The beginning of a new academic year brings with it a wealth of tasks: the first governing board or trust meeting, whole school safeguarding training and organisation of timetables - and the need to carry out teacher appraisals.

This last task is not quick or simple but, however long the to-do list is, it is that vital appraisals are given proper time and focus to ensure they are a constructive process, which helps not only boost staff retention but long-term teaching quality, too.

What does the teacher appraisal process look like?

The first thing to do is ensure clarity in your school appraisal process.

Firstly, in line with the Education (School Teachers’ Appraisal) (England) Regulations 2012, schools must have a document in place that sets out the appraisal process for all teachers employed by the school.

Headteachers also have a duty to ensure teachers are clear on the standards their performance will be assessed against and made clear what the objectives are.

At my school, our appraisal policy is written as clearly as possible to ensure teachers understand what the process is and what the responsibilities are of each party. It’s available to all staff on our server and is usually referred to when new staff have their first appraisal.

What should appraisal objectives include?

Any objectives should allow teachers to demonstrate how they are helping to improve the education of pupils and how they contribute to any school development plan.

The detail of what that looks like in practice will vary from school to school, and from headteacher to headteacher.

Ideally, though, objectives should be as specific as possible. You can use the SMART acronym to guide this: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound - and ones the teacher will be able to work on in the normal course of their role and be given time to develop.

There is no point in setting up teachers to fail by setting objectives that are unattainable, such as a teacher being asked to observe a different colleague each week to develop behaviour management strategies if they are not given time out of class for those observations.

What is also key is that objectives are agreed by both parties. This means the appraisal setting meeting must be a conversation, not a monologue. Of course, there may be some steering in a particular direction, but the final targets should be ones all parties are happy with.

The number of targets set varies from school to school. I opt for three - one related to pupil progress, one to the School Development Plan and one to an area of professional development that the teacher wants to work towards. Having too many targets can make achieving them unattainable.

How do you manage progress?

Once agreed, the targets should be reviewed halfway through the appraisal period and a final review carried out at the end of the 12-month period.

This is the point where you sit down and discuss whether the targets have been met and, therefore, whether their performance has been satisfactory enough to allow them to move up the pay scale.

This is where there can be some contention if the appraiser and the appraisee have different opinions as to whether a target has been met. However, by the mid-year review, you should have an idea of how the teacher is progressing and this is the point where any difficult conversations should be taking place.

But, if the expectations are clear from the outset and regular communication is taking place throughout the year, eg, during line management meetings, then difficult conversations need not occur.

Is there a set format for an appraisal document?

To help with the above, schools will have appraisal documents where plans are laid out and the progress measured. There is no single best way to do this and each school usually develops its own proforma.

However, for consistency, I use the same template for my staff (including support staff) that my local authority improvement partner uses for my appraisal, too.

It has a clear layout; captures all the important information, and is only two pages long. Any template should also have space for review comments so everything is kept in a single location.

A copy of the appraisal document should also be given to the teacher as well as a copy kept on file, as this can be used as evidence of a teacher’s progress over time.

Keep the main thing in mind

The most important thing to remember when it comes to appraisals is that they should be done with the teacher and not to them. Most teachers are in the job because they want to improve the education of pupils and help their school to move forward.

Therefore, making the appraisal process a supportive one will ensure the main thing always remains the main thing.

Amanda Wilson is headteacher of St Alfege with St Peter’s CofE primary school in London. She tweets @AmandaWilson910