Human Resources

Our core services can be purchased as an annual agreement, we offer 1, 2 and 3 year contract lengths. You can also access the support as a pay as you go service.

Our service level agreement includes:

• Casework management of staff conduct, attendance and capability issues
• Supporting schools by carrying out investigations, presenting at hearings and preparing tribunals
• Support for schools and academies around exit strategies
• Helping to manage parental issues and complaints from all sources
• Emergency management including critical incident support
• Strategic workforce planning including staff restructures and redundancies and TUPE
• Support for Head Teacher recruitment and succession planning
• Leadership pay and pay performance management

Other types of service agreements we offer include our HROne Helpline and the In-House HR Support.

Our In-House HR Support is available as and when you need it, providing resource to support with multiple cases, strategic expertise to help implement large scale change and workforce planning; and just to ensure that your next step is the right one!

‘Human Resources’ covers such a vast area of functions and responsibilities, many that take some serious expertise to execute. We have the HR expertise and education knowledge to boost your internal resource.

Our In-House HR Support adds a wider level of resource and a deeper pool of knowledge to your in-house provision on a retainer basis, with no upfront annual fee.

Read our news article for further information about what is included in our in-house HR support.

We also provide bespoke HR training development for schools and academies to compliment internal CPD provided by your HR resource.

We can offer training to upskill internal HR practitioners so that training can be delivered directly by your staff, or co-delivered on your site with support from One Education HR.

We are here when you need help; all year round, by phone or email. We respond to your school’s management issues by providing telephone advice and also respond to your HR queries via email.

Our qualified HR experts resolve more than 80% of all queries during your initial contact with us and there is no limit to the number of calls you can make!

The HROne helpline can also be purchased, if you do not have a SLA with us, to support your current HR provision and can be started at any time of the year.

Health and Safety legislation, in particular Regulation 7 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, requires all organisations, including educational establishments to ensure that they have access to competent health and safety advice.

Therefore, we are very pleased to offer a special One Education negotiated Health and Safety service level agreement, which we think will cover all the needs of Primary and High schools.

One Education have partnered with Vita Safety to assist schools to meet its legal obligations under health and safety legislation in practical, sensible and cost-effective ways. Vita Safety is a quality assured firm certified to ISO 9001:2015 by Alcumus ISOQAR and have been providing high quality, bespoke, health and safety support and guidance to organisations for over 14 years.

Each consultants has a diverse skill set, a recognised qualification in occupational safety and health, teamed with practical experience working within the education/early years sector. Combined, our consultants have over 60 years of hands-on problem-solving expertise behind them.

Together we put the right steps in place to protect your staff, pupils and visitors and ensure your school have the right policies and procedures established. And with the help of Vita Safety, we can deliver tailored risk management support and consultancy to your school.

Your school can feel confident through these services:

• School specific health and safety policies and procedures
• Specialist advice on statutory legal obligations
• Audits to ensure legal obligations are met alone with report and action plan
• Undertaking a range of risk assessments to meet regulations including COSHH, manual handling, and display screen equipment
• Fire safety management
• Assistance to investigate major incidents and accident

The benefits for your school include:

• Teachers can teach without worrying about potential risks in the classroom due to safer learning environments.
• Investing in health and safety means saving money long term; accidents are reduced, costly claims are minimised and the school is overall much safer.
• Students and staff get the support they need to improve their wellbeing, teaching and learning.

Read Vita Safety's blog Improving health and safety leadership in your MAT

Being committed to the well-being of your staff is crucial in helping them lead happy and healthy lives and to maximise their performance at work.

Judgements in the new framework for ‘Outstanding’ Leadership & Management will include an assessment on ‘the extent to which leaders take into account the workload and well-being of their staff in order to deliver a high-quality education, while also developing and strengthening the quality of the workforce’.

We can help you achieve a strategic and integrated focus on your staff well-being.

