7.8978 Total Primary Pupil Roll 150 pupils and over Table 2b - Primary 4 to Primary 7 FTE Allocation P4 - P7 P4 - P7 P4 - P7 P4 - P7
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Primary School Staffing Tables (Mainstream) Roll FTE Roll FTE Roll FTE Roll FTE 201 7.9373 251 9.9117 301 11.8862 351 13.8606 202 7.9768 252 9.9512 302 11.9256 352 13.9001 203 8.0162 253 9.9907 303 11.9651 353 13.9396 204 8.0557 254 10.0302 304 12.0046 354 13.9791 205 8.0952 255 10.0697 305 12.0441 355 14.0186 206 8.1347 256 10.1092 306 12.0836 356 14.0580 207 8.1742 257 10.1486 307 12.1231 357 14.0975 208 8.2137 258 10.1881 308 12.1626 358 14.1370 209 8.2532 259 10.2276 309 12.2021 359 14.1765 210 8.2927 260 10.2671 310 12.2416 360 14.2160 211 8.3322 261 10.3066 311 12.2810 361 14.2555 212 8.3716 262 10.3461 312 12.3205 362 14.2950 213 8.4111 263 10.3856 313 12.3600 363 14.3345 214 8.4506 264 10.4251 314 12.3995 364 14.3740 215 8.4901 265 10.4646 315 12.4390 365 14.4134 216 8.5296 266 10.5040 316 12.4785 366 14.4529 217 8.5691 267 10.5435 317 12.5180 367 14.4924 218 8.6086 268 10.5830 318 12.5575 368 14.5319 219 8.6481 269 10.6225 319 12.5970 369 14.5714 220 8.6876 270 10.6620 320 12.6364 370 14.6109 221 8.7270 271 10.7015 321 12.6759 371 14.6504 222 8.7665 272 10.7410 322 12.7154 372 14.6899 223 8.8060 273 10.7805 323 12.7549 373 14.7294 224 8.8455 274 10.8200 324 12.7944 374 14.7688 225 8.8850 275 10.8594 325 12.8339 375 14.8083 226 8.9245 276 10.8989 326 12.8734 376 14.8478 227 8.9640 277 10.9384 327 12.9129 377 14.8873 228 9.0035 278 10.9779 328 12.9524 378 14.9268 229 9.0430 279 11.0174 329 12.9918 379 14.9663 230 9.0824 280 11.0569 330 13.0313 380 15.0058 231 9.1219 281 11.0964 331 13.0708 381 15.0453 232 9.1614 282 11.1359 332 13.1103 382 15.0848 233 9.2009 283 11.1754 333 13.1498 383 15.1242 234 9.2404 284 11.2148 334 13.1893 384 15.1637 235 9.2799 285 11.2543 335 13.2288 385 15.2032 236 9.3194 286 11.2938 336 13.2683 386 15.2427 237 9.3589 287 11.3333 337 13.3078 387 15.2822 238 9.3984 288 11.3728 338 13.3472 388 15.3217 239 9.4378 289 11.4123 339 13.3867 389 15.3612 240 9.4773 290 11.4518 340 13.4262 390 15.4007 241 9.5168 291 11.4913 341 13.4657 391 15.4402 242 9.5563 292 11.5308 342 13.5052 392 15.4796 243 9.5958 293 11.5702 343 13.5447 393 15.5191 244 9.6353 294 11.6097 344 13.5842 394 15.5586 245 9.6748 295 11.6492 345 13.6237 395 15.5981 246 9.7143 296 11.6887 346 13.6632 396 15.6376 247 9.7538 297 11.7282 347 13.7026 397 15.6771 248 9.7932 298 11.7677 348 13.7421 398 15.7166 249 9.8327 299 11.8072 349 13.7816 399 15.7561 250 9.8722 300 11.8467 350 13.8211 400 15.7956 Total Primary Pupil Roll 150 pupils and over Table 2b - Primary 4 to Primary 7 FTE Allocation P4 - P7 P4 - P7 P4 - P7P4 - P7
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Primary School Staffing Tables (Mainstream) Roll FTE Roll FTE 401 15.8350 451 17.8095 402 15.8745 452 17.8490 403 15.9140 453 17.8885 404 15.9535 454 17.9280 405 15.9930 455 17.9674 406 16.0325 456 18.0069 407 16.0720 457 18.0464 408 16.1115 458 18.0859 409 16.1510 459 18.1254 410 16.1904 460 18.1649 411 16.2299 461 18.2044 412 16.2694 462 18.2439 413 16.3089 463 18.2834 414 16.3484 464 18.3228 415 16.3879 465 18.3623 416 16.4274 417 16.4669 418 16.5064 419 16.5458 420 16.5853 421 16.6248 422 16.6643 423 16.7038 424 16.7433 425 16.7828 426 16.8223 427 16.8618 428 16.9012 429 16.9407 430 16.9802 431 17.0197 432 17.0592 433 17.0987 434 17.1382 435 17.1777 436 17.2172 437 17.2566 438 17.2961 439 17.3356 440 17.3751 441 17.4146 442 17.4541 443 17.4936 444 17.5331 445 17.5726 446 17.6120 447 17.6515 448 17.6910 449 17.7305 450 17.7700 Total Primary Pupil Roll 150 pupils and over Table 2b - Primary 4 to Primary 7 FTE Allocation P4 - P7P4 - P7
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Appendix 3 Secondary School DSM Budgets Secondary Allocations Secondary Schools Promoted Structure Secondary schools receive an allocation of management points for their promoted staff structure as outlined in Management Circular F20. Table 1 below details the current agreed management points required for each promoted teacher post. Table 1 – Management Points Principal Teachers Depute and Head Teachers Scale Point Management Points Scale Point Management Points Scale Point Management Points Scale Point Management Points 1 11 1 24 8 50 15 91 2 15 2 27 9 53 16 100 3 19 3 31 10 57 17 109 4 23 4 35 11 63 18 119 5 27 5 39 12 69 19 128 6 31 6 42 13 75 7 35 7 46 14 82 8 39 The standard management structures, informed by points allocation, are detailed in Table 2 below: Table 2 – Standard Management Structures Entitlement Structure All schools Head Teacher Subject to management points Deputy Head Teacher Subject to management points Principal Teacher (Curricular/Whole School/Pupil Support) Secondary Schools Teaching and Support Staff Allocations Teaching staff and Support staff budgets allocated to secondary schools are determined by agreed formulas. The allocation of these staff budgets takes cognisance of secondary schools that also have a secondary ASN unit within the campus. Table 3 – Secondary Teaching Staff Budgets Description Teaching Staff Formula Secondary Mainstream Unpromoted Teacher 8.19 FTE Unpromoted Teacher + (0.0568 x Secondary Mainstream roll) Secondary ASN Unit(1) Unpromoted Teacher to pupil ratio of 1:6 x ASN Unit roll + 1 FTE Promoted Post Secondary Management Time(2) 1 FTE Unpromoted Teacher + (Secondary Mainstream roll + ASN Unit roll) x 0.0066 Deprivation Total resource of 31.75 FTE Unpromoted Teacher allocated on SIMD data for each school (6) Applies to secondaries with an ASN Unit (7) Calculation includes ASN Unit roll where applicable
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Table 4 – Secondary Support Staff Budgets (up to 950 pupils) Grade Description Support Staff Formula NLC5 Senior Clerical post (Full- Time) 35 hours (1 FTE) NLC3 Clerical post (Full-Time) 35 hours (1 FTE) NLC3 Clerical post (Term-Time)(2) Fixed 30 hours + ((Secondary roll + ASN Unit roll) x 0.145 hours) less Senior Clerical and Clerical full-time allocation (2) Calculation includes ASN Unit roll where applicable Table 5 – Secondary Support Staff Budgets (951 pupils and over) Grade Description Support Staff Formula NLC5 Senior Clerical post (Full- Time) 35 hours (1 FTE) NLC3 Clerical post (Full-Time) 35 hours (2 FTE) NLC3 Clerical post (Term-Time)(2) Fixed 30 hours + ((Secondary roll + ASN Unit roll) x 0.145 hours) less Senior Clerical and Clerical full-time allocation (2) Calculation includes ASN Unit roll where applicable
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Secondary Schools Operational Allocations In addition to staff budgets secondary schools also receive funding for non-staff (operational) budgets that are again determined by agreed formulas. Table 6 – Secondary Mainstream Operational Budgets Description Fixed Variable Teachers Absence Cover(3) £0 £233.21 x Mainstream Teachers FTE Cover Prd £630.93 £169.47 x Mainstream Teachers FTE Teachers In-Service courses £715 £67.87 x Mainstream Teachers FTE Car Allowance Mileage £698.66 £69.83 x Mainstream Teachers FTE Support Staff Other Pay Items £1,765 £2.38 x Mainstream Secondary roll Parent Council £328 £0.23 x Mainstream Secondary roll Janitorial Supplies £200 £1.00 x Mainstream Secondary roll Printing & Stationery £182.18 £1.20 x Mainstream Secondary roll Postages £374.85 £1.20 x Mainstream Secondary roll Use of PE Facilities £0 £2.00 x Mainstream Secondary roll Classroom Supplies (S1 and S2) £0 £11.16 x Mainstream Secondary roll (S1 and S2 only) Classroom Supplies £2,454.88 £38.14 x Mainstream Secondary roll Educational Supplies £600 £0 Text books school library £2,478.45 £0 Education Journals/Directories £115.82 £0 Other Supplies & Services £1,215 £0 Memberships Fees & subscriptions £390.52 £0 Health & Safety £1,117.25 £0 TV Licence(4) £159 £0 Furniture & Fittings £1,577.47 £0 School Lets £938 £0 Security Systems £179 £0 (8) Fixed and Variable elements will be adjusted to ensure each establishment has budget to cover approved minimum cover days (9) Uplifted annually to reflect Licence Fee Where a secondary school also incorporates an ASN unit additional operational budget allocations are provided per the below agreed formulas. Table 7 – Secondary ASN Unit Operational Budgets Description Fixed Variable Teachers Absence Cover(3) £0 £322.69 x ASN Unit Teaching staff FTE Cover Prd £0 £246.35 x ASN Unit Teaching staff FTE Teachers In-Service courses £0 £116.00 x ASN Unit Teaching Staff FTE Car Allowance Mileage- Casual User £0 £69.83 x ASN Unit Teaching Staff FTE Support Staff Other Pay Items £0 £2.38 x ASN Unit roll Janitorial Supplies £0 £1.64 x ASN Unit roll Printing & Stationery £0 £1.81 x ASN Unit roll Postages £0 £1.20 x ASN Unit roll Use of PE Facilities £0 £3.15 x ASN Unit roll Classroom Supplies £0 £111.08 x ASN Unit roll Text books school library £0 £1.24 x ASN Unit roll Furniture & Fittings £0 £1.33 x ASN Unit roll (3) Fixed and Variable elements will be adjusted to ensure each establishment has budget to cover approved minimum cover days
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Appendix 4 ASN School DSM Budgets ASN Schools Allocations ASN Schools Promoted Structure A Management time formula for ASN schools has been developed in line with Management Circular F20, and is shown below: Table 1 – ASN Management Time Formula Sector Management Time Formula (FTE) Head Teacher 1 FTE Deputy Head Teacher 1 x Deputy Head Teacher = 1 FTE or 2 x Deputy Head Teacher = 1.5 FTE or 3 x Deputy Head Teacher = 1.8 FTE Principal Teacher 0.1 FTE per PT ASN Schools Teaching and Support Staff Allocations Within dedicated ASN schools the teaching staff and support staff allocations are broadly determined by approved Teacher to pupil ratios. The current allocations are shown in the table below. Table 2 – ASN Classifications Classification Teacher to Pupil Ratio Social Emotional & Behavioural Needs 1 to 5 Severe & Complex 1 to 6 Moderate Learning Difficulties 1 to 7 The final allocation of teaching staff to ASN schools would be subject to formal agreement between the Head Teacher and Service Management Team. Table 3 – ASN Support Staff Allocations Grade Description Support Staff Formula NLC4 Senior Clerical Assistant 35 hours (1 FTE) NLC3 Clerical Assistant Dependent upon ASN Classification and pupil roll Note - Every school receives a minimum of a 35 hours Clerical post All support staff are on term-time contracts
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ASN Schools Operational Allocations In addition to staff budgets ASN schools also receive funding for non-staff (operational) budgets that are again determined by agreed formulas. Table 4 - ASN Operational Budgets (Up to 49 Pupils) Description Fixed Variable Teachers Absence Cover(1) £1,051.55 £0 Cover Prd £525.78 £246.35 x Teachers FTE Teachers In-Service courses £715 £116.00 x Teachers FTE Car Allowance Mileage- Casual User £900 £70.00 x Teachers FTE Support Staff Other Pay Items £604 £2.17 x ASN roll Parent Council £478 £0.23 x ASN roll Janitorial Supplies £200 £1.94 x ASN roll Printing & Stationery £120 £1.10 x ASN roll Postages £190 £1.55 x ASN roll Use of PE Facilities £0 £18.00 x ASN roll Classroom Supplies £1,500 £31.86 x ASN roll Text books school library £800 £2.61 x ASN roll Other Supplies & Services £500 £1.45 x ASN roll Furniture & Fittings £850 £3.00 x ASN roll Education Journals/Directories £90 £0 Memberships Fees & subscriptions £250 £0 Health & Safety £720 £0 TV Licence(2) £159 £0 School Lets £638 £0 Security Systems £179 £0 (1) Fixed and Variable elements will be adjusted to ensure each establishment has budget to cover approved minimum cover days (2) Uplifted annually to reflect Licence Fee
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Table 5 - ASN Operational Budgets (50 to 99 Pupils) Description Fixed Variable Teachers Absence Cover(1) £1,051.55 £0 Cover Prd £525.78 £246.35 x Teachers FTE Teachers In-Service courses £715 £116.00 x Teachers FTE Car Allowance Mileage- Casual User £900 £70.00 x Teachers FTE Support Staff Other Pay Items £604 £2.17 x ASN roll Parent Council £478 £0.23 x ASN roll Janitorial Supplies £200 £1.94 x ASN roll Printing & Stationery £90 £1.40 x ASN roll Postages £150 £2.15 x ASN roll Use of PE Facilities £0 £9.40 x ASN roll Classroom Supplies £1,300 £33.72 x ASN roll Text books school library £650 £4.61 x ASN roll Other Supplies & Services £300 £3.55 x ASN roll Furniture & Fittings £700 £3.50 x ASN roll Education Journals/Directories £90 £0 Memberships Fees & subscriptions £250 £0 Health & Safety £720 £0 TV Licence(2) £159 £0 School Lets £638 £0 Security Systems £179 £0 (1) Fixed and Variable elements will be adjusted to ensure each establishment has budget to cover approved minimum cover days (2) Uplifted annually to reflect Licence Fee
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Table 6 - ASN Operational Budgets (100 Pupils and over) Description Fixed Variable Teachers Absence Cover(1) £1,051.55 £0 Cover Prd £525.78 £246.35 x Teachers FTE Teachers In-Service courses £715 £116.00 x Teachers FTE Car Allowance Mileage- Casual User £950 £70.00 x Teachers FTE Support Staff Other Pay Items £604 £2.17 x ASN roll Parent Council £478 £0.23 x ASN roll Janitorial Supplies £200 £1.94 x ASN roll Printing & Stationery £70 £1.70 x ASN roll Postages £100 £2.55 x ASN roll Use of PE Facilities £0 £6.00 x ASN roll Classroom Supplies £1,100 £35.55 x ASN roll Text books school library £400 £6.61 x ASN roll Other Supplies & Services £200 £4.50 x ASN roll Furniture & Fittings £500 £6.10 x ASN roll Education Journals/Directories £90 £0 Memberships Fees & subscriptions £150 £0 Health & Safety £720 £0 TV Licence(2) £159 £0 School Lets £638 £0 Security Systems £179 £0 (1) Fixed and Variable elements will be adjusted to ensure each establishment has budget to cover approved minimum cover days (2) Uplifted annually to reflect Licence Fee
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Appendix 5 Establishment Budgets Outwith the DSM Scheme Whilst Head Teachers are given maximum flexibility over their budgets, there are areas of expenditure that are generally not considered suitable to be devolved. The DSM guidance outlines the reasons for these exclusions which includes, but is not limited to: a) areas outside the influence of a Head Teacher b) areas that are too bureaucratic c) have unacceptable levels of risk d) benefit from economies of scale e) require professional expertise; and f) are complex by their nature. The Service considers the following budget areas are not suitable to be devolved as part of the formal DSM structure (Table 1). Table 1 - Budget allocated to schools but excluded from DSM Description Basis of Budget Allocation PPP / DBFM Unitary Charge Assessed per establishment Non-Domestic Rates (NDR) Rateable value West of Scotland - Water Meter Assessed per establishment Energy Costs Assessed per establishment Examination fees Estimated presentations per establishment Protected Salary Assessed per establishment Upkeep of Grounds Assessed per establishment Contract Hygiene Units Assessed per establishment Internal Transport/Buses Assessed per establishment
