The fact that you are reading this welcome pack means that we have been successful in attracting you as a new member of staff. We take great pride in attracting fantastic teachers and support staff and ensure we operate a fair and thorough recruitment process.
If you have any feedback on your recruitment process please do let us know by email to hr@tsatrust.org.uk.
The induction process typically spans across your first 6 months of employment. A successful induction is very important to us because it is the foundation of your journey within the Trust. We seek engaged and excited individuals who enjoy coming to work and making a difference to children’s lives.
The following activities should take place during your first 6 months:
At Thinking Schools Academy Trust we are dedicated in supporting our staff with their professional development and strongly believe that the more investment we put into our staff, the more successful we are as a family of schools. We want to fuel your desire to grow and feel inspired by the work you do every day.
We provide quality CPD for both teaching and support staff roles and encourage a collaborative working environment to ensure expertise and resources are shared across our staff.
Developing and retaining great talent is vital to the success of our pupils and our schools. Performance management and ongoing CPD allows us to create a happy and motivated cohort of teachers and support staff and is something we take very seriously. We encourage a collaborative working environment throughout our schools and across the Trust.
We also engage our staff members through the benefits we offer. These include the following:
There will come a point where the employee life cycle comes to an end and this could be for a variety of reasons. As a Trust we are continuously reviewing our practices and therefore encourage honest and open feedback in your exit interview. This feedback is reviewed centrally for themes and trends as a means of analysis and improvement.
However, you don’t always have to leave the organisation. There may be an opportunity to progress into a new role, or take on a position at one of our other schools on a permanent or temporary basis to share best practice and obtain new knowledge. We are a growing Multi-Academy Trust and want our staff to benefit from the resources that come with this.
There are plenty opportunities within our Trust and a range of career development programmes that you can join to enhance your journey to a range of middle, senior and leadership positions.
One of our core principles here at the Trust is to Be Your Best Self – to do this it’s important that you have more autonomy over your objectives and an opportunity to deepen your skills in areas you’re passionate about. You could compare Professional Growth to a tree – growth can be upwards or outwards for those that want this but can also be about putting roots down to master skills in key elements of your role.
Our approach to Professional Growth is to create a more reflective, supportive, and consistent approach, helping staff to be their best selves, and ultimately help our student/pupils to achieve the best possible outcomes. We believe that the professional development of our staff should be a positive and engaging process – further context can be found here.
Professional Growth is more than meetings and measures, it is a continuous process of:
The Professional Growth Process for all employees will run for twelve months, with the end of year review being completed by October, and December for the Headteacher/Principal, in reference to the previous academic year. A learning review in July will provide all staff with the opportunity to reflect and review progress against their objectives. Please see the diagram below for an overview of the process.
Fortnightly ‘Check Ins’ will take place using the ‘Think Ahead’ app accessed via MS Teams. These are short online opportunities for progress to be noted, feedback to be shared and provide a body of supporting information for face to face discussions. Sufficient CPD time will be provided to do this, and these conversations take part via an online platform to reduce the need to meet in real time. The aim of these touch points is to support more regular dialogue about performance, allow smaller shifts in performance to be acknowledged and truly support professional development to be continuous.
Employees who are employed on a fixed-term contract of less than one year will approach their professional development in line with the principles underpinning this policy. The length of the period will be determined by the duration of their contract.
The Professional Growth process will link to the pay arrangements for employees. In the case of teaching staff, the end of year review and the annual pay determination will take place by the end of October each year (December for the Headteacher/Principal) and is informed by the Professional Growth process concluding at the end of the previous academic year (31 August).
Further information regarding Professional Growth can be found on our website – here The password to access these pages are as follows: PG2021!
At the Thinking Schools Academy Trust we believe that the actions we take to transform the lives of our pupils should also be applied to our staff so they too can progress in their chosen careers. Thinking Horizons is our professional development department, dedicated to allowing everyone to lead their own journey to expertise. For any further information on any of our programmes or opportunities please see our website or email the Ashley Wicken on Ashley.Wicken@tsatrust.org.uk
Transforming Support
We work with all support staff to create exciting and ambitious professional development. New starters to the profession can work with our existing departments through work placements and shadowing. We offer support and access to a huge range of training and apprenticeships which are open to all and go from Level 2 up to Degree Level apprenticeships. We have Trust-wide professional groups and networks to develop and enhance your practice and which provide opportunities for leadership. We support new managers and leaders through our internal support leadership programmes as well as access to national qualifications.
