Appointments Strategy
Falkirk Council recognises that the quality of senior promoted staff
(headteachers/depute headteachers) in nursery, primary, secondary and special schools is vital to the provision of the best possible education.
This document describes the procedures for filling headteacher and depute headteacher posts. It satisfies current legislation including the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006, and the regulations cited in the Parental Involvement in Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher Appointments (Scotland) Regulations 2007. The procedure is designed to be equitable and credible and to conform to the authority's equal opportunities policies. The main aim of the
procedure is to ensure that the best possible candidate is selected.
This procedure should be read in conjunction with Falkirk Council's Recruitment and Selection Policy and Code of Practice.
Vacant posts will normally be advertised in line with Council procedures. However, there may be situations, such as school closures or mergers, where the authority may need to consider permanent redeployment of existing staff within their employment and in such circumstances may decide not to advertise the post. In such circumstances there will be consultation with the relevant Parent Councils, in accordance with Regulation 4, and consultation with the NGT where appropriate.
The process of redeployment may entail some form of informal selection process.
Temporary transfers of senior staff in schools can happen for very good management and educational reasons. Such temporary moves can benefit schools, Children's Services and offer a professional development opportunity for an experienced or aspiring headteacher or depute. This document incorporates the procedure for the appointment of a headteacher or depute to a school on a temporary basis.
The appointment process must involve any Parent Council established for the school to which an appointment is made. Parents will be involved in both the leeting and interviewing stage. A person, however, who is not a member of a Parent Council may, at the request of the council, assist it in discharging its functions in connection with the appointment process.
Section 16 of the Parental Involvement Act allows the members of the parent forum of two or more schools to form a Combined Parent Council. Where a combined council exists, parental representation for all stages of the appointment process should be drawn from it. Where no Parent Council exists, the authority is under no statutory obligation to invite parental representation. However, parental representation will be requested from the wider parent forum. In the event of no one wishing to participate in the process on behalf of the parent forum, the selection process will proceed, drawing membership for the appointment panel from the authority side only.
It is recognised that it is important to involve all stakeholders of the wider school community and, whilst not part of the formal selection process, the opportunity for candidates to meet with groups of staff and pupils is incorporated into the procedures detailed in this document.
The Roman Catholic Church has been represented in the selection process for senior appointments to denominational schools to date. A representative from the Roman Catholic Church will continue to be invited to participate in the appointment panel, but attendance is not a requirement for any decision to be made.
Appointments Procedure
2.1 Recruitment
The school's headteacher or Service/Team Manager will meet with the Parent Council to discuss the vacancy and the process for filling the post:
- The job remit for headteacher or depute;
- The advertising strategy; and
- The arrangements for leeting and interview.
2.2 Advertising and Application
Vacant posts will normally be advertised in 'myjobscotland', the appropriate national press and the council's staff vacancy bulletin. The advertisement will contain relevant information about the post and the school, and will indicate where applicants can obtain further information and any application details.
Temporary posts or secondments will be advertised locally to all schools and will provide information with regard to the application process.
The application pack provides candidates with information about the vacancy, Children’s Services and Falkirk Council as a whole. As a guide, the following information is included as standard:
- A copy of the advert
- The job description
- Person specification
- The council service structure
- The application and equal opportunities monitoring form
Applicants will also receive the school profile which includes information about the aims of the school and includes links to Falkirk Council and the school website.
Further information on this process can be obtained the Falkirk Council Recruitment and Selection Policy.
Selection
3.1 Receiving Completed Applications
After the closing date, a Leeting Panel will be established to consider all applications for the purposes of preparing a leet of candidates. For the post of headteacher, the panel will comprise a representative from Children's Services, a peer headteacher and a representative from the Parent Council will be invited to participate in this stage.
For the post of depute headteacher the panel will comprise the headteacher, a representative from Children’s Services, a peer depute headteacher and a representative from the Parent Council will be invited to participate.
3.2 Leeting
The Leeting Panel evaluates the applications using the criteria established in the job description and person specification. The number of applicants for a post will vary, as will their suitability in terms of the person specification for the post. The Leeting Panel will decide whether or not it is appropriate to arrange a long leeting process, short leet interview, or to re-advertise.
3.3 Long Leet Process
The long leet process will usually be in the form of an assessment centre, however, in exceptional circumstances where there are more than 6 candidates who meet both the essential and desirable criteria there may be a requirement for a long leet interview before the assessment centre takes place. An assessment centre is an approach to selection in which multiple assessment measures and multiple assessors are used. This entails a series of activities and scenarios to assess the candidates in depth against the criteria of the person specification. The members of the Leeting Panel and additional colleagues will participate in the assessment centre before deciding whether or not it is appropriate to move to short leet interview, or to re-advertise.
Interviewees/candidates who are short leeted for interview will be invited to attend a visit and tour of the school prior to the commencement of the formal interview. It is recommended that at this stage members of the pupil council have the opportunity to meet each candidate and may participate in showing the candidates around the school. There will also be the opportunity for the candidates to meet a group of nominated staff within the school. Feedback from both groups in respect of each candidate will be provided to the Appointment Panel to assist in the selection process.
Following agreement of the short leet, all appropriate paperwork will be forwarded to the Chief Governance Officer for the appropriate arrangements to be made for interviews.
