Teachers experiencing difficulties
We will provide support and guidance through the appraisal procedure to an unattached teacher experiencing difficulties. The aim is to improve the teacher's performance and resolve the problem.
If concerns remain, we may consider using our capability policy.
Appeals
Appraisees have a right to appeal against any entries in the written appraisal report that have impacted pay progression. For more details, read our unattached teacher pay policy.
General principles underlying this policy
Consistency of treatment and fairness
We are committed to ensuring the consistency of treatment and fairness. We will abide by all relevant equality legislation.
Grievances
Where a staff member raises a grievance during the appraisal process, we may temporarily suspend the process to deal with the grievance.
Confidentiality and professional relationships
We will treat the appraisal and capability processes with confidentiality. We will only give access to the appraisee's plan to the appraiser's line managers. We will do this upon request and only where necessary to enable the line manager to discharge their responsibilities.
We will consult appraisees on requests for access to statements in the context of this procedure.
The process of gathering evidence for performance review will not compromise normal professional relationships between teachers.
The reviewer will consult with, and seek to secure the reviewee's agreement before seeking information from other colleagues about their work.
The desire for confidentiality does not override the need for the senior manager to quality-assure the appraisal system's operation and effectiveness. The senior manager might, for example, review all teachers' objectives and written appraisal records personally. They will do this check the consistency of approach and expectation between different appraisers.
Monitoring and evaluation
The senior manager will monitor the operation and effectiveness of the service's appraisal arrangements.
Retention
The senior manager will ensure that we retain all written appraisal records in line with our data retention schedules.