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Appendix 6 Other School Resources Within North Lanarkshire there are specific resources that provide additional support to establishments that are managed from a budgetary perspective via Cluster and Headquarters structures. These include funding for areas of activity which are described below and establishments can draw upon these resources to help achieve key Council and Service policies such as the empowerment agenda. For many of these activities there are supporting reports and policy documents which outline how the resources can be accessed and operational responsibilities, permissions and accountabilities, some of which are managed at establishment level and some of which involve cluster coordination: 1. ASNA Cluster Support Model The Getting it Right for Every Child policy describes in detail the cluster support model approach. This model distributes resource to local level and involves school’s collaborating to put the needs of wider local community first. It also ensures that a consistent, holistic support model for families is in place. Resource for ASNAs is distributed to clusters, as per a clearly described formula, which ensures that roll and FME are taken into account when allocations take place. For young people with significant needs, these allocations are dealt with through the centrally organised needs-based pathway review. Ultimately, the Service is trying to ensure that children and young people are educated in their local communities or as close to it as possible. 2. Wellbeing Hubs (incorporating Cluster Improvement and Integration Leads (CIILs), Cluster Support Teachers & Cluster Resource Teachers) At cluster level integrated support teams are managed through the Cluster Improvement and Inclusion Lead, who in turn reports to the Education and Families Manager. On a day- to-day basis the work of all of these staff is coordinated by Cluster Head Teachers, who ensure that there is a systematic approach to GIRFEC planning across the cluster schools grouping. 3. Build Back Better Teachers In recovering from the COVID pandemic, the Service identified a need to utilise additional teaching resources to ensure that schools would not have to close during the pandemic and that young people who had missed out on key learning opportunities during the period were prioritised for interventions that enabled them to close the gap in learning that may have occurred. These teachers are coordinated by the cluster chair and line managed at school level. They may be moved between schools, as per existing Human Resources policies, so as to ensure that the Service can manage effective contingency arrangements. 4. Probationer Teachers Probationers are part funded through Scottish Government grant with the balance supported via school-based teacher vacancies. The allocation of probationers to establishments and associated funding package will be agreed following discussion
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between Head Teachers, HR Business Partners and the Service management team and form part of the overall annual school staffing exercise. 5. Short-term funding for Educational Recovery In instances that the Service is allocated new or short-term funding, such as Covid supports, the Service management team will agree the distribution basis to establishments. In these circumstances the Service management team will fully outline the purpose, aims and governance structures linked to the funding. 6. External Grant Funding There are a number of external grants which are devolved directly to schools, such as the Pupil Equity Fund allocation (PEF). Typically, these grants have a defined governance and reporting structure that is prescribed by the awarding authority. The Service will support establishments to utilise grant funding by developing practical measures such as procurement frameworks and providing overarching professional advice and guidance. In addition, Heads of Establishment should consider how recurring and new grant funding can best meet both the needs of the school/nursery and wider Service policies. Considerations for Heads of Establishments should include: • Can outcomes be best achieved by establishments working individually or by pooling resources at a cluster level and/or working in partnership with other agencies or Council services • How grant funding supports and is linked to the school improvement plan • Have a clear understanding of how the funding will support the key Service and Council policies such as closing the educational attainment gap 7. School Counselling The Service has an approved model for supporting School Counselling costs. Resources are provided to schools and clusters on a roll related formula basis. The programme is coordinated locally by secondary head teachers. The Service has developed a procurement framework to support this activity and allows schools to access a range of appropriate and properly evaluated services. 8. Central Support Services, e.g., Educational Psychology, Quality Improvement Teams and Probationer Support There are a number of centrally organised teams which enable effective support to be in place to ensure that all children thrive and all schools improve their standards of education. These are key duties under the Education for Scotland, Standards in Schools (2000) Act. These include the direct line management of Head Teachers by the Education and Families Managers, the coordination of Scottish Attainment Challenge activity, the support for probationers and a number of other key service functions that enable the effective management of educational provision. There are established pathways for establishments to access these resources.
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9. Children’s Social Work Services These services are managed in localities and work collaboratively with clusters through the integrative practice model. The expectation is that Social Workers and Head Teachers plan jointly and support one another in managing their respective statutory responsibilities to ensure that all children and young people thrive and achieve to their full potential. Children’s Social Work Services have a range of expertise and resources which can support families. The empowered social work model, which placed resources in the hands of Social Workers and enables effective family group decision making is driving activity in this area. This all aligns with the Human, Economic Cost Modelling approach at the heart of The Promise. 10. Music Service The Service has a centrally organised music service team which provides support for music tuition and extra-curricular music activity across the local authority. Service policies now reflect the national free music tuition initiative. 11. Active Schools The Active Schools team provide specialist sports coaching and wellbeing advice to establishments. They also operate the Primary Outdoor Education Programme. There are established pathways for establishments to access these resources. 12. Community Learning & Development Community Learning and Development is coordinated centrally and local Home School Partnership Officers are deployed to clusters to support school based activity and individual interventions. 13. School Clothing and Footwear Grants The Service provides annual grants to eligible families of early years, primary, secondary and ASN pupils. Establishments are expected to work collaboratively with the Service to highlight and advertise this grant programme within their local communities to help ensure every eligible pupil receives an award. 14. Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) The Service provides EMA to eligible pupils aged 16 to 19 who have reached school leaving age. Establishments are expected to work collaboratively with the Service to highlight and advertise the EMA programme within their local communities to help ensure every eligible pupil receives an award. 15. Home to School Pupil Transport The HQ Transport Team will coordinate Home to School Transport arrangements on behalf of schools. This team manages contract arrangements with Strathclyde Passenger
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Transport, so as to enable effective arrangements to be in place for mainstream schools. This team also directly manages ASN pupil transport contracts. 16. Long-term Teacher Cover Costs There are a number of Human Resources policies regarding long term cover which are agreed through the Joint Negotiating Committee for Teachers (JNCT). These are agreed with trade unions and determine how individual teachers are treated in particular situations. They have been established as council policies through such due processes: a) Long-term absence cover b) Foreseen long-term absence (planned medical procedures, etc) c) Adoption leave d) Maternity leave e) Jury duty f) Other business of authority g) Public office duties h) Trade union duties i) Special projects - Council Initiatives j) Accrued holiday leave k) Leave of absence (paid) l) Head teachers' meetings 17. Technician Services The Business and Digital Service provides science, ICT and workshop technician support to schools. There is an established distribution model that allocates staff across establishments.
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT Guidelines CofSLA @COSLA www.cosla.gov.uk TheScottishGovernment @ScotGov www.gov.scot
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 1 Contents Introduction 2 1. Devolved School Management: Background and Principles 4 1.1 Education Reform Joint Agreement 2018 4 1.2 Aims of Empowerment of Funding 5 1.3 A Headteachers’ Charter for School Empowerment 6 1.4 The Principles for Devolved School Management 6 • Subsidiarity and Empowerment 7 • Collaboration 8 • Accountability and Responsibility 8 • Clarity and Equity 9 1.5 A Common Framework 9 1.6 Expected, Recommended and Examples 9 1.7 Self-evaluation 10 1.8 Additional Funding 10 2. Devolved School Management: Detailed Guidance for Local Authorities in developing a DSM scheme 11 2.1 General 11 2.2 Format and Publication 12 2.3 Training 12 2.4 Consultation, Engagement and Transparency 13 2.5 Collaboration 15 2.6 Staffing 17 2.7 Professional Support 19 2.8 Accounting Matters 20 2.9 Scheme Review 23 Appendix A: Expected and Recommended Summary 25 Appendix B: Areas of expenditure that are generally not considered suitable for devolution 31 Appendix C: Stakeholder Engagement 33 Appendix D: Fair Funding Reference Group and Working Group Membership 34
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 2 Introduction These guidelines have been devised to help Local Authorities1 develop their own Devolved School Management (DSM) schemes. They include advice on what is expected and recommended in a local scheme, alongside practical examples from Local Authorities. To aid Local Authorities, a framework document has been created which will allow Local Authorities to populate a standard format if they wish to do so, introducing broader consistency of scheme presentation. This Framework can be found at https://www.gov.scot/policies/schools/devolved-school-management/. This document has two main sections. The first section, Devolved School Management: Background and Principles sets out the background, context and principles of DSM, as well as providing a common framework and overview of the expectations and requirements. The second part, Devolved School Management: Detailed Guidance for Local Authorities in developing a DSM scheme, provides detailed guidance for Local Authorities including regarding format and publication, scheme review, training, accounting matters, consultation, engagement and, transparency, professional support, collaboration and staffing. Throughout the second section, examples from Local Authorities are given. These are intended to offer ideas and aid discussion on areas a Local Authority may wish to include in its scheme. Finally, Appendices A to D provide supporting information. These guidelines aim to encourage participation from Local Authority wider teams, schools2 and parents. They have been prepared through collaboration and consultation with a wide range of stakeholders. Collaboration is key to a successful local DSM scheme; this is captured within the Joint Agreement and Headteachers’ Charter to which these guidelines align and support. Devolved School Management was introduced in 1993 to enhance and improve the management of resources at school level. The DSM guidance was reviewed in 2006, and again in 2012, taking account of the changing economic and financial climate for both Local Authorities and the Scottish Government. In June 2017 the Scottish Government consulted on changes to DSM as part of the wider “Fair Funding to Achieve Excellence and Equity in Education” consultation. These updated DSM guidelines seek to build and improve on the DSM Guidelines of 2012 and, critically, reflect and integrate with the Education Reform Programme and priorities emerging from the Scottish Government and COSLA Education Reform Joint Agreement of June 2018. 1 The terms “Local Authority” and “Local Authorities” are used throughout this guidance to mean the education authority, being a council constituted under section 2 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. 2 The terms “school” and “headteacher” are used throughout this guidance. These guidelines recognise that in relation to DSM, the functions and roles undertaken within an empowered school system are not restricted to headteachers. Although the role of headteacher is identified throughout, shared and distributed leadership means that other staff members, or groups, may undertake an area or aspect of DSM. The guidelines support distributed leadership, collaboration and consultation, whilst recognising that the accountability and responsibility will reside with the headteacher as the leader of their school, supported by the Local Authority.