3.4 Appointment Panel
An appointment panel will be established for each advertised post. Regulation 6 sets the minimum requirement for parental involvement on any selection panel at one third of the panel's membership. Regulation 7 also stipulates that the chair of the appointment panel should be as follows:
- For all headteacher appointments, the chair must be someone nominated by the education authority;
- For depute headteacher posts the chair should normally be the
headteacher or acting headteacher of the school to which the appointment
is to be made;
- There may be situations when it is not appropriate to involve the
headteacher. In these cases, an alternative chair will be appointed by the Director of Children's Services .
The appointment panel will comprise the following members:
For the post of headteacher - chairperson (Convener of Education Committee or Depute), local elected member, peer headteacher, Director of Children’s Services (or nominated representative), and up to four representatives from the Parent Council.
For the post of depute headteacher - chairperson (headteacher of the school), local elected member, peer depute headteacher, Director of Children’s Services (or nominated representative) and up to four representatives from the Parent Council.
As with the leeting procedures parents will be invited to participate in the appointment process, but involvement is not a requirement.
With regard to denominational schools, a representative from the Roman
Catholic Church will be invited to participate (for example member of the Education and Leisure Committee). Representation however is not a
requirement for any decision to be made.
The interview panel should at all times have a mixed gender balance.
3.5 Short Leet Interview
Members of the Appointment Panel are normally given seven days notice of
the interviews. They are also provided with copies of the candidates'
application forms, a job description, a person specification and details of the presentation topic. Feedback from the assessment centre and from
stakeholders will be provided on the day of the interview.
It would be expected that the interview schedule would take up to one hour for each candidate and will include a 10/15 minute presentation by the candidate. The chairperson at the outset will explain to all candidates the format of the interview.
The Leeting Panel will be responsible for agreeing the presentation topic. The interview questions will be agreed by the appointment panel in consultation with the Director of Children's Services or representative.
3.6 Appointment on a Temporary Basis
For the post of temporary headteacher, the panel will comprise a
representative from Children's Services, a peer headteacher and a
representative from the Parent Council will be invited to participate in the appointment.
For the post of temporary depute headteacher, the panel will comprise of the headteacher, a representative from Children’s Services, a peer depute headteacher and a representative from the Parent Council will be invited to participate.
Appointment Panel's Recommendation
After the final interview there should be a full discussion by the appointment panel members of each candidate's performance and compatibility with the requirements of the job description and the person specification. Every effort should be made to reach a decision by consensus following such discussion.
Where it is not possible to reach a consensus a ballot will be required. All members of the Appointment Panel are entitled to vote. This will include the representative from the Roman Catholic Church in the case of appointment to a denominational school. For a candidate to be successful, he or she must have an absolute majority of votes. If there is an equality of votes at any time, the chairperson has the casting vote.
It is open to the Appointment Panel not to make an appointment. In this
circumstance the appointment procedure should be carried out afresh.
Children's Services Children’s Services will normally appoint the candidate recommended by the appointment panel, except in exceptional circumstances, e.g notification from the General Teaching Council that registration has been withdrawn. In such a circumstance, Children’s Services would refuse to appoint that candidate.
The Director of Children’s Services or representative has responsibility for acting on the recommendation of an Appointment Panel and subject to the normal pre-employment checks, to make the appointment as recommended.
Both long and short leeted candidates will be given the opportunity for
feedback on their performance. This will be carried out by the Director of Children’s Services or representative or headteacher. The recruitment
assessment sheet which gives the overall assessment of each candidate will form the basis of this discussion.
In the unlikely event that a recommended candidate is found to be ineligible for the post, the appointment procedure should be carried out afresh.
Appointment Process
All pre-employment checks must be carried out prior to any formal offer of employment being made. This will be carried out by Staffing & Recruitment in Children's Services and will include:
- qualification checks
- satisfactory occupational health clearance
- identification and eligibility to work in the UK
- Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) checks
Once satisfactory clearance of these checks is received, a formal offer of employment can be made.
On completion of the recruitment and selection process, all documentation including application forms, leeting paperwork and copies of correspondence sent to candidates should be returned Children’s Services, Staffing & Recruitment for filing.
All recruitment and selection paperwork is retained on file for a period of twelve months after the interview process for the post is completed. After this time the information will be disposed of in a confidential manner to enable Falkirk Council to comply with the requirements of Data Protection legislation by not retaining personal information of candidates any longer than necessary.
Recruitment and Selection Complaints Procedures
Falkirk Council also has a recruitment and selection complaints procedure which reflects the commitment to equality in line with the council's equal opportunity policy. Details of the complaints procedure are included in the Recruitment and Selection Policy.
Appointment Procedures : Headteacher
|
Non-Denominational Schools |
Denominational Schools |
| Leeting Panel |
Appointment Panel |
Leeting Panel |
Appointment Panel |
| Chairperson Convener of Education and Leisure Committee (or Depute) |
|
1 |
|
1 |
| Local Elected Member |
|
1 |
|
1 |
| Peer Headteacher |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| Director of Children's Services (or nominated representative) |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| RC Church Representative |
|
|
|
1 |
| Parent Representative |
1 |
Max 4 |
1 |
Max 4 |
Appointment Procedures : Depute Headteacher
|
Non-Denominational Schools |
Denominational Schools |
| Leeting Panel |
Appointment Panel |
Leeting Panel |
Appointment Panel |
| Chairperson Convener of Education and Leisure Committee (or Depute) |
|
1 |
|
1 |
| Local Elected Member |
|
1 |
|
1 |
| Peer Headteacher |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| Director of Children's Services (or nominated representative) |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| RC Church Representative |
|
|
|
1 |
| Parent Representative |
1 |
Max 4 |
1 |
Max 4 |