BUSINESS MANAGERS
How NAHT is redressing the balance for school business managers, by Valentine Mulholland
NAHT principles for SBM pay NAHT HAS A GROWING SCHOOL BUSINESS MANAGER (SBM) membership, whose biggest concern relates to inconsistency in how much they are paid. There is significant variation in how pay levels are set across the country, even for posts of equal responsibility, because SBM pay falls outside the school teachers’ pay and conditions document (STPCD) and is set at a local level by the employer, such as the local authority. NAHT has therefore seized the initiative (see also feature, page 34) and created its own framework, which can work with the STPCD leadership pay structure and appropriately reflect the range of SBM leadership roles and responsibilities. This was published on 15 January. While many schools will still not have the freedom to determine SBM pay, the framework sets out NAHT’s position and the association will use these principles to
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lobby government to allow this to happen. General secretary Russell Hobby has already written to the secretary of state for education, Nicky Morgan, asking her to give maintained schools the option to pay SBMs on the leadership pay spine. NAHT is also approaching the Labour and Liberal Democrat education spokespeople.
SBM pay principles NAHT represents those SBMs who operate as school leaders, working alongside the head teacher and the rest of the leadership team to deliver high levels of achievement for their school or academy. Their specific responsibility on the leadership team is to ensure that their school or academy’s services are effective, efficient and in line with probity and all requirements of good governance. Their role on the leadership team is critical and
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