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 3 The guidelines were developed through extensive stakeholder engagement (Appendix C) and produced by the Scottish Government and COSLA in conjunction with the Fair Funding Working Group and Fair Funding Reference Group (Appendix D). These guidelines are issued by Scottish Ministers under section 13 of the Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc Act 2000 (the 2000 Act). This guidance is issued to Local Authorities in relation to their functions under Section 83 of the 2000 Act in relation to delegation schemes. Before issuing this guidance, Scottish Ministers consulted those detailed in Appendix C about the proposed guidance. The guidelines are sufficiently flexible to support local variation and local circumstances, ensuring that the democratic right, aims and priorities of locally elected members remain fundamental to successful schemes. The guidelines replace three separate documents from 2012 - Devolved School Management Guidelines, Devolved School Management Self-Evaluation Toolkit and Devolved School Management Examples of Practice from the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES) Resources Network. 3 In preparing a delegation scheme reference should be made to Section 8 of the 2000 Act which requires the Local Authority to have a delegation scheme, and provides more details on: the circumstances in which they can be applied; what they must contain and what they may contain. For example, section 8(2)(a) requires that where a delegation scheme is in place in respect of a school that scheme must delegate to the headteacher the preparation of the school improvement plan and section 8(3) requires that the scheme must require the headteacher to exercise the delegated functions in a manner consistent with the Local Authority’s duties to secure improvement in the quality of school education which is provided in the school management by them and with a view to raising standards of education.
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 4 1. Devolved School Management: Background and Principles 1.1 Education Reform Joint Agreement 2018 In June 2018, the Joint Agreement between the Scottish Government and COSLA established the principles that: • Effective system-wide improvement requires strong leadership, collaborative working and clarity of purpose at all layers of the system – school, local, regional and national. • Headteachers are the leaders of learning and teaching in their school. They are senior officers of the Local Authority and have operational responsibility for the service they provide, therefore the majority of decisions should be made at school level. • Schools are empowered to make the decisions that most affect their children and young people’s outcomes, while being part of a collaborative learning community, the Local Authority and working with others. • Empowered schools require both strong and distributive leadership, working in partnership with pupils, parents, staff and the wider community. • The principle of headteacher empowerment will be applied consistently across Scotland. • Local Authorities’ duty to provide education for children and young people means that they must be able to intervene in decisions made by headteachers where statutory, financial, or contractual obligations would be breached. • Local Authorities and their headteachers should have a mutually respectful and supportive relationship, with clear processes in place to minimise the need for such intervention. • Decisions by all parties should reflect mutually supportive and respectful relationships. The Joint Agreement advises that through the Headteachers’ Charter, Local Authorities are to empower headteachers in areas of curriculum, improvement, staffing and funding. Regarding funding, it defines this further: • Local Authorities will continue to be responsible for the Local Authority education budget and the delegation of funding to schools. Headteachers will make decisions on the spending within that delegated budget. • Decisions about education spending at Local Authority and school level are made in a collegiate and transparent way paying due regard to Getting It Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) and Local Authorities’ role as Corporate Parents.
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 5 • Local Authorities have regard to updated statutory guidance setting out a clear national framework for the delegation of funding to schools. This guidance is being co-produced through the Fair Funding Reference Group. The Fair Funding Reference Group formed the Fair Funding Working Group to provide the detailed and practical insight necessary to deliver this guidance. 1.2 Aims of Empowerment of Funding An empowered system is built on mutual trust, cooperation, transparency and highly effective communication. In an empowered system, headteachers, schools and their Local Authorities are partners, each contributing and supporting each other and respecting the different role each plays. Local Authorities add value by enabling key decisions to be made by those who are closest to the educational experience of children and young people and who best understand the particular context of the learning community. Decision making about funding that affects the school should sit, therefore, at school level unless there is a compelling reason for this not to be the case. The headteacher is accountable and responsible for decisions that should be made in consultation with pupils, parents, staff and the wider community. In an empowered school, decisions are based on local circumstances, delivering the highest impact on the learning experience of children and young people, and achieving the best outcomes for learners. Empowered schools require both strong and distributive leadership, again working in partnership with pupils, parents, staff and the wider community. An empowered school should have established systems and mechanisms which ensure that decisions are made in collaboration with stakeholders and which lead to better outcomes for children and young people. Headteachers are expected to be able to manage a fair, equitable and transparent devolved budget that meets the needs and priorities of the school and local community. As senior officers of the Local Authority, responsible for the leadership and management of the service provided to children and young people and their families, headteachers are accountable to both their employer and to their learning community for the leadership and management of education and resources within their settings. Headteachers, whilst being part of a collaborative community, the Local Authority and working with others, are accountable for the resources within their delegated budget responsibility. These guidelines recognise that in relation to DSM the functions and roles undertaken within an empowered school system are not restricted to headteachers. Although the role of headteacher is identified throughout, shared and distributed leadership means that other staff members or groups may undertake an area or aspect of DSM. An empowered school system means that all teachers are empowered and have meaningful input to decisions about school funding. The guidelines support distributed leadership, collaboration and consultation whilst
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 6 recognising that ultimately the accountability and responsibility will reside with the headteacher as the leader of their school, supported by the Local Authority. 1.3 A Headteachers’ Charter for School Empowerment The Headteachers’ Charter advises that in an empowered system, headteachers should lead learning communities to determine the most appropriate approach in the areas of leading learning and teaching, empowering the learning community and making best use of the school’s resources. In relation to making best use of the school’s resources, headteachers are required to: • Manage a delegated budget in a fair, equitable and transparent way, supported by the Local Authority and a fair, transparent and equitable local Devolved School Management Scheme. • Deploy the school’s budget in accordance with best value principles and Local Authority procurement arrangements, with appropriate support and guidance from their Local Authority. • Play an active role in designing and reviewing recruitment and staffing approaches, both for their own school(s) and for the wider Authority. • Be empowered to design a staffing structure which best supports the school’s curriculum and leadership requirements, working within their delegated staffing budget and supported by their Local Authority and Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) / Local Negotiating Committee for Teachers (LNCT) agreements and guidance. • Be integral to the appointment of staff in accordance with the best interests of children and young people, and work in partnership with the Local Authority to ensure good practice in recruitment and appointments, in line with SNCT/LNCT agreements and guidance. • Work in partnership with the Local Authority, and within clearly defined roles, responsibilities and accountabilities, to ensure a highly professional school team is built and sustained to meet the needs of the learning community. 1.4 The Principles for Devolved School Management The updated DSM principles, agreed by the Fair Funding Reference Group and building on and enhancing the foundations and principles of the 2012 guidance, are: • Subsidiarity and Empowerment. • Collaboration. • Accountability and Responsibility. • Clarity and Equity.
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 7 These principles reflect the National Improvement Framework aims of excellence through raising attainment and achieving equity. The principles also fully endorse those proposed in the Fair Funding consultation: • support excellence and equity - ensuring every child and young person has the same opportunity to succeed • be fair - placing the needs of all children and young people at the centre • be simple, transparent and predictable – ensuing the costs of delivering education can be easily understood and explained and that schools are able to manage and plan ahead with certainty • deliver value for money – ensuring that every penny spent is used effectively Subsidiarity and Empowerment DSM must provide headteachers and schools with the autonomy and flexibility to ensure decisions are made at the most appropriate level. Local Authorities should, within their DSM scheme, provide headteachers with clear information about which areas of expenditure are delegated to them. Whilst headteachers should have flexibility in the budgets required to operate and administer a school, there are also areas of expenditure that are not generally considered suitable for devolution to schools. Further guidance is provided in Appendix B. Devolution of budget must be supportive to the headteacher and allow a headteacher to make a positive impact on outcomes for children and young people, and must suit local context. Delegation: Decisions are made closest to the learner wherever possible and should be delegated to headteachers and schools in line with the Education Reform programme. Schools are empowered to make the decisions that affect outcomes, while being part of a collaborative learning community and the Local Authority. Decisions about education spending at Local Authority and school level are made in a collegiate and transparent way, paying due regard to wider responsibilities including GIRFEC. Staffing: headteachers are involved in the design of recruitment processes and can design a staffing structure that best supports learning and teaching in the school, within the budget delegated to the school by the Local Authority. Headteachers must comply with employment law and other relevant legislation, and the contractual obligations and policies of their Local Authority. Local Authorities and headteachers must have regard to supporting guidance and agreements developed by SNCT and LNCT (where appropriate). Budget: The majority of budget decisions should be made at school level. Local Authority schemes should detail specific guidance for accounting policies with regard to areas such as budget setting, budget virement and carry forward of budget underspends based on locally determined criteria.
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 8 Collaboration All partners must work together in a collegiate and collaborative way, keeping the interests of children and young people front and centre. Consultation: DSM should be designed and implemented in collaboration and consultation with stakeholders. Joint working with partners should be guided by, and support, the School Improvement Plan, Local Authority or education service, other plans, and local and national priorities. Partnership: In an empowered system, Local Authorities, headteachers and other school staff should work collaboratively at a local, regional and national level. headteachers furthermore should ensure that the systems are in place to allow collaboration with their school community, so that decisions are taken through the principles of co-production. Combined budgets and integrated services: Local Authority schemes should provide scope for combining budgets between schools, clusters, and other public partners (subject to any legal or contractual restraints), noting the requirements of Local Authority policies and frameworks, including, although not limited to: procurement, finance, and recruitment. Accountability and Responsibility Accountability is required at all levels; with the Local Authority, headteachers and delegated budget holders all being accountable and responsible within an empowered DSM scheme. Accountability: Headteachers are the leaders of learning and teaching in their school and are senior officers of the Local Authority with operational responsibility for the service they provide. Local Authorities will continue to be democratically accountable for the Local Authority education budget and the delegation of funding to schools, while headteachers in collaboration with stakeholders will make decisions on the spending within that delegated budget. As senior officers of the Local Authority, headteachers are accountable to both their employer and to their learning community for the leadership and management of education and resources within their setting. Quality Assurance and Review: Local Authorities should review DSM schemes every three years through peer review; in consultation and collaboration with stakeholders. Quality assurance should be built into the scheme and should particularly consider best practice from other Local Authorities. Local Authorities should also consider, as part of their ongoing self-evaluation, updating DSM schemes if relevant changes occur, for example following annual budget setting. Support: Local Authorities should ensure that appropriate professional support functions such as business management, finance, human resources teams and administrative support are in place to provide both support and challenge to headteachers exercising their delegated duties.