Our Action for Well-being Support Package includes:

• A face to face consultation to evaluate and identify your schools vision in respect of well-being.
• A review of current well-being practices and initiatives in your school.
• Help with extending your well-being practices and developing an ‘equality’ friendly well-being action plan.
• Assistance in developing a ‘well-being’ brand/charter which reflects your school’s values and ethos.
• General advice and guidance on how to ensure staff and leaders understand what well-being is and isn’t.

• Guidance on how to launch the well-being strategy to give well-being a real presence in your school (including well-being themed posters).
• 2 x visits to meet and support the Well-being Team/Headteacher or Governor responsible for well-being over a 12 month period.

Excellence for Well-being Award

Your school will receive a bronze, silver or gold award dependent on what criteria has been met. In addition your school will receive:

• An official One Education Award plaque to showcase your achievement in public areas.
• An official One Education Well-being Award Logo to use on letter heads, recruitment material and websites.
• Official One Education well-being posters.

To assess your school’s commitment to well-being we will audit using criteria within the headline areas listed here.

In line with ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’, your Single Central Record is a legal requirement, it is scrutinised by Ofsted and is crucial in safeguarding your pupils.

You can ensure your systems and processes are compliant and in line with statutory requirements with our Single Central Record audit.

Watch our video to understand the latest changes in KCSIE 2021 and learn our practical steps.

Our Single Central Record audit includes an on-site meeting with those responsible for managing the SCR. Alongside an intensive review of your current systems and practices and in-depth discussions with an expert will give you the opportunity to receive practical advice and guidance.

An audit report is provided for the principal/ Head Teacher regarding the quality of stored data and current practices in place. The report will also outline any actions already taken with recommendations to ensure compliance with current legislation and Ofsted requirements.

We understand the requirement to ‘lockdown’ in response to a potential threat can be a daunting experience for school leaders. Incidents are often unforeseen leaving little time to plan your response. Being prepared for a potential situation will allow you to respond effectively, ensuring the safety of your pupils and staff.

Our lockdown procedure includes:

• A lockdown audit, in consultation with security consultants Stealth Ops UK, including a site visit to survey your perimeter security and access points
• Guidance on security arrangements and how to deal with particular emergency situations
• Help and support with training and development for staff
• Oversee a lockdown drill in operation

Promoting equality and celebrating diversity is particularly important within a school community. This can be challenging due to the complexity of a school setting but we are here to support you and share your commitment to your equality and diversity agenda. Our team has extensive experience in relation to equality matters schools' obligations and duties under the Equality Act 2010 and supporting Regulations. Our assessment and action plan will enable governors and senior leaders to face Ofsted inspections with confidence as far as equality matters are concerned.

School Equality Assessment includes:

• General equality considerations
• School equality objectives
• Disability issues
• Pupil and staff information
• Monitoring/reviewing arrangements
• Evaluation of your current provision and identify action points

The assessment is designed to help you evaluate how effectively your school is complying with its public sector equality duty, specific duties and other statutory equality obligations. It will also help to identify any areas where action is needed. Following completion of the assessment, a summary of the school’s compliance will be produced, and a list of agreed equality tasks and action points will be provided.

We can provide School Equality Training to suit your school’s needs. General equality training can be provided to all school staff, and more detailed training can be delivered to your school leadership team, governors, or trust board. This will also cover your statutory responsibilities and the steps that you need to take to ensure compliance with the general and specific equality duties.

Teachers’ pay has featured heavily in the media over the last several years, not least because of the introduction of performance related pay and the fact the Department of Education is leaving more and more pay decisions down to each school.

Schools (and academies that have adopted national terms and conditions) who do not comply with the requirements of the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) may face challenges, including possible tribunal or legal action. In addition, Ofsted pay close attention to the management of teachers’ appraisal performance and the link that this has with pay progression.

It is therefore vital that schools are not only aware of the statutory requirements, but are able to utilise the relevant flexibilities and demonstrate how they are tailored to suit their individual school.

With in-depth knowledge of teachers’ and leadership pay, we can provide strategic advice and guidance to review your Individual School Range (ISR). An advisor will work alongside your governors, Head Teacher/principal, to analyse your current leadership structure, individual circumstances, and additional influences that may have an impact on the pay of your leadership team. Our annual Model Teachers’ Pay Policy Audit provides a thorough review of your pay policy and practices to ensure compliance with the STPCD.

