WHEN our governing body met to fix the school’s group size, as part of the determination of the head’s pay, we arrived at a unit total, based upon the last form 7 return, which seemed to us inadequate. In spite of an increase in nursery numbers and the planned expansion of the school on a new site, the education authority clerk told us that we had to stick to the existing total. How can we get round this unfairness?
The calculation of the unit total is carried out in accordance with rules laid down in the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions of Sevice Document and is always based on the most recent form 7 return. This means that the effect of any significant change in numbers on the roll may be delayed by a year or more and this may, of course, cut both ways.
However, the governors are not prevented by this from paying the head a salary which is above the figure derived from the unit total. They are entitled to take into consideration exceptional factors and additional responsibilities and the changes which your school is facing would certainly seem to come under both headings.