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 9 Clarity and Equity Clarity and equity is required at all levels; with the Local Authority and headteachers being clear and equitable with devolved resources. Equitable budget allocation: Devolving resources at a local level will vary according to the characteristics of each authority. The local context, including whether an authority is based in an urban, rural or island setting will have influence regarding the budget decisions within an authority. However, for all authorities, in an empowered system, decisions regarding budget allocations should be made in consultation with stakeholders, including schools and should aim to deliver equity, ensuring that every child and young person has the same opportunity to succeed. Clarity: Comprehensive and clear information about funding allocations detailing how local priorities and needs have determined these allocations should be made available to stakeholders. This applies to both Local Authority schemes and school decisions. Value for money: All decisions regarding resource use at Local Authority or school level should provide best value and continuous improvement, drawing on corporate financial regulations, schemes of delegation and procurement guidance. 1.5 A Common Framework To harmonise how local schemes are described, a framework is provided for Local Authorities to populate, containing all the essential elements of a good scheme. Local Authorities can incorporate their own scheme detail into the framework, tailoring the narrative to reflect their local context and decisions. This supports the empowerment of schools based on the Local Authority context, ensuring local democratic decisions can be applied whilst maintaining a broad consistency between schemes. This will support stakeholders undertaking benchmarking, introduce an element of common understanding for users, support shared training, and aid peer review. The framework will assist Local Authorities and their headteachers, providing increased clarity and transparency to stakeholders. The framework can be accessed on the Scottish Government website at https://www.gov.scot/policies/schools/devolved-school-management/. 1.6 Expected, Recommended and Examples The guidelines identify which areas are defined as expected, or as recommended, for Local Authority schemes. In some cases, the guidelines note statutory requirements on Local Authorities, or legislation which Local Authorities, headteachers, or others must comply with. For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in these guidelines detracts from those legislative requirements, which must always be complied with. It is anticipated that every Local Authority scheme will apply the areas identified as “expected” within their individual scheme. Areas identified as “recommended” enable the Local Authority to determine their own decision in meaningful consultation with stakeholders. This supports authorities implementing a scheme that is fit for
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 10 purpose based on their local priorities and context. These are summarised in Appendix A: “Expected and Recommended Summary”. Local Authority examples are provided in some areas to support discussion with stakeholders at both authority and school level, reinforcing meaningful consultation and the transparency of schemes. Authorities are not expected to seek to implement each of the examples included within the guidelines, but may find it helpful to consider whether examples are relevant to their circumstances. 1.7 Self-evaluation Local Authorities can make use of the “Expected and Recommended Summary” (Appendix A) to self-evaluate their schemes in addition to the peer review. 1.8 Additional Funding Additional funding streams, including for example, at the time of publishing, Pupil Equity Funding (PEF), are not core funding and are not included within the traditional funding mechanisms of DSM schemes. Funding directly allocated to schools from sources other than the Local Authority should be available to headteachers to utilise as outlined in any associated conditions of the budget allocation. It is recommended that the principles of DSM (subsidiarity and empowerment; collaboration; accountability and responsibility; and clarity and equity), in addition to Local Authority policies, apply to all funding streams. Many schools operate School Funds4 and Parent Council accounts; these are external to the Local Authority DSM scheme and are not included within the DSM guidelines. 4 School Funds refer to funding raised by the school though other avenues and are not devolved by the Local Authority, the headteacher is responsible and accountable for these funds. Each Local Authority will have their own processes and procedures for these funds. To support school improvement, headteachers are recommended to undertake self- evaluation drawing upon the most appropriate and current tools as self-evaluation toolkits. At date of publication these include: Education Scotland: How Good is Our School 4, Quality Indicator 1.5 Management of Resources (HGIOS4) and the General Teaching Council Scotland (GTCS) ‘The Standards for Leadership and Management’ (GTCS Standards). To avoid increasing workload no additional toolkit has been created.
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 11 2. Devolved School Management: Detailed Guidance for Local Authorities in developing a DSM scheme 2.1 General Local Authority schemes are expected to demonstrate best value by following the characteristics of: commitment and leadership; sound governance at a strategic and operational level; accountability; sound management of resources; responsiveness and consultation; use of review and options appraisal; a contribution to sustainable development; equal opportunities arrangements and joint working. DSM schemes are expected to support, promote and facilitate school empowerment, enabling headteachers to provide the efficient and most effective use of resources. Local Authorities, and their headteachers, are expected to demonstrate accountability at all levels, be clear and transparent, support collegiate working and strive to deliver national, Local Authority, local and school priorities. It is expected that Local Authorities ensure that devolution is meaningful and empowers school leaders to make appropriate, and informed decisions to best meet their local needs in line with Local Authority policies, guidance and frameworks. It is recognised that there are areas of expenditure that are generally not considered suitable for devolution. These may be aspects that are beyond a headteacher’s influence or are too bureaucratic to be managed at school level, have unacceptable levels of risk or have no impact on learning and teaching. A list of such aspects is detailed in Appendix B. It is expected that each Local Authority will identify any areas that are not deemed suitable for devolving to schools and include this information within their published schemes. Headteachers are expected to deploy the school’s budget in accordance with best value principles and Local Authority procurement arrangements, with appropriate support and guidance from their Local Authority. School expenditure should be in line with the School Improvement Plan supporting both Local Authority and national priorities and frameworks. Local Authorities and headteachers are required to support SNCT and LNCT agreements and guidance. Local Authorities should aim to reduce, where possible, staff workload and bureaucracy in relation to the utilisation and the application of DSM schemes, including associated financial policies and procedures. Local Authority Example A recent Education Scotland inspection in Renfrewshire highlighted the importance of robust governance arrangements when dealing with the complexity of a range of different sources of funding. Although it could be argued that this is not entirely related to DSM, the overlaps and dependencies between each of them are highly significant if empowered headteachers are to feel supported by a strong central team from the Local Authority.
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 12 2.2 Format and Publication Local Authorities are strongly encouraged and recommended to use the Scottish Government/COSLA common DSM framework document, which accompanies this document and can be downloaded from https://www.gov.scot/policies/schools/devolved-school-management/. The framework will support benchmarking, assist staff moving between Local Authorities, aid national and/or shared training opportunities and bring a common look and feel to Local Authority schemes. It is expected that local schemes include any criteria and methodology used to create staffing models and other resource allocations as appropriate. If formulae have been applied, these should be included within the scheme. Headteachers should be able to interpret the formulae or resource allocations and reconcile this information with their school’s resources. Local Authorities are expected to publish their DSM scheme on an external facing authority website, providing access to public stakeholders. Where a school has a website, it is recommended that it includes a link to the Local Authority website directing parents and wider stakeholders to the scheme. As DSM schemes can be technical documents, and are expected to include detailed formulae, Local Authorities are recommended to consider publishing a summary of their detailed scheme using the Scottish Government/COSLA framework (available from https://www.gov.scot/policies/schools/devolved-school-management/) to provide all stakeholders with summary information which is both accessible and in plain language, maximising parental and/or stakeholder engagement. 2.3 Training To support understanding and enhance confidence in DSM, Local Authorities are expected to provide specific training opportunities to individuals who make use of, or may influence, the DSM scheme. It is expected that this group would include headteachers and business managers or equivalent posts. It is recommended that training should also be considered for depute headteachers, aspiring leaders, LNCT trade union representatives and any other appropriate groups. It is recommended that elected members, as decision makers responsible for the Local Authority corporate budget should also receive a tailored training programme. The National Parent Forum Scotland have advised that additional training for Parent Councils is not required as this may be viewed as a barrier for parental involvement. However, Local Authorities can offer training in conjunction with Parent Councils where they deem it appropriate. It is expected that appropriate training should be available on a recurring basis to ensure new appointments to posts can be given sufficient induction, training and support to allow them to make informed decisions and to allow experienced staff to refresh their knowledge. Training should be available when new systems or processes are introduced. It is recommended that Local Authority headteacher induction programmes include a DSM element.
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 13 Where school or establishment staff have a delegated budget responsibility, it is expected that they will be aware of the aims and principles associated with DSM and best value and that they will adhere to financial regulations and Local Authority procedures and policies for the funds they are responsible for, which should include any staff member with a recognised budget responsibility. Local Authority Examples Falkirk run regular training and update sessions for headteachers, deputy headteachers and new staff on all matters to do with Finance, Resource, Property and Planning matters. Inverclyde Finance training is built into the practical guide to taking a school forward, which is available for any aspiring headteacher. The induction programme also includes one to one sessions on finance with the appropriate finance officer. This covers DSM. As part of the leadership development programme, Dumfries and Galloway run two sessions each year to support current headteachers and aspiring leaders with managing resources - “Strategic Management of Budgets”. As part of this session, some of the mechanics of DSM are covered, including the local scheme. The session also focuses on HGIOS4 Section 1.5 Management of Resources to promote equity, using the challenge questions from HGIOS4 to promote discussion, challenge and share experience. Headteacher training in Dundee includes information on their Roles and Responsibilities related to Finance, and the recommendation that schools should have a DSM and School Fund Consultative Committee. Dundee also makes reference to HGIOS4 in training and the use of data when making spending decisions at school level Dedicated training days are set up for Shetland Islands headteachers, as well as one-to one training opportunities for headteachers and their clerical staff. 2.4 Consultation, Engagement and Transparency It is expected that local DSM schemes are accessible and in plain language, maximising engagement and supporting transparency. Local Authorities are expected to make information available to all stakeholders in relation to the Local Authority budget, delegated budgets to schools, including identifying areas of expenditure that are not devolved to headteachers. It is expected that there will be meaningful consultation and engagement at all levels among the Local Authority, headteachers and all stakeholders. It is expected that meetings take place to inform appropriate resource decisions, including, for example: budget, staffing models and savings. To facilitate meaningful consultation and collaborative decision making, it is expected that Local Authorities form appropriate mechanisms or forums for regular engagement and consultation with headteacher
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 14 and wider stakeholders. These should be formed in conjunction with headteachers and Local Authority education management. A range of consultation approaches are already in place within Local Authorities including: • regular finance forums • headteacher/trade unions/staff working groups • DSM committees • area / school cluster meetings • quality improvement forums • feedback from surveys at school, school cluster and Local Authority levels • headteacher short-life work streams It is an expectation that headteachers have an input into areas affecting school resources, at a local, area or schools cluster level. This includes criteria used when determining how a formula is devised, how the formula is applied to schools, methods of calculating and distributing budget, any associated savings, school staffing models and any other appropriate allocations of resources. Local Authority Examples The Dundee Star Chamber group meets four times per year with all headteachers invited to attend. The Star Chamber meetings specifically focus on budget issues, with the meeting chaired by the Executive Director and Senior Management Team. In addition, Dundee’s Staffing review group is chaired by the Chief Education Officer and consists of headteachers and central managers. This group covers all areas associated with the staffing process including allocation of staffing budgets. Lastly, there are sub-groups chaired by headteachers who involve other headteachers in taking forward certain areas. This year these groups were involved in revising staff formulae, given the budget pressures that the authority faced, and also focused on improving the recruitment process. School Operating Management meetings in Fife are held termly; the meetings are chaired by a Head of Service and all headteachers are invited. The meetings focus on business matters including such areas as recruitment, staffing models, budget allocations, savings and facilities management. Three meetings are scheduled over different days to provide headteachers with the flexibility to attend the most suitable meeting to maximize attendance. This format is used for meaningful consultation with all headteachers (over 170 including nursery, special, primary and secondary). In addition, Cluster Chair Headteacher Meetings, Working Groups or sector specific headteacher meetings are also utilised for particular areas of work and for detailed discussion regarding specific budget savings. In North Ayrshire, all schools are required to have a DSM Committee to discuss resource matters, the committee is formed from all staff groups and includes parent council representatives. Transparency is further supported by the sharing of devolved staffing allocations with all school sectors in the local authority area - Nursery, Special, Primary and Secondary.
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 15 As the leaders of learning in their schools, and as senior officers of the Local Authority, headteachers are expected to take the lead role in ensuring their school community is empowered at all levels, this includes full consultation with staff. Headteachers are expected to consult with staff, parent councils, pupils, trade unions and the wider community on appropriate matters to inform resource decisions. It is expected that headteachers provide clear information on local budgets and resource allocation including school staffing models, DSM decisions, allocation of departmental or class resources, formulae, criteria or methodologies used within the school. To facilitate consultation, it is expected that headteachers form appropriate mechanisms or forums for regular engagement and consultation with stakeholders to discuss and consult on any relevant area. To facilitate collective decision making a range of consultation approaches are in place within schools which include: • School committees • staff meetings • parent council • pupil councils • working groups Headteachers are expected to ensure that any costs on families are minimised to ensure equality of access. However, where charges are deemed unavoidable, it is recommended that any anticipated pupil charges for curricular or extra-curricular activities (for example Home Economics, or school trips), or other costs (such as school uniform) requiring funding contributions from parents/carers are clearly detailed in school information published at the start of the academic session, supporting transparency. It is further recommended that any potential financial assistance or opportunities available to the pupil, or any discounts or exemptions available, for example in relation to pupils in receipt of free school meals, are included within this information. 2.5 Collaboration DSM schemes should be informed by local priorities to enable them to contribute towards shared agendas and improved outcomes, allowing stronger partnership working between schools and with other agencies and stakeholders. Local Authority decisions about education spending are expected to be made in a collegiate and transparent way, paying due regard to their wider responsibilities, including Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) and the role of Local Authorities as Corporate Parents. Effective joint working, encompassing headteachers, school staff, Local Authority chief officers, community partners, other schools, colleges, universities and the Regional Improvement Collaborative are key. Meaningful collaboration can support the best use of resources, through arrangements for strategic planning of local provision, economies of scale and the pooling of resources to meet locally identified educational needs. To further develop this, it is recommended that Local Authorities consider empowering an area or school cluster, enabling headteachers to influence decisions and resource use across a geographical or cluster basis.