With pressures of inspections, pupil outcomes and results, there may be occasions where differences will surface between staff. Resolving these differences through mediation will bring a wide range of benefits to your school:

• Independent and neutral mediator provides unbiased facilitating
• Time and cost saving
• Reduced absence, stress, grievances, poor performance and employment tribunal claims
• Staff benefit from expressing their opinions and concerns in a structured format
• Colleagues reach their own lasting solution
• Increased empowerment and positive thought
• Staff better aligned with the school’s visions, aims and goals.

Our accredited school mediators are highly experienced in dealing with the range of issues that cause disputes. Your mediator who will act as a point of contact should there be queries prior to, during or after the mediation.

• Initial scoping discussion with your assigned mediator
• Individual meetings with parties to establish issues, explain the mediation process and ensure issues are appropriate for mediation
• Joint mediation session to tackle conflict and create where appropriate a mediation agreement
• Sharing of mediation agreement where applicable
• Post mediation support and evaluation

GDPR can be a mind field for school staff, with an abundance of records, databases and information held for both students and employees.

Our GDPR service will ensure you are compliant with the new legislation that replaces the Data Protection Act, identifying and advising on how you manage, process and delete data.

Following a pre-audit questionnaire and on-site meeting with our specialist we will produce a report covering 4 key areas:

• Accountability & Governance
• Documentation, Processes & Procedures
• Data Protection Officer Responsibilities
• Recommendations to Support Compliance

More and more schools and academies are turning to in-house courses as a cost effective way of developing their staff.

We have a range of training sessions that can be delivered in your school focusing on questions and issues specific to your establishment and the group’s training needs. Alternatively you can spread the cost further still by joining up with neighbouring schools.

All of our training opportunities can be adapted to meet specific school needs and these sessions can be run as a full-day, half-day, after school twilight session or as part of whole staff INSET training days.

Some examples of the training we offer are listed below, however we can design bespoke training on any leadership or staffing requirements within your school:

• Appraisal & capability
• Attendance management
• Challenging conversations
• Critical incident management
• Equality training
• Managing parental issues
• Reducing and managing allegations against staff
• Safer recruitment
• Succeeding as a new line manager
• Social media for all school stakeholders

Up to date policies and procedures are fundamental within educational establishments to ensure that the school or academy is compliant with various education and employment legislation. However, more than just ensuring compliance, policies and procedures can be a positive tool to facilitate the effective day to day and longer term operations of your school or academy.

Effective policies and procedures should enable school leaders to fulfil their aims for the school, rather than act as a restraint. It is therefore vital that policies are regularly reviewed to ensure that your school or academy remains both operationally effective and legally compliant.

Ineffective, out of date or simply a failure to have the necessary policies in place can have negative consequences for a school, including lack of compliance, increased organisational risk, financial implications, ineffective management and working practices.

Policies and procedures provide a sound baseline for staff, increase the quality of teaching and learning and help set expectations and accountability frameworks.

How can One Education HR help? One Education HR have a team of Policy Specialists who can offer the following:

Statutory policy review

• Confirm what statutory policies the school should have in place in accordance with education specific legislation;
• Identify if any statutory policies are missing;
• Critique any HR policies within the statutory list and provide recommendations for changes or adoption of One Education policies.

Whole school policy review

• ALL OF THE ABOVE, AND:
• Carry out an in-depth review/critique of all other HR/Employment related policies to ensure they are fully compliant with current legislation and appropriate for the school environment;
• Recommend streamlining of policies if there is a significant overlap of information within policies and help you identify areas where non-statutory staff policies or working practices could be adopted by the school in order to improve governance, staff wellbeing and school culture;
• Support you in consulting with staff and trade unions in regards to adoption of new policies and/or changes to current policies;
• Support you with understanding who should be involved in the creation and ratification of policies and what review periods are appropriate and should be adhered to;
• Assist you with implementing an effective review schedule.

