SWF Bulletin Item Sept 2012-08-21

School Workforce (SWF15) census: Autumn term actions needed by school Sections A to E of this document outlining preparation steps for all schools attention before Autumn 2015 School workforce (SWF) census. A, B & C need planning into October 2015 strictly after school’s management information system (MIS) is SWF 2015 compliant*. Item D (capture of data for counts) must be done on census date (even if nothing else can be done on that day) as some data won’t be available retrospectively. Item E is only for a school that will have migrated to another MIS since last November’s SWF census. Item E should be checked in September, to ensure that, if any set of records needed for the SWF census did not get migrated successfully, there is still enough time for the school to re-load/ amend appropriately, all missing/incomplete data (in the new MIS), so that it is complete & up-to-date over a week before the October half term break starts, ready for step C testing. Remember you can learn more about SWF census and see the process for making & checking a return, by booking on to one of our two workshops that we are holding at the PDC on 21st and 25th Sept. 2015 (you can book on to one of these workshops via the LA “SLA online” system – please see our Sept. 2015 Performance & Data bulletin (or call Kien on 0207 364 6725 if you need more details on how to book places at one of these workshops via SLA). Census Date is 5th Nov 2015. But much needs to be done by the school beforehand. School deadline for return: 11th Nov.2015 (not just uploading to COLLECT but also)… By this schools deadline date school needs to please ensure that: 1. Staff data (including absences & contracts, etc.) are up-to-date in school MIS for all staff (including hours, base pay, additional payment records, qualifications, etc.) (see below). 2. Additional data captured on census date (headcounts & vacancies) is loaded in MIS. 3. The SWF 2015 return file has then been generated by the school’s MIS along with a summary and the return file (not the summary) has been uploaded to COLLECT LIVE, and that the counts of records shown within each module of COLLECT are suitable; 4. Once the SWF 2015 return has status of “…validated” in COLLECT, school then checks for COLLECT errors/queries (as some might not be found by the MIS) and that errors or queries shown in COLLECT are then resolved appropriately in the MIS, and a new version of the return (& summary) is generated, re-uploaded and rechecked (as above); 5. The day after the latest return file has been uploaded to COLLECT, that the COLLECT (overnight) “Missing Contracts” report and five other reports are each run in COLLECT and checked and (if they run and are ok) that the last summary (produced at the same time as the latest version of the return file from the MIS) is checked by the head teacher and (if that summary seems correct) that any necessary notes are added to COLLECT… 6. …and only then, that school has pressed “submit return” button on COLLECT to show school has finished all checks and return is ok, LA can only approve if this is done.

Actions needed by schools, before census (various): A) Please can schools prepare during October* by loading and updating data in the MIS, used for making a SWF return, with, in particular, the following data (see over page) for all** regular staff, (including Teachers, Teaching Assistants & other support staff) directly-employed by the school on SWF census date (5th Nov. 2015) and also loading/updating details marked below (ending) with # for any staff contracts that ended since 1 Sept. 2014 (i.e. in either the previous academic year or before census date in this current academic year) including leavers’ contracts plus any service agreements (needed for all other teachers working 4+ weeks in same post)…

* Most items can be updated beforehand, but please note that teacher pay data items must only be updated/loaded, once MIS is SWF 2015 compliant: e.g. if a contract for Deputy Head shows new item ‘Date of last Pay review’ or ‘Pay Review Date’ needed on teachers & leadership posts. **Staff employed by school & expected to work for at least 4 consecutive weeks in same post. The following items are required to be complete and up-to-date, before SWF census date for all staff * directly-employed by the school: (For more detail on following items see WebFronter in Oct 2015 and/or 2015 DfE SWF guide).

 Hours worked per week actual weekly average contracted hours for a normal week.#

 FTE hours per week The hours that someone who were full time would be contracted to work per week – even if this person is not a full time worker – (e.g. typically 35 hours on support staff, but slightly less on teachers, for more details on FTE hours per week, see “Ongoing loading & updating of staff data (and commonly missed SWF items)”. This along with the ‘hours worked per week’ are used together to calculate their F.T.E.#

 Weeks per year being the number of weeks paid for (not paid over) including paid leave according to contract. For example some staff might get approx. 5.2 weeks of paid leave added to their 39 weeks of term-time contracted work and so should show as 44.2 weeks per year in the MIS – even if their 44.2 weeks of pay is then spread evenly over a whole calendar year. Some other staff might be paid for all 52 weeks of a normal year.#

 Pay for Teaching Assistants and for all other Support staff: (based on your latest payroll provider report from Autumn 2015) please load/update all Additional Payment records (including any inner London Weighting) and their Pay Range (usually ‘NJC’ but under some circumstances ‘Other’) and Base Pay figure. This must be the annual pre-tax pay rate in effect on census date, before any of their additional payments) for that contract**, kept pro rata for part time staff, but not adjusted down for any contract that started or ended mid-year. The MIS might pro rata automatically as part-time from the two hours fields above. For support staff with NJC pay scale only: if the MIS has not automatically adjusted base pay to pro rata by ‘weeks per year’ value divided by 52, then base pay must be stored on this basis, once ‘weeks per year’ is correct (some MIS may pro rata by weeks, but check).

 Pay for teachers and leadership roles on teacher pay scales as follows: (based on your latest payroll provider report from Autumn term 2015) once MIS is SWF 2015 compliant, please load/update their Additional Payment records and their Pay range, their Regional Pay Range***. Like last year, 2015 SWF needs correct Base Pay*** figure typed into the MIS. This must be the annual pre-tax pay rate in effect on census date, before any additional payments, for that contract**, kept pro rata for part time staff, but not adjusted down for any contract that started/ended mid-year. Some MIS might pro rata automatically to become part-time from the two hours fields above. Additional fields are needed in 2015 for Teachers and Leadership, plus some others for just Leadership, these were detailed in our School Workforce Census – 2015 Early New requirements

 Any Additional payment records for all staff * with type & amount for each Additional payment (earned from 7/11/2014 to census day 5/11/2015).