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 16 Devolving budget resource on an area or school cluster basis also requires headteachers to be responsible for these resources to their stakeholders and Local Authority. The Regional Improvement Collaborative should consider developing and sharing models of best practice in empowerment and effective decision making within the funding and resources context. In an empowered system, headteachers are expected to be collaborative and collegiate in their approach, challenging themselves and stakeholders to be solution focused and embrace joint working with the learning community, teachers, support staff, partners, other schools and the Local Authority. It is recommended that headteachers work together to share and maximise resources in order to influence outcomes across geographical areas or school clusters. Local Authority Examples In Inverclyde, the recently implemented ASN review has devolved management of resources to localities of schools. This means that headteachers discuss allocations of support on a locality basis and can allocate resources accordingly. The Falkirk Senior Management Team holds termly meetings with Parent Council Chairs and representatives to discuss all matters relating to budgets, finances and resources. In addition through collaboration, secondary schools now manage the provision and distribution of PE and Music teachers across all primary schools within their cluster. In Glasgow, by headteachers pooling funding together, Secondary schools have engaged STEM staff to work collegiately to deliver training and staff development. West Dunbartonshire have robust systems in place for the effective management and monitoring of finance, ensuring strong financial governance and delivery of best value at both corporate and project level. At corporate level, the Community Planning Partnership and Educational Services committee ensure accountability for the delivery of Education objectives. The Council provides the conditions and environment for leaders to make innovative decisions on available spend, based on research and self-evaluation activities. Through a variety of consultation processes, headteachers engage well with stakeholders in their school community to gather views on how funding is used, and to report on progress with delivery of projects/interventions. Through a variety of communications channels, headteachers share successes of projects/interventions, ensuring stakeholders are aware of impact to help inform next steps. Na h-Eileanan Siar Primary and Secondary headteachers have collectively identified a set of nine key actions based on the Department’s four priorities and Business Plan as well as current national priorities and developments in education. To deliver the nine actions, a model of Headteacher Hubs has been developed that has created three hub teams of headteachers, each led by one of the headteachers and supported by a Senior Education Officer. Each of the hubs has been assigned three of the nine priorities. Headteacher Hubs serve two key purposes. They
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 17 empower headteachers, as senior officers of the Comhairle, to lead on the delivery of key priorities as well as to take devolved responsibility for budget spending. It also addresses the national priority to tackle bureaucracy through more effective sharing of development work across the three Hubs to benefit all schools, and raise learners’ attainment. Each Hub is led by a headteacher with a group of other associated headteachers, as well as any co-opted members they wish to include for the purposes of meeting their specific objectives. 2.6 Staffing Local schemes are expected to devolve the appropriate resources to schools, whilst ensuring that legislative and contractual requirements are met and local circumstances and needs taken into account. Local Authorities are required to develop and implement staffing models for all school sectors, within which headteachers are expected to deliver the most appropriate and efficient use of staff, ensuring equity, transparency and clarity whilst promoting and supporting collaboration and collegiate working. To facilitate this, it is expected that headteachers are empowered to design a staffing structure to suit their school’s context, within the budget delegated to the school by the authority. Local Authorities are recommended to consider the risks associated with devolving staffing. This includes discussing and consulting with headteacher and appropriate forums around the complexities and risks associated with staffing allocations. Local schemes will vary and may be determined or influenced by systems and processes in place for finance budget setting. This may include budgets based on named individual salary placements, average staff salaries, top of teaching scale salary, cash or points models, or any other methodology used. Consideration should also be given in relation to long term absence and family leave costs which may impact on budgets. Variances in local schemes may also exist owing to the accounting approach applied for specific individual circumstances noting the salary differentials for roles such as chartered teachers, assimilated teachers, career pathway lead teachers or in relation to conservation of salary or changes to job sizing grades. For all staffing matters, it is expected that headteachers must adhere to the appropriate legislation, Local Authority, SNCT and LNCT agreements, Working Time Agreements and guidelines. Headteachers are expected to play an active role in designing and reviewing the recruitment processes and staffing approaches, both for their own school/s and for the Local Authority. It is expected that headteachers are consulted on the allocation of all staff groups to their schools, including support staff. Staffing allocations of support staff should be supported by a clear and transparent methodology for the distribution of staff either to schools or clusters.
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 18 Local Authority Examples A primary school in Dumfries and Galloway was entitled to two depute headteachers. The headteacher has chosen to put in place only one depute headteacher post and utilise the funding from the other position to support development opportunities across the staff group. These are project type arrangements to complete designated pieces of work. A Primary School in East Lothian had an increasing school roll and were entitled, per the staffing model to receive an additional depute headteacher, increasing from one to two depute headteachers. The headteacher elected to utilise the budget resource to maximise the existing depute headteacher’s management time, thereby removing the teaching commitment. This further enabled the headteacher to create a principal teacher post through use of the balance of resource available. In Falkirk the annual teacher recruitment and probationer intake exercise for primary schools is centrally coordinated with input from headteachers groups to reduce the demands on their time. Primary headteachers have also used their devolved budgets to collectively fund a central support post to source and manage supply cover on their behalf. Fife manage a generic recruitment campaign for class teacher posts for the new August academic session. This generic campaign is led by headteachers, supported by the central team. Headteachers attend a centrally led recruitment session at which the headteachers devise the interview format and questions. The interview panels are solely formed by headteachers who make a recommendation to appoint candidates to Fife, or not. The central team then undertake all reference and recruitment checks before allocating the candidate to a post in Fife. To staff schools, headteachers submit a ‘Staffing Return’ for the new August session whereby they identify vacancies or surplus staff. For vacancies, the headteacher identifies the nature of the vacancy (permanent/temporary/full time/part time) and can identify how they wish the post to be filled, for example the allocation of a new probationer or the appointment of a teacher. Furthermore, for the allocation of a new probationer they can request a student who has completed a placement within their school, or are allocated a name by the central team. For the allocation of a teacher, they can request a named individual from the generic interviews and this allows headteachers to request to retain their current probationer if they wish to do so. Through this system headteachers are able to greatly influence their school staffing allocation. The Directorate seeks to accommodate headteacher requests whilst taking account of any other factors, including staff members requiring transfer, the overall school pupil roll, the authority’s probationer allocation and any other local matters. Perth & Kinross Headteachers are authorised to organise their support staff structure as required. Resources continue to be allocated to schools using the DSM funding allocation annually. Renfrewshire engaged extensively with primary headteachers in order to design a revitalised recruitment process for the annual staffing exercise, which sees
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 19 headteachers lead the selection procedures forming interview panels and recommending deployment based on a competence based approach. This is backed up by support from HR and recruitment professionals within the Local Authority in order to ensure openness, fairness and transparency. By empowering headteachers in this way, workload has been reduced and both schools and individual teachers feel more valued for their contribution. 2.7 Professional Support To support empowered schools, Local Authorities are expected to provide the appropriate support and challenge to headteachers. Empowered schools should be underpinned by professional high-quality teams with the appropriate capacity to support headteachers. This may be in the form of business managers (or equivalents), finance, human resources and facilities teams. It is expected that access to professional support is available to all headteachers, in all school establishments. It is expected that there should be transparency in any formulae or methodology used in allocating professional support to schools. Local Authority Examples Argyll and Bute Finance Assistants are assigned to schools to provide financial advice to the headteacher. These roles are managed by the corporate finance teams with the posts being based in schools. The finance assistants provide support to more than one school, usually on a cluster basis. Each secondary school in Falkirk has a dedicated Resource Manager and other schools are supported by a centrally based team of Resource Officers. Scottish Borders undertook a review during 2016/17, with the aim of developing more integrated and streamlined management and administration arrangements on a locality, cluster basis. A new structure was developed and consulted on, and a Business Manager was appointed for each high school cluster (of which there are 9) and administration staff for both secondary and primary schools were matched into the new, cluster-based structure. The resulting standardisation and improvement of processes and policies has enabled a necessary move away from inconsistencies in approaches to business support across over 70 Scottish Borders schools, and is facilitated by investment in digital improvements for staff, parents and pupils. The clusters vary in size, and contain a mix of rural and urban settings. The Business Manager posts are line managed by a Business Support Service Manager at Council HQ, who reports to the Service Director, Customer and Communities, and funding for the new structure now sits within this service. Stirling Business Managers are based in each of the 7 secondary schools and support the specific secondary school. The posts are managed by the headteacher and funded by the overall secondary staffing model. 40 primary schools are supported by 2 Primary School Resource Officers, who in turn support a cluster of nursery, primary schools and one special school. They are managed by the Business Improvement Team Leader within the Broad General Education Service. The secondary business managers manage the non-teaching staff, monitor and
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 20 report on the school devolved budget; assist the headteacher in the strategic deployment of staff and day to day management and co-ordination of all HR issues devolved to schools. They are responsible for all buildings and facilities management issues and liaise with other Council Services or contractors as appropriate. They assist the headteacher in the strategic management of all finance related issues. The Primary School Resource Officers support, advise and assist headteachers in the strategic management of all resource related issues. They all support the schools in working within the Legal and Financial Framework of the Council and are supported by our Corporate Teams including Finance, HR, procurement and property teams. 2.8 Accounting Matters Headteachers are expected to be given the flexibility to manage and determine the best use of the resources devolved to schools. To facilitate this, headteachers should be permitted to move budgets between devolved budget headings (referred to as budget virement) subject to Local Authority accounting principles, schemes of delegation and financial regulations. Locally determined virement criteria, including any maximum percentage, financial limits or excluded budget areas, are expected to be included within the published local scheme. Local Authority Examples In Angus headteachers are permitted to divert monies between devolved budgets. However, no funds should be diverted which have an ongoing commitment into future years e.g. diverted funds cannot be used to permanently increase staffing levels as the source of funding cannot be guaranteed in future years. To support Schools with their individual budget control and financial reporting, Falkirk provide schools with 10 unique financial ledger devolved cost codes that allow schools to decide themselves what costs should be charged and monitored against them. A bespoke devolved budget report is also available to headteachers to monitor devolved budgets directly. In Glasgow, virement of up to £1,000 across all supplies and services budget lines and Virement of up to £5,000 across all classroom supplies lines is allowed. However, virement of up to 10% of the entitlement budget of a school’s sickness absence cover (5% pre-Christmas and 5% post-Christmas) is subject to approval from the Executive Director of Education Services. Inverclyde currently allow virements of up to £20,000 out of employee budget lines to any budget lines within the overall DSM budget. They also allow virements of up to 10% of non-salary budget lines to any DSM budget line. In Aberdeenshire Council headteachers are provided with details of devolved budgets at the beginning of each financial year, which are updated post September- Census to reflect roll movements. Although Primary schools do not have access to the General Ledger, transaction reports are provided regularly. Budget monitoring
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 21 statements are also provided quarterly by a centrally based Finance team, who are available to provide advice and support to headteachers. Secondary Teaching staff costs, including long and short-term supply, are now fully devolved to schools. Budgets are based on the actual cost of staff in place and likewise expenditure is also on actual costs charged through the ledger. All schools are provided with an annual monitoring template, which allows them to record actual costs against budget and also to forecast the impact of staff changes. Secondary schools also have access to monthly payroll reports, which are used to monitor the devolved teaching budget, and members of the Finance team are currently available to provide advice and support to Secondary headteachers and Business Managers. In terms of process, an accountant will visit each secondary at the beginning of the financial year to discuss the devolved budget and associated spending plans. Follow up visits are then offered later in the year to discuss the forecasted budget position and an update on spending plans. A meeting is held with a Head of Service/HR/Finance prior to the commencement of the new financial year to discuss staffing entitlement and address any budget issues. Secondary schools do have access to the Ledger, but also receive regular reports from the centre on all devolved budgets. Aberdeenshire is also piloting the devolvement of ASN budgets to cluster schools. Two clusters representing different school sizes and demographics have been involved in this pilot. The budgets involved include teaching and non-teaching staff, together with budgets for flexible learning pathways, per capita and Continuing Professional Development. Each cluster collectively is then responsible for determining the spending plan for their budget that best meets the ASN needs within their cluster. Support from the Finance team is provided on a similar basis to that provided to secondary schools. Headteachers are expected to be given the ability to carry forward budget underspends and overspends from one financial year to another in line with Local Authority criteria. This will provide greater flexibility, maximise best value and align school year expenditure with the School Improvement Plan, recognising that expenditure commitments operate on an academic and not financial year basis. Locally determined carry forward criteria, including any maximum percentage or financial limits, or where a carry forward provision is determined by the overall service, directorate or authority budget position, are expected to be published within the scheme. It is recommended that local consideration is given to the use of carry forward of underspends and that the intended uses of any carry forwards are identified in School Improvement Plans or school budget plans. Local Authorities should give consideration to enabling schools and establishments to deposit funds to save budget underspends over a number of financial years for planned and agreed future spending requirements.