Transforming Teaching
One of our core aims is supporting teachers to be expert classroom practitioners. Ensuring the right support and opportunities are in place for teachers to develop and enhance their practice means we have expert staff working in every classroom. We support ITT placements working with a range of HEIs in every Trust region. We have a large number of ECTs, supported by excellent national-level programmes and our trained expert ITT and ECT mentors. We offer many Trust-wide networks to connect practitioners and support training for our TAs and HLTAs through apprenticeships and other courses. We are proud member of the Chartered College and each year sponsor training for many of our teachers to reach Chartered Teacher status. We are involved in academic research and work with the University of Greenwich to offer all staff opportunities to work on their Professionals as Researchers programmes as well as signposting MA/PhD opportunities. We train coaches in every school and encourage our teachers to become facilitators for regional and national training programmes.
Transforming Leadership
We invest a lot in our leaders as we know excellent schools have expert leaders. From early interest in leadership through our Aspirant Leaders programme, we support leaders as they develop at every stage. We run our Trust-wide Think Middle and Think Senior programmes, which develop expertise and experience through input from our own leaders and access to shadowing and project-based learning. From this we have our own Trust-wide leadership recruitment programme, to ensure our expert leaders can stay in a Trust school when they achieve promotion. We support the full range of NPQs and create opportunities for leaders to access them in their own regions. We have a number of leadership networks to support the skills and knowledge across the Trust and also promote lead facilitation on regional and national programmes. We have a Trust Support Directory which ensures all expertise is shared as widely as possible.
The ‘Think Ahead’ programme provides an opportunity for staff to develop their careers by graduating ready for promotion in a TSAT school within 12 months of successfully completing the course. During the programme, eligible candidates will be able to choose to join the Trust pool of middle leaders. Any pooled teacher will be offered a suitable middle leadership position in any TSAT school (located within the home school hub/ region) that has availability. These positions could be Subject Leaders, Year or House Leaders or Key Stage Leaders.
The TSAT Think Ahead professional development programme is designed to enable outstanding and good teachers to develop their leadership capabilities through both a Trust programme and the relevant National Professional Qualification [NPQ] in Middle or Senior Leadership. The latter is delivered by The Institute of Education/University College London.
Every September the Think Ahead programme will open up opportunities for teachers from Portsmouth and Kent to apply for Primary and Secondary School Middle and Senior Leadership roles. The expectation is that by the end of the academic year the person will have successfully passed the recruitment process, the relevant NPQ training and a TSAT final assessment ready for promotion.
Should you wish to discuss this please contact a member of the HR team on 0333 360 2050 or hr@tsatrust.org.uk.
The purpose of this safeguarding induction notice is to support you in your new role. It will help you to know what your role and responsibilities are and what to do if you have concerns about a child or adult.
This should be read in conjunction with the Trust Safeguarding Policy and Part 1 of the Keeping Children Safe in Education 2018 as well as the guidance on ‘What to do if you are worried that a child is being abused – 2015’, until you receive whole school safeguarding training delivered by the Trust’s Safeguarding Lead, Mrs Lee Lucas. In addition to this you should also receive weekly safeguarding bulletins to support you to work safely with pupils and students.
If you are not sure what to do or feel anxious when dealing with any safeguarding issues, remember you can speak to your Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL).
In an emergency situation, if the DSL or deputy DSL are unavailable, you can also contact Mrs Lee Lucas, Trust Safeguarding Lead, by email at l.lucas@tsatrust.org.uk or 07970 741979.
Please ensure you are aware of the out of school hours and holiday time support details for your academy. The Trust Safeguarding Lead is contactable at any time.
Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined as:
Protecting children from maltreatment; Preventing impairment of children’s health or development; Ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care and taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.
Abuse: A form of maltreatment of a child. Somebody may abuse or neglect a child by inflicting harm, or by failing to act to prevent harm. They may be abused by an adult or adults or another child or children. Abuse can take place in any family, institution or community setting, by telephone, enabled through internet, mobile devices or dependent on the use of the internet.
Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility.
All academy staff have a responsibility to provide a safe environment in which children can learn.
All academy staff should be prepared to identify children who may benefit from early help. Early help means providing support as soon as a problem emerges at any point in a child’s life, from the foundation through to the teenage years. In the first instance, staff should discuss early help requirements with the DSL.
The Teachers’ Standards 2012 state that teachers, including headteachers, should safeguard children’s wellbeing and maintain public trust in the teaching profession as part of their professional duties.