For a general no-obligation quote or opportunity for further discussion please complete the contact form here.

Schools, Academies and Multi Academy Trusts (MAT’s) are required to ensure that all support staff posts (new and significantly changed) are evaluated to ensure equal pay is maintained within their setting, and also across schools within the Local Authority if they are a Community School.

In order to deliver high quality education provision with increasingly pressured school budgets, schools, Academies and MATs often need to review their pay and grading structure for support roles to ensure they are able to attract and retain high calibre employees to meet the varied needs of the school/Academy /MAT whilst also ensuring that they comply with Equal Pay requirements.

Our bespoke Job Evaluation and Salary Review package for all support staff roles up to Finance Director/CEO level provides a thorough review of individual roles or whole teams to determine appropriate salaries within your pay and grading structure and to ensure you remain compliant with ensuring Equal Pay within your School, Academy or MAT.

Our trained job evaluation specialists, not only have in depth knowledge of the NJC Job Evaluation Scheme but exclusively work in the Education Sector and have full understanding of the various support staff roles and grading structures across a huge range of schools/Academies and MATS and Local Authorities, locally and nationally.

When undertaking a Job Evaluation or Pay Review exercise, our trained job evaluation specialists will undertake the necessary analysis and will provide detailed advice and guidance either as a paper-based exercise or via a face to face meeting.

For maintained schools were the Local Authority is the “employer of last resort”, the Local Authority may hold responsibility for Job Evaluation. In this event, we can support you in preparing the necessary documentation to ensure that the process is thorough and fair and reflective of the schools needs.

As part of the review the trained job evaluation specialist will:

• Analyse your current structure, which includes the pay and grading structure and specific roles/ grades.
• Conduct benchmarking of comparable roles not only within your school but across other schools, Academies and MATS locally and nationally.
• Review the level of responsibilities and accountabilities required of the role in accordance with associated pay and grading structure for support roles in accordance with the principles of the NJC scheme.
• Request additional information as necessary to ensure a robust evaluation is undertaken.
• Ensure the job description is up to date, reflective of the responsibilities and fit for purpose.
• Produce a report which will provide a clear rationale for the conclusions/ recommendations on the grade/pay outcome.

We have vast experience of supporting schools, Academies and MAT’s with creating brand new roles, reviewing existing roles and structures or advising on minor changes to a role and the impact this may have upon pay. Whether your query is small or large, it is vital that specialist advice is sought in order to ensure fairness, transparency and parity of pay.

Overcapacity within a school staffing structure is one area where you can make efficiencies and cost savings. Restructuring should be approached with care and strategic planning is necessary as restructures are likely to be met with opposition from staff and trade unions. In other cases you may just require a review of your Leadership Team to ensure you are getting the most from your team and that their levels of responsibility and pay are fit for purpose.

In either case you must ensure you have a robust business plan outlining your rational for change. You need to make clear why there is a genuine need for change and show it is not just a short-term fix. Any organisational change will cause a degree of anxiety amongst your staff and you need to have regard for staff wellbeing throughout the process.

A thorough consultation process with staff and trade unions will be required. It is highly likely you will be bombarded with questions from staff and trade unions which you must respond to quickly to satisfy potential legal challenge.

If redundancies are required you need to ensure you have demonstrated a genuine redundancy situation has occurred and you must terminate employment fairly and within the provisions of the relevant employment law.

The process can feel overwhelming at times and we recommend you seek HR guidance. Our Team at One Education can help you through a leadership review or restructure process. Our team will:

• Project manage the restructure with a Senior Leader from start to finish
• Provide a Restructure Policy for adoption
• Support the drafting of a strategic business plan
• Review ISR, Leadership pay structures and undertake support staff job evaluation if required
• Consult with staff and trade unions
• Support you in managing questions and challenge which will arise along the way
• Provide letters to staff effected by proposals
• Provide redundancy calculations and letters to staff in scope of redundancy
• Develop wellbeing initiatives to reduce staff anxieties

Link here to getting in touch for more information