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 22 It is recommended that Local Authorities consider how carry forward of overspends are managed and that associated processes or arrangements are included within the published scheme. Local Authority Examples In the City of Edinburgh Council headteachers may carry forward any surplus funds from one financial year to another, subject to this surplus being less than 2.5% of the school’s total delegated budget. In addition, Nursery schools may carry forward 10% of their total delegated budget. Any budget deficit incurred by the headteacher will be carried forward in full to the next financial year and will have the effect of reducing the total funds available for expenditure in that year. The Executive Director of Communities and Families may instruct headteachers not to budget a deficit where there is reason to believe that this would create financial difficulties for the Council. In exceptional circumstances the Executive Director of Communities and Families may amend the amount of surplus or deficit to be carried forward but will give reasons for doing so. Over the period 2017/18 to 2019/20 initially headteachers in East Renfrewshire have the facility to carry forward a percentage of their DSM allocation as budget underspend at the financial year end, subject to the overall Education Department budget being underspent. For 2017/18 this was set at a maximum of 5% of devolved resources, reducing to 3.5% in year two and 2% the following year with a wider review of DSM thereafter to take account of new national guidance. The budget devolved to a school in any financial year should be targeted at the priorities in the School’s Improvement Plan and should be for the benefit of current pupils. Headteachers must therefore ensure that all carry forwards are planned and should not be used as a means of setting aside resources for the future with no identified plans for the carry forward. All carry forwards must be entirely used within a three- year period aligning with the School Improvement Plan and its timeframe. Where an overspend occurs, the shortfall in budget will be deducted from the school’s DSM budget via an increased savings target in the following financial year and the headteacher would be required to provide an action plan to evidence how they will deliver a balanced budget by the end of that same financial year. If a school’s DSM budget outturn position is unreasonably or persistently overspent, despite strong budget monitoring and support, then such action could be considered by the Director of Education as grounds for disciplinary action. To reduce bureaucracy Falkirk has set financial levels for each school sector whereby underspends falling within these parameters are automatically carried forward. Underspends above these levels are subject of a simple business case being submitted to explain the reason for underspend and what the schools plans are for it. The acceptable parameters are: Early Years establishments £5,000, Primary Schools (Single Stream) - £10,000, Primary Schools (2/3 Stream) - £15,000; Secondary Schools - £30,000; and Special/ASN Establishments - £15,000. The West Lothian the maximum carry forward is set at 2.5% of all fully devolved budget headings. Any balance greater than 2.5% will not be available to the school in the following financial year. Any carry forward above 1% requires Head of
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 23 Service. Schools may wish to use this carry forward not only for on-going revenue expenditure, but may also wish to save towards a longer term planned objective (e.g. school refurbishment). Inverclyde allows a carry forward of up to 10% of the entitlement budget. In addition to this, headteachers are allowed a carry forward of planned underspend to be placed into a capital item replacement fund (CIRF) which can be held for up to 3 years. The minimum deposit is £500 and the maximum is £10,000 annually. This fund can then be used in the future 3 years to purchase planned equipment or resources e.g. reading schemes / smaller capital items . Renfrewshire allows schools to carry forward a proportion of funds in particularly budget lines. Headteachers are expected to justify the purpose of such carry forward to ensure it is in line with the expectations of the 2012 guidance that ‘today’s money be for today’s children’. This provides a degree of accountability, whilst ensuring flexibility for the purchase of larger items which may not be possible within a single financial year. 2.9 Scheme Review Local Authorities are expected to undertake a full review of their scheme every three years though peer and stakeholder evaluation. Local Authorities may wish to consider utilising the Regional Improvement Collaborative which they are a member of, although consideration should also be given to working with Local Authorities beyond the collaborative where demographics, scale, size and context may be comparable. Peer review should utilise the Scottish Government and COSLA quality assurance template. In addition to working with a partner Local Authority, it is expected that the three- year review should include stakeholders from the home Local Authority and the wider community. It is recommended that these stakeholders include headteachers and other Local Authority representatives, for example, business managers or equivalent, school staff groups, trade unions, parents, pupils, corporate partners (such as finance, human resources and procurement) and any other community stakeholders as deemed appropriate. It is recommended that Local Authorities, as part of their ongoing self-evaluation, update the DSM scheme if required following formal agreement of the Local Authority budget, or to recognise any Local Authority policy decisions which may have a consequential impact on their scheme. It is recommended that headteachers undertake self-evaluation of DSM in their own school’s context using the most appropriate and current tools available. At date of publication these include; Education Scotland - How Good is Our School 4 (HGIOS4), Quality Indicator 1.5 Management of Resources; GTC Scotland - The Standards for Leadership and Management: supporting leadership and management development; Scottish Government and COSLA – Education Reform Joint Agreement and Headteachers’ Charter.
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 24 Local Authorities may wish to utilise the “Expected and Recommended Summary” (Appendix A) as their self-evaluation checklist or for use during their annual internal review. Local Authority Example East Lothian’s Service is incorporating HGIOS4, Quality Indicator 1.5 Management of Resources as part of their internal reviews and improvement processes within their school establishments.
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 25 Appendix A: Expected and Recommended Summary These guidelines recognise that in relation to DSM the functions and roles undertaken within an empowered school system are not restricted to headteachers. Although the role of headteacher is identified throughout, shared and distributed leadership means that other staff members or groups may undertake an area or aspect of DSM. The guidelines support distributed leadership, collaboration and consultation whilst recognising that the accountability and responsibility will reside with the headteacher as the leader of their school, supported by the Local Authority. In some cases the guidelines note statutory requirements on Local Authorities. For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in these guidelines detracts from those statutory requirements, which all Local Authorities must comply with. General Expected Recommended Local Authorities schemes adhere to financial regulations, deliver best value and ensure the efficient, fair and equitable distribution of resources. Headteachers deploy the school’s budget in accordance with best value principles and Local Authority procurement arrangements, with appropriate support and guidance from their Local Authority. Local Authorities should ensure that devolution is meaningful and empowers school leaders to make appropriate, and informed decisions to best meet their local need in line with legislation and Local Authority policies, guidance and frameworks. Local Authorities scheme clearly define areas of resources that are not devolved to schools. Headteachers are expected to ensure school expenditure is in line with the School Improvement Plan supporting the relevant Local Authority strategic plans, priorities and the National Improvement Framework. Local Authorities and headteachers must adhere to legislative requirements, SNCT and LNCT agreements and guidance.
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 26 Format and Publication Expected Recommended Local Authorities are strongly encouraged to utilise the format of the DSM Framework for their scheme. This is available from https://www.gov.scot/policies/schools/devolved- school-management/. Local Authorities are expected to publish the DSM scheme on the external facing website. Where a school has a website, it is recommended that it should include a web link to the Local Authority published scheme. Local Authorities should consider publishing a summary of the authority’s scheme, providing stakeholders summary information in an accessible way, using plain language. Published schemes should include the criteria and methodology used to create formulae-based allocations, staffing models and other resource allocations as appropriate. If formulae have been applied, the formulae should be included within the scheme. Training Expected Recommended Local Authorities should provide specific DSM training to key staff groups including headteachers and business managers or associated posts. It is recommended that training opportunities are made available to depute headteachers, aspiring leaders, elected members, and any other appropriate staff who utilise or influence DSM decisions. Where school or establishment staff have a delegated budget responsibility they should be aware of the aims and principles associated with DSM, best value and adhere to financial regulations and Local Authority policies for the funds they are responsible for. Training should be available for new and experienced staff members. Training should be available on a frequent and recurring basis. School leaders have access to local and/or national leadership programmes and training which ensures an approach to DSM that encourages confident decision-making to promote better outcomes for learners.
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 27 Consultation, Engagement and Transparency Expected Recommended Consultation and engagement at all levels between Local Authorities, headteachers and stakeholders should take place to inform appropriate resource decisions, including: budget, staffing models and savings. This includes consultation on criteria used when determining how a formula is devised or applied and other methodology of distributing resources. Local Authorities should form appropriate mechanisms or forums for regular engagement and consultation with headteachers and wider stakeholders as appropriate. Consultation and engagement between headteachers and staff groups should take place to inform appropriate resource decisions, including: budget, staffing models, department budget allocations and savings. Headteachers should form appropriate mechanisms or forums for regular engagement and consultation with staff, parents and wider stakeholders as appropriate. Headteachers should consult with staff, parent councils, pupils and the wider community on appropriate matters, these may include school staffing models, DSM decisions, allocation of departmental or class resources and include formulae or criteria used within the school. Headteachers share and discuss local school decisions, budget and resource allocations with staff groups and wider stakeholders as appropriate. It is recommended that at school level this includes methodology and distribution of budgets and resources. Local Authorities make information available to all stakeholders in relation to the Local Authority budget, education budget and delegated budgets to schools, including identifying areas of expenditure that are not devolved to headteachers. It is expected that DSM schemes, and information published for stakeholders is accessible and is in plain language. Headteachers are to ensure that any costs related to the curriculum are minimised to ensure equality of access. Where charges exist for pupils, including both curriculum or extra-curricular activities (class materials, school trips, school uniform, etc.) they should be clearly detailed in school information published at the start of the academic session.
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 28 Any potential financial assistance, discounts or exemptions available, for example in relation to pupils in receipt of free school meals, should be included within this information. Collaboration Expected Recommended DSM schemes should be informed by local priorities to enable it to contribute towards shared agendas and improved outcomes, it should enable stronger partnership working between schools and other agencies and stakeholders. Local Authority decisions about education spending are made in a collegiate and transparent way paying due regard to Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) and the role of Local Authorities as Corporate Parents. It is recommended that Local Authorities consider empowerment on an area or school cluster basis, enabling headteachers to influence decisions across geographical areas or school clusters. Headteacher are expected to be collaborative and collegiate in their approach, challenging themselves and stakeholders to be solution focused embracing joint working with the learning community, parents, children and young people, teachers and support staff, partners, other schools and the Local Authority. It is recommended that headteachers work together to share and maximise resources to influence outcomes across geographical areas or school clusters. Staffing Expected Recommended Local Authorities should empower headteachers to design a staffing structure to suit the school’s context within their delegated budget and in accordance with SNCT and LNCT agreements and guidelines. Local Authorities consider their approach when devolving staffing, this includes discussing with Headteachers the complexities and risks associated with staffing allocations. Schemes should seek to devolve the appropriate resources to schools, whilst ensuring that legislative and contractual requirements are met and local circumstances and need taken into account. The Local Authority with headteachers will seek to deliver the most appropriate and efficient use of staff resource ensuring equity, transparency and clarity whilst promoting and supporting collaboration and collegiate working.
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 29 Headteachers should play an active role in designing and reviewing recruitment and staffing approaches, both for their own school/s and for the Local Authority. For all staffing matters, headteachers must adhere to the appropriate legislation and Local Authority, SNCT and LNCT agreements and guidelines. Headteachers should be consulted on the allocation of support staff to schools. Professional Support Expected Recommended Headteachers in all schools should have access to professional support teams and functions. There should be transparency in the formulae or methodology in allocating professional support to schools. Accounting Expected Recommended Headteachers should have the provision to carry forward budget underspend or overspend in line with agreed and published Local Authority policy and criteria. Intended use of carry forward of budget underspends are identified in School Improvement Plans or school budget spending plans. Procedures for managing carry forward of overspends are included within the scheme. Consideration is given towards enabling schools to deposit funds to save budget for planned and agreed future spend. Headteachers should have the provision to vire budget between budget headings in line with agreed and published Local Authority policy and criteria.