Safeguarding is not just about protecting children from deliberate harm. It also includes such things as pupil safety, being aware of bullying, racism, harassment and homophobic bullying including where this takes place online, arrangements around health and safety on educational visits, activities, intimate care, children missing education, child sexual exploitation, vulnerability to radicalisation, extremism and other safeguarding issues such as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and peer on peer abuse.
When staff have concerns about another adult’s behaviour or allegations arise, it is inevitably a distressing and difficult time for all concerned. It is important that you raise any concerns at the earliest opportunity so that incidences can be dealt with quickly and fairly. Pinpoint what practice is concerning you and why; voice your concerns, suspicions or uneasiness as soon as possible; seek support, guidance and advice without delay from your DSL and self-report if you think you got it wrong, or if your behaviour may have been misinterpreted. Concerns about staff should be reported to the Headteacher. If the concern is regarding the Headteacher this should be reported to Lee Miller Deputy CEO.
All of our polices can be found online at https://www.tsatrust.org.uk/policies/.
Various policies are reviewed and updated on an annual basis and you will be expected to familiarise yourself with these policies throughout each academic year.
Prior to or upon joining the Trust you are required to familiarise yourself with the following key policies:
Should you require any information or have further questions regarding our policies, please contact your Office Manager/PA directly or contact a member of the HR Team on 0333 360 2050 or by email at hr@tsatrust.org.uk.
Upon joining the Trust you will have completed two consent forms and been invited to complete your online training with regards to the protection of data in accordance with the GDPR.
It is important for you to familiarise yourself with the practices within your school along with our Information Security Policy and ICT Acceptable Usage Policy.
There are many ways in which we can maintain a high level of security and these include processes like using encrypted memory sticks; keeping desks clear of information that may be personal and confidential in nature and not removing data from the school premises without first gaining permission. By maintaining a secure culture, we can protect our pupils and colleagues, our schools and ourselves.
Data Breach
Should there be a data breach, initial reporting must be made verbally.
DO NOT REPORT A DATA BREACH VIA EMAIL
Please refer to the reporting flow map identified below:
For ease of reference, the contacts and their details are listed below:
Data Protection Officer, Lee Miller: 07947 150819 Deputy Data Protection Officer, Kelly Denton: 07970 742024 TSAT Legal Advisors, Browne Jacobson: 01159 766018
You will automatically join the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), unless you choose not to do so. Joining the scheme requires contributions to Kent County Council’s pension fund to be deducted from your pay (depending on your school’s location).
Please visit the LGPS website relevant to your school to find out more:
www.hants.gov.uk/hampshire-services/pensions/local-government www.kentpensionfund.co.uk
If you wish to opt out of joining the LGPS, you will need to complete the relevant form in the Membership Option Booklet, found on the Kent Pension Fund website. If you have any questions please contact a member of the HR Team on 0333 360 2050 or by email at hr@tsatrust.org.uk.
Further information on transferring previous pensions from other providers can also be found at the link above under the ‘Forms’ tab.
You will automatically join the Teachers’ Pension Scheme upon appointment. If you do not wish to be a member of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme you may opt out using the relevant form, which is available on the Teachers’ Pension website at www.teacherspensions.co.uk.
All forms should be returned to Pensions Services as a matter of urgency. Failure to do so could affect your right to a return of your pension contributions and also your option to transfer any previous pension rights.
The Trust buys into an external service which provides free and confidential access to information, advice and support to help you manage all of life’s events, 24/7 365 days a year. You can access this service by contacting 0845 862 2113 / 0800 862 0142.
This is a confidential service run externally from the Trust. The service includes up to 4 free counselling sessions as part of the agreed benefits. Online resources are available to you which can be accessed via the Client Portal – client.smartclinicuk.com – please create a login to access the resources.
The Trust has a great relationship with our professional associations (trade unions) and this relationship helps to protect and advance the interest of our staff.
We encourage all staff to become members or union representatives within their school should they wish to.
Policies are reviewed regularly (pay policy annually) in consultation with staff via the Joint Consultative and Negotiation Committee (JCNC). The meetings take place three times a year to discuss and negotiate:
Local school meetings also take place to discuss and resolve school related issues and feedback any Trust-wide ideas or concerns to the JCNC. Again these should happen three times a year, ideally just before the JCNC so the minutes and content can be discussed at the JCNC.
The professional relationships between the Trust and professional associations has many benefits: