ABSTRACT

This chapter looks at a number of areas in which governors and head teachers need to work together very closely: the school development plan, staff appraisal, staff development and training, the salary policy for the school, and the 'Investors in People' award. A development plan is best devised by a governors' working party or sub-committee together with the head teacher and bursar. A useful way of assessing what needs to be done is to make a start by working with the head teacher to produce an audit of the staffs’ qualifications. A school's attitude towards accepting student teachers often goes hand in hand with its attitude towards professional training. The concept of national salary scales for teachers and head teachers in maintained schools was devised in the early 1920s by a government-appointed committee under Lord Burnham. The idea that progression up the salary scale should be automatic is increasingly being challenged.