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 30 Scheme Review Expected Recommended Local Authorities undertake a three-year review with stakeholders and a peer Local Authority as they determine appropriate. Stakeholders may include headteachers, business managers, all staff groups, trade unions, parents, pupils and corporate partners such as finance, human resources and procurement as examples. Local Authorities are recommended, as part of ongoing self-evaluation, to update DSM schemes if changes are made which have a consequential impact on a scheme. Headteachers are recommended to apply national standards and to undertake self- evaluation drawing upon the most appropriate, and current tools, at date of publication these include, but are not limited to: Education Scotland - HGIOS4 QI 1.5 Management of Resources GTC Scotland - The Standards for Leadership and Management: supporting leadership and management development Scottish Government and COSLA – Education Reform Joint Agreement and Headteachers’ Charter
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 31 Appendix B: Areas of expenditure that are generally not considered suitable for devolution It is expected that Local Authorities support meaningful devolution that empowers school leaders to make appropriate, and informed decisions to deliver the best outcomes for children and young people. Whilst headteachers should be given maximum flexibility over their budgets, there are areas of expenditure that are generally not considered suitable for devolution. The reasons for this may include, but are not limited to, areas of spend that: • are outside the influence of a headteacher • are too bureaucratic • have unacceptable levels of risk • benefit from economies of scale • require specific professional expertise • are complex by their nature Through consultation it is clear that for a variety of locally determined reasons, differing approaches exist within the Local Authorities. The first list, presented below (a), covers areas that are generally recognised as not enhancing headteacher empowerment, and the second list (b) presents areas that Local Authorities may have determined locally agreed procedures according to their existing systems and processes. It is expected that each Local Authority identifies and lists any areas that are not devolved to schools within their published schemes. a. Areas identified as not generally suitable for devolving: • Rent in relation to school premises • Capital expenditure, including PPP/PFI costs • Property Insurance • Non-Domestic Rates • Statutory Local Authority contracted work on managing the school estate • Corporate support function costs for example Finance, HR, and Legal functions • School clothing grants • Education Maintenance Allowances • Home to school pupil transport • Premature retirement costs • Local Authority Information Management Systems (currently SEEMIS) • School meals
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 32 b. Areas which consultation highlighted as having a variety of approaches, and requiring local determination: • Waste Collection • Energy costs • Carbon charges • Janitorial and Cleaning staff costs • Central support services for example Educational Psychology, Quality Improvement Teams, Learning Support and Behavioural Support Teams, Speech and Language Teams, hearing and visually impaired support, dyslexia or significant and enhanced provision for additional support. Each authority will have their own specialist teams which will differ. • Examination fees • Long Term Sickness Absence • Family Leave Costs • Visiting Teachers • Music Instructors • Parent Council expenditure
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 33 Appendix C: Stakeholder Engagement Aberdeen City Council Aberdeenshire Council Angus Council Argyll and Bute Council City of Edinburgh Council Clackmannanshire Council Comhairle nan Eilean Siar Dumfries and Galloway Council Dundee City Council East Ayrshire Council East Dunbartonshire Council East Lothian Council East Renfrewshire Council Falkirk Council Fife Council Glasgow City Council Highland Council Inverclyde Council Midlothian Council Moray Council North Ayrshire Council North Lanarkshire Council Orkney Islands Council Perth and Kinross Council Renfrewshire Council Scottish Borders Council Shetland Islands Council South Ayrshire Council South Lanarkshire Council Stirling Council West Dunbartonshire Council West Lothian Council ADES Resources Network ADES Personnel Network Association of Headteachers and Deputes in Scotland (AHDS) Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) Education Scotland National Parent Forum Scotland The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) School Leaders Scotland (SLS) Scottish Secondary Teachers Association (SSTA) Voice The following organisations have been consulted during the preparation of this guidance. The draft Guidelines was also published on the Scottish Government website for comment between 5 April 2019 and 8 May 2019 date, to fulfil Scottish Ministers’ duty to consult on proposed guidance under section 13 of the Standards in Scotland’s Schools Act 2000.
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 34 Appendix D: Fair Funding Reference Group and Working Group Membership Fair Funding Reference Group Membership Scottish Government Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) Association of Directors of Education Scotland (ADES) Directors of Finance Society of Personnel and Development Scotland (SPDS) Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE) Society of Local Authority Lawyers and Administrators (SOLAR) Fair Funding Working Group Membership Scottish Government Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) Association of Directors of Education Scotland (ADES) Association of Headteachers and Deputes in Scotland (AHDS) Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) School Leaders Scotland (SLS)
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w w w . g o v . s c o t © Crown copyright 2019 This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open- government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk. Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. This publication is available at www.gov.scot Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at The Scottish Government St Andrew’s House Edinburgh EH1 3DG ISBN: 978-1-78781-927-6 (web only) Published by The Scottish Government, June 2019 Produced for The Scottish Government by APS Group Scotland, 21 Tennant Street, Edinburgh EH6 5NA PPDAS592210 (06/19)
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CofSLA @COSLA www.cosla.gov.uk TheScottishGovernment @ScotGov www.gov.scot DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT Framework Document – for Local Authorities June 2019
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK DOCUMENT – FOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES 1 Devolved School Management Framework Document – for Local Authorities This framework document has been developed to help you update your existing Devolved School Management (DSM) scheme, or to create a new DSM scheme if you choose to do this. It reflects the principles of the new DSM guidelines and offers a suggested set of information and headings to include, drawn from the table of ‘expected’ and ‘recommended’ areas, attached within this document at Appendix A for convenience. For information, when updating or creating your DSM scheme, Local Authorities are expected to publish the scheme on an external facing website, and it is recommended that a web link to this is also made available on School websites if available. Separately, in addition to this publicly available full version of the DSM scheme, it is recommended that an accompanying summary is also created, in the form of a leaflet or similar, with headline information drawn from your scheme. An example of information you may wish to include in this is attached at Appendix B.
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK DOCUMENT – FOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES 2 [Local Authority name] Devolved School Management Scheme [year] Formal Review date: EXAMPLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction 2. Budget Overview 3. Areas of Expenditure to be Devolved 4. Key Areas to be covered in Schemes General Information on Devolved School Management 4.1 Financial Regulations 4.2 Best Value Principles 4.3 Local Authority Commitment to Devolved School Management 4.4 School Expenditure Within Wider Strategic Planning 4.5 Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers and Local Negotiating Committees for Teachers Agreements Publication 4.6 Publication availability Training 4.7 Available training Consultation, Engagement and Transparency 4.8 Consultation and Engagement 4.9 Transparency Collaboration 4.10 Local Priorities Staffing 4.11 Staffing Structures 4.12 Legislative and Contractual Requirements
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK DOCUMENT – FOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES 3 4.13 Staff Resource Professional Support 4.14 Professional Support teams, functions and transparency Accounting 4.15 Budget underspend / overspend 4.16 Virement Scheme Review 4.17 Review, methodology and Stakeholders 5. Appendices
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK DOCUMENT – FOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES 4 1. INTRODUCTION Please find below a general overview on DSM guidance that you may wish to include in your own DSM publication introduction. You may wish to also include in your introduction: • Your individual LA context, including web links to your website • Directorate/Service, Locality plans • Summary information on pupil numbers, the number of educational establishments, geographical and demographic contexts • Your own delivery principles and legal requirements placed on your Authority • Role of the Parent Council • General legislative framework information Devolved School Management Overview Devolved School Management was introduced in 1993 to enhance and improve the management of resources at school level. The DSM guidance was reviewed in 2006, and again in 2012, taking account of the changing economic and financial climate for both Local Authorities and the Scottish Government. In June 2017 the Scottish Government consulted on changes to DSM as part of the wider "Fair Funding to Achieve Excellence and Equity in Education" consultation. The updated DSM guidelines, published in summer 2019, seek to build and improve on the DSM Guidelines of 2012 and, critically, reflect and integrate with the Education Reform Programme and priorities emerging from the Scottish Government and COSLA Education Reform Joint Agreement of June 2018. These Guidelines can be found here https://www.gov.scot/policies/schools/devolved-school-management/ The Guidelines have been devised to help Local Authorities develop their own Devolved School Management (DSM) schemes. The new Guidelines aim to encourage participation from Local Authority wider teams, schools and parents. They have been prepared through collaboration and consultation with a wide range of stakeholders. Collaboration is key to a successful local DSM scheme and this is captured within the Joint Agreement and Headteachers’ Charter to which these guidelines align and support.
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK DOCUMENT – FOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES 5 PRINCIPLES OF DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT The updated DSM principles, agreed by the Fair Funding Reference Group and building on and enhancing the foundations and principles of the 2012 guidance, are: • Subsidiarity and Empowerment • Collaboration • Accountability and Responsibility • Clarity and Equity These principles reflect the National Improvement Framework aims of excellence through raising attainment and achieving equity. The principles also fully endorse those proposed in the Fair Funding consultation: • support excellence and equity - ensuring every child and young person has the same opportunity to succeed • be fair - placing the needs of all children and young people at the centre • be simple, transparent and predictable – ensuing the costs of delivering education can be easily understood and explained and that schools are able to manage and plan ahead with certainty • deliver value for money – ensuring that every penny spent is used effectively
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK DOCUMENT – FOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES 6 2. BUDGET OVERVIEW Please provide in this section an overview of your Education Services’ budget, with a statement setting out the basis on which school budgets are constructed. It would be helpful to set this within the context of your wider Local Authority finances. You may wish to include in this section all disclaimers and information on relevant financial regulations. It is expected that Published schemes should include the criteria and methodology used to create formulae-based allocations, staffing models and other resource allocations as appropriate (including any formulae applied).
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7 DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK DOCUMENT – FOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES 3. AREAS OF EXPENDITURE TO BE DEVOLVED Please use this section to provide an overview of the areas of expenditure that will be devolved, and those that will not. For example: Whilst headteachers are given maximum flexibility over their budgets, there are areas of expenditure that are generally not considered suitable for devolution. The reasons for this may include, but are not limited to: areas outside the influence of a headteacher; areas that are too bureaucratic; have unacceptable levels of risk; benefit from economies of scale; require professional expertise; and complex by their nature. a. Areas identified as not generally suitable for devolving: • Rent in relation to school premises • Capital expenditure, including PPP/PFI costs • Property Insurance • Non-Domestic Rates • Statutory Local Authority contracted work on managing the school estate • Corporate support function costs for example Finance, HR, and Legal functions • School clothing grants • Education Maintenance Allowances • Home to school pupil transport • Premature retirement costs • Local Authority Information Management Systems (currently SEEMIS) • School meals b. Areas which consultation highlighted as having a variety of approaches, and requiring local determination: • Waste Collection • Energy costs • Carbon charges • Janitorial and Cleaning staff costs • Central support services for example Educational Psychology, Quality Improvement Teams, Learning Support and Behavioural Support Teams, Speech and Language Teams, hearing and visually impaired support, dyslexia or significant and enhanced provision for additional support. Each authority will have their own specialist teams which will differ. • Examination fees • Long Term Sickness Absence • Family Leave Costs • Visiting Teachers • Music Instructors • Parent Council expenditure
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK DOCUMENT – FOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES 8 4. KEY AREAS TO BE COVERED BY SCHEMES This section covers the 9 key areas covered in Appendix A (i.e. what is Expected and Recommended within schemes). 4. GENERAL INFORMATION ON DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT 4.1 Financial Regulations Please provide information on how your own Local Authority scheme adheres to financial regulations, delivers best value and ensures the efficient, fair and equitable distribution of resources. 4.2 Best Value Principles This section can be used to set out the best value principles and Local Authority procurement arrangements headteachers use to deploy the school’s budget, and if appropriate, the support and guidance provided from their Local Authority. 4.3 Local Authority Commitment to Devolved School Management Please use this section to set out your Local Authority’s devolution commitment, to empower school leaders to make appropriate, and informed decisions to best meet their local need in line with Local Authority policies, guidance and frameworks. You may wish to refer back to Section 3 to include areas of resources that are not devolved to schools. 4.4 School Expenditure Within Wider Strategic Planning This section can be used to set out how headteachers ensure school expenditure is in line with the School Improvement Plan, supporting the relevant Local Authority strategic plans, priorities and the National Improvement Framework. 4.5 Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers and Local Negotiating Committees for Teachers Agreements Please set out how your Local Authorities and headteachers will adhere to SNCT and LNCT agreements and guidance. PUBLICATION 4.6 Publication Availability It would be useful to set out here where this resource has been published. Local Authorities are expected to publish the DSM scheme on the external facing website,
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK DOCUMENT – FOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES 9 and it is recommended that School websites are also utilised and a plain language leaflet/summary is created for stakeholders. As a reminder, it is expected that published schemes should include the criteria and methodology used to create formulae-based allocations, staffing models and other resource allocations as appropriate. If formulae have been applied, they should be included within the scheme. TRAINING 4.7 Available Training Please set out available DSM training opportunities for key staff groups including headteachers, business managers and associated posts. For information, it is recommended that these training opportunities are also made available to depute headteachers, aspiring leaders, elected members and any other appropriate staff who utilise or influence DSM decisions. It is also expected that this training should be available on a frequent and recurring basis, and it is recommended that School leaders have access to local and/or national leadership programmes and training, which ensures an approach to DSM that encourages confident decision-making to promote better outcomes for learners. Please also set out what will be included in this training. For example, where school or establishment staff have a delegated budget responsibility, they should be aware of the aims and principles associated with DSM, best value and adhere to financial regulations and Local Authority policies for the funds they are responsible for. It is recommended that training should also be available for new and experienced staff members. CONSULTATION, ENGAGEMENT AND TRANSPARENCY 4.8 Consultation and Engagement Please use this section to set out the consultation and engagement you have carried out at all levels to inform appropriate resource decisions including: budget, staffing models and savings. This includes consultation on criteria used when determining how a formula is devised or applied and other methodology of distributing resources (if not included elsewhere in your DSM). It would be useful to include all appropriate mechanisms or forums you have created, or that are existing, to aid this process. Please include reference to consultation and engagement between headteachers and staff groups to inform appropriate resource decisions, and if appropriate, include mechanisms or forums for regular engagement and consultation with staff, parents and wider stakeholders. For information, it is expected that headteachers should consult with staff, parent councils, pupils and the wider community on appropriate matters, these may include school staffing models, DSM decisions, allocation of departmental or class resources and include formulae or criteria used within the school.
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK DOCUMENT – FOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES 10 Alongside this it is recommended that headteachers should form appropriate mechanisms or forums for regular engagement and consultation with staff, parents and wider stakeholders as appropriate. Please include this wider information if appropriate. Lastly, please include information where headteachers share and discuss local school decisions, budget and resource allocations with staff groups and wider stakeholders as appropriate. It is recommended that at school level this includes methodology and distribution of budgets and resources. 4.9 Transparency Please set out how your Local Authority will make information available to all stakeholders in relation to the Local Authority budget, education budget and delegated budgets to schools, including identifying areas of expenditure that are not devolved to headteachers. It would be useful to include any potential financial assistance, discounts or exemptions available, for example in relation to pupils in receipt of free school meals, should be included within this information. Headteachers are to ensure that any costs related to the curriculum are minimised to ensure equality of access. It is recommended that where charges exist for pupils, including both curriculum or extra-curricular activities (class materials, school trips, school uniform, etc) they should be clearly detailed in school information published at the start of the academic session. For information it is expected that DSM schemes, and information published for stakeholders is accessible and is in plain language. COLLABORATION 4.10 Local Priorities Please list your local priorities e.g. from your Corporate Plan, Children’s Services Plan, Local Outcome Improvement Plan, that will be taken into account as part of your DSM to set out your commitment to partnership working between schools and other agencies and stakeholders. Please also include due regard to Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) and the role of your Local Authority as a corporate parent. If you have considered empowerment on an area or school cluster basis, enabling headteachers to influence decisions across geographic areas or school clusters, it would be useful to include this. For information, it is expected that headteachers are collaborative and collegiate in their approach, challenging themselves and stakeholders to be solution focused embracing joint working with the learning community, parents, children and young people, teachers and support staff, partners, other schools and the Local Authority. It
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11 DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK DOCUMENT – FOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES is recommended that headteachers work together to share and maximise resources to influence outcomes across geographical areas or school clusters. STAFFING 4.11 Staffing Structures Please set out how headteachers have been involved in designing a staffing structure to suit the school’s context within their delegated budget and in accordance with SNCT and LNCT agreements and guidelines. It is recommended that Local Authorities consider how they approach the devolution of staffing, and should include discussing with headteachers the complexities and risks associated with staffing allocations. 4.12 Legislative and Contractual Requirements You may wish to include how legislative and contractual requirements are met and local circumstances and need are taken into account. 4.13 Staff Resource It is expected that headteachers should play an active role in designing and reviewing recruitment and staffing approaches, both for their own school/s and for the Local Authority. For information, on all staffing matters, headteachers must adhere to the appropriate legislation and Local Authority, SNCT and LNCT agreements and guidelines. Headteachers should also be consulted on the allocation of support staff to schools. PROFESSIONAL SUPPORT 4.14 Professional Support teams, functions and transparency Please set out the professional support team information that headteachers in all schools have access to and their functions. There should be transparency in any formulae or methodology used when allocating professional support to schools. ACCOUNTING 4.15 Budget underspend / overspend Please set out your agreed and published Local Authority Policy and Criteria in respect to the provision to carry forward budget underspend or overspend. It is recommended that intended use of carry forward of budget underspends are identified in School Improvement Plans or school budget spending plans.
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK DOCUMENT – FOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES 12 If possible, please include the procedures for managing carry forward of overspends and the consideration given towards enabling schools to deposit funds to save budget for planned and agreed future spend. 4.16 Virement Please set out the provision available to headteachers to vire budget between budget headings in line with agreed and published Local Authority policy and criteria. SCHEME REVIEW 4.17 Review, methodology and Stakeholders Please set out your methodology for reviewing your scheme. For information it is expected that this is undertaken every three years with stakeholders and a peer Local Authority that you have determined appropriate e.g. a neighbouring Local Authority, one with similar characteristics, or one who may be part of the same Regional Improvement Collaborative. Stakeholders may include headteachers, business managers, all staff groups, trade unions, parents, pupils and corporate teams such as finance, human resources and procurement as examples. Local Authorities are recommended, as part of ongoing self-evaluation, to update DSM schemes if changes are made e.g. to Local Authority budget or budget setting, which have a consequential impact on a scheme. APPENDICES You may wish to include your own appendices, for example: budget statements and pupil rolls, expenditure records, staffing budgets, ad-hoc adjustments, policy on virement and carry forward, schemes of delegation and financial regulations; Key dates; Roles and responsibilities (authority, directorate, managers, headteachers) etc.
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK DOCUMENT – FOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES 13 Appendix A: Expected and Recommended Summary These guidelines recognise that in relation to DSM the functions and roles undertaken within an empowered school system are not restricted to headteachers. Although the role of headteacher is identified throughout, shared and distributed leadership means that other staff members or groups may undertake an area or aspect of DSM. The guidelines support distributed leadership, collaboration and consultation whilst recognising that the accountability and responsibility will reside with the headteacher as the leader of their school, supported by the Local Authority. In some cases the guidelines note statutory requirements on Local Authorities. For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in these guidelines detracts from those statutory requirements, which all Local Authorities must comply with. General Expected Recommended Local Authorities schemes adhere to financial regulations, deliver best value and ensure the efficient, fair and equitable distribution of resources. Headteachers deploy the school’s budget in accordance with best value principles and Local Authority procurement arrangements, with appropriate support and guidance from their Local Authority. Local Authorities should ensure that devolution is meaningful and empowers school leaders to make appropriate, and informed decisions to best meet their local need in line with legislation and Local Authority policies, guidance and frameworks. Local Authorities scheme clearly define areas of resources that are not devolved to schools. Headteachers are expected to ensure school expenditure is in line with the School Improvement Plan supporting the relevant Local Authority strategic plans, priorities and the National Improvement Framework. Local Authorities and headteachers must adhere to legislative requirements, SNCT and LNCT agreements and guidance.
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK DOCUMENT – FOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES 14 Format and Publication Expected Recommended Local Authorities are strongly encouraged to utilise the format of the DSM Framework for their scheme. This is available from https://www.gov.scot/policies/schools/devolved- school-management/. Local Authorities are expected to publish the DSM scheme on the external facing website. Where a school has a website, it is recommended that it should include a web link to the Local Authority published scheme. Local Authorities should consider publishing a summary of the authority’s scheme, providing stakeholders summary information in an accessible way, using plain language. Published schemes should include the criteria and methodology used to create formulae-based allocations, staffing models and other resource allocations as appropriate. If formulae have been applied, the formulae should be included within the scheme. Training Expected Recommended Local Authorities should provide specific DSM training to key staff groups including headteachers and Business Managers or associated posts. It is recommended that training opportunities are made available to depute headteachers, aspiring leaders, elected members, and any other appropriate staff who utilise or influence DSM decisions. Where school or establishment staff have a delegated budget responsibility they should be aware of the aims and principles associated with DSM, best value and adhere to financial regulations and Local Authority policies for the funds they are responsible for. Training should be available for new and experienced staff members. Training should be available on a frequent and recurring basis. School leaders have access to local and/or national leadership programmes and training which ensures an approach to DSM that encourages confident decision-making to promote better outcomes for learners.
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK DOCUMENT – FOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES 15 Consultation, Engagement and Transparency Expected Recommended Consultation and engagement at all levels between Local Authorities, headteachers and stakeholders should take place to inform appropriate resource decisions, including: budget, staffing models and savings. This includes consultation on criteria used when determining how a formula is devised or applied and other methodology of distributing resources. Local Authorities should form appropriate mechanisms or forums for regular engagement and consultation with headteachers and wider stakeholders as appropriate. Consultation and engagement between headteachers and staff groups should take place to inform appropriate resource decisions, including: budget, staffing models, department budget allocations and savings. Headteachers should form appropriate mechanisms or forums for regular engagement and consultation with staff, parents and wider stakeholders as appropriate. Headteachers should consult with staff, parent councils, pupils and the wider community on appropriate matters, these may include school staffing models, DSM decisions, allocation of departmental or class resources and include formulae or criteria used within the school. Headteachers share and discuss local school decisions, budget and resource allocations with staff groups and wider stakeholders as appropriate. It is recommended that at school level this includes methodology and distribution of budgets and resources. Local Authorities make information available to all stakeholders in relation to the Local Authority budget, education budget and delegated budgets to schools, including identifying areas of expenditure that are not devolved to headteachers. It is expected that DSM schemes, and information published for stakeholders is accessible and is in plain language.
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK DOCUMENT – FOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES 16 Headteachers are to ensure that any costs related to the curriculum are minimised to ensure equality of access. Where charges exist for pupils, including both curriculum or extra-curricular activities (class materials, school trips, school uniform, etc.) they should be clearly detailed in school information published at the start of the academic session. Any potential financial assistance, discounts or exemptions available, for example in relation to pupils in receipt of free school meals, should be included within this information. Collaboration Expected Recommended DSM schemes should be informed by local priorities to enable it to contribute towards shared agendas and improved outcomes, it should enable stronger partnership working between schools and other agencies and stakeholders. Local Authority decisions about education spending are made in a collegiate and transparent way paying due regard to Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) and the role of Local Authorities as Corporate Parents. It is recommended that Local Authorities consider empowerment on an area or school cluster basis, enabling headteachers to influence decisions across geographical areas or school clusters. Headteacher are expected to be collaborative and collegiate in their approach, challenging themselves and stakeholders to be solution focused embracing joint working with the learning community, parents, children and young people, teachers and support staff, partners, other schools and the Local Authority. It is recommended that headteachers work together to share and maximise resources to influence outcomes across geographical areas or school clusters. Staffing Expected Recommended Local Authorities should empower headteachers to design a staffing structure to suit the school’s context within their delegated budget and in accordance with SNCT and LNCT agreements and guidelines. Local Authorities consider their approach when devolving staffing, this includes discussing with Headteachers the complexities and risks associated with staffing allocations.
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK DOCUMENT – FOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES 17 Schemes should seek to devolve the appropriate resources to schools, whilst ensuring that legislative and contractual requirements are met and local circumstances and need taken into account. The Local Authority, with headteachers will seek to deliver the most appropriate and efficient use of staff resource ensuring equity, transparency and clarity whilst promoting and supporting collaboration and collegiate working. Headteachers should play an active role in designing and reviewing recruitment and staffing approaches, both for their own school/s and for the Local Authority. For all staffing matters, headteachers must adhere to the appropriate legislation and Local Authority, SNCT and LNCT agreements and guidelines. Headteachers should be consulted on the allocation of support staff to schools. Professional Support Expected Recommended Headteachers in all schools should have access to professional support teams and functions. There should be transparency in the formulae or methodology in allocating professional support to schools. Accounting Expected Recommended Headteachers should have the provision to carry forward budget underspend or overspend in line with agreed and published Local Authority policy and criteria. Intended use of carry forward of budget underspends are identified in School Improvement Plans or school budget spending plans. Procedures for managing carry forward of overspends are included within the scheme.
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK DOCUMENT – FOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES 18 Consideration is given towards enabling schools to deposit funds to save budget for planned and agreed future spend. Headteachers should have the provision to vire budget between budget headings in line with agreed and published Local Authority policy and criteria. Scheme Review Expected Recommended Local Authorities undertake a three-year review with stakeholders and a peer Local Authority as they determine appropriate. Stakeholders may include headteachers, business managers, all staff groups, trade unions, parents, pupils and corporate partners such as finance, human resources and procurement as examples. Local Authorities are recommended, as part of ongoing self-evaluation, to update DSM schemes if changes are made which have a consequential impact on a scheme. Headteachers are recommended to apply national standards and to undertake self- evaluation drawing upon the most appropriate, and current tools, at date of publication these include, but are not limited to: Education Scotland - HGIOS4 QI 1.5 Management of Resources GTC Scotland - The Standards for Leadership and Management: supporting leadership and management development Scottish Government and COSLA – Education Reform Joint Agreement and Headteachers’ Charter
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DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK DOCUMENT – FOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES 19 APPENDIX B RECOMMENDED INFORMATION TO INCLUDE IN A PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY/LEAFLET Please find below a list of recommended information to include in a plain language leaflet, or information sheet: • A breakdown of your Local Authority budget and an indication of the Education allocation within this; • Further to this headline information, a breakdown of this Education allocation; • A link to where your DSM scheme can be found publicly, be this from your website or hard copies if applicable; • A short overview of what the Local Authority and Headteachers are responsible for, to demonstrate there are devolved areas; • Contact details or information on how parents, or stakeholders can comment or find additional information at a Local Authority level; • A headline summary of key points in the DSM; • Narrative on staffing, pupil levels, or geographic context if applicable.
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