 Qualifications (Higher than ‘A’ Levels) for all staff * (even support staff).

 Absence Data (for further details see the preparations document at step B below) #

* Staff employed by the school & expected to work during at least 4 weeks in the same post. ** If a staff member has multiple roles on a contract, then recording pay details for each specific role is not advised unless both: (a) the MIS can suitably store multiple sets of pay details at a level that is actually finer than contract-equivalent (CMIS couldn’t despite claiming to) and (b) you want to load pay separately for every role instead of merging base pay figures and loading them once per contract; but if a person has multiple current contracts, each needs contract-specific base pay loaded. *** Although it was once possible to look up a base pay figure for teacher pay ranges that were nationally-negotiated, since Sept. 2013, due to pay flexibility allowed to schools, national figures no longer apply to all schools, so MIS can no longer lookup pay figures. Due to these national changes, DfE need Base Pay to be accurate, up-to-date and be on basis described above. Continues… B) New data items and new requirements: (i) Post: The permitted values for the contract “Post” have been changed by DfE as follows: As before, leadership staff (Deputy Headteacher, Headteacher, Assistant Headteacher, Executive Headteacher, etc.) must have these shown as ‘Post’ on all relevant contracts (note: some other senior roles e.g. “head of year”, etc. are indicated in the ‘role’ rather than in ‘post’), but for all other classroom teacher contracts (that are not leadership) the Classroom Teacher post has been split (last year) and these contracts need a have their contract ‘Post’ as either “Classroom teacher Main ” or “Classroom teacher Upper ” based on whether that particular teacher has passed the teachers’ Upper pay threshold. Unqualified Teachers must be given “Classroom teacher main” post, but their pay range must remain as “unqualified” (not “main”) until all the usual necessary criteria are met. (Teachers without QT Status should be paid on pay range “UT-Unqualified Teachers”). A new “Leading Practitioner” post has been made available, for use where appropriate. Please make an appropriate change in MIS to the post of each affected contract. As ever, the Post for the support staff based in the classroom for the purposes of pupil or learning support should be recorded as “Teaching Assistant” (even if the person is not employed as a Teaching Assistant) and it is their “Role” than will show what type of classroom-based role they provide: Bilingual / Ethnicity / SEN / Nursery Assistant / etc. (These types of staff should not have a post of ‘Support Staff’, which is only suitable for the other support staff that are not classroom-based for pupil/learning support purposes). (ii) Can schools please ensure that their current SENCO’s contract in the MIS does have the role of SEN Co-ordinator. (For CMIS users this must be the only role on that contract). (iii) The staff absence for any staff (who were) on strike should be loaded in the MIS with an absence reason which must be mapping to the SWF code “Unauthorised Absence”. (iv) For Teachers yet to qualify, the “QT Route” stored for them in the MIS (at the person rather than contract level) has previously recorded the method which they are following to achieve QTS (Qualified Teacher Status), if they are on a recognised ‘route’ to QTS. There is a value “Flexible Routes” which may still apply to some staff but which had also been used for those staff on the “School Direct” ‘route’ (whether ‘salaried’ or otherwise). There are now two extra options “School Direct (salaried)” & “School Direct” for use. Please can schools change the ‘QT route’ of any unqualified teacher / recently qualified teacher who is on School Direct (salaried or otherwise) to the appropriate one of these. (v) QT Route is now also required for teachers that have taken up their first teaching post since the previous census (since 6/11/2014): DfE have changed the scope of when ‘QT route’ must be completed: it is now required for teachers who are either working towards QTS or have taken up their first teaching post since the last SWF census. Please can schools also fill in the QT route appropriately on any staff that have taken up their first teaching post since the previous census (so since 6/11/2014). (vi) Qualified Teacher Status (Yes or No) needs to be accurate for all teachers included in the return – even those whose contract is not current but has ended since 31/8/2014. (vii) Pay requirements have changed: An appropriate Base Pay figure (fully detailed on the previous page) and a Pay Range is needed for all staff (except agency teachers paid on daily rate). Other requirements were detailed in Sept Bulletin in our Early Requirements (viii) Class of degree is needed on qualification records for only “First” and “B.Ed.” degrees of any teacher newly-employed since 01/08/2013. There are now codes for any formal qualifications in SEN work offered for loading SEN qual.s. Please load where relevant. (ix) As well as all English teacher numbers, which must be loaded (and which are 7 digits and in most MIS should be entered without the slash), any Welsh teacher numbers (that will be 8 digits) can now also be loaded and returned. Temporary / Scottish / overseas teacher numbers must not be loaded (in which case do not try to solve the error arising), as it is used to match other data. This is may also be called Teacher Reference Number.

C) For all Schools (action) – October Testing, Guidance & Familiarisation Our WebFronter advice on SWF is being updated during Sept 2015 for the next SWF collection (census date is 5th Nov 2014)… Schools can already use COLLECT Familiarisation (open between 21/09/15 and 27/10/15) in DfE Secure Access > COLLECT system, (seen as an alternative collection in there) just as if going to COLLECT Live site, but picking line for School WORKFORCE familiarisation, instead, to test their 2015 SWF return for any extra errors/queries and checking at COLLECT’s various reports (including helping to find almost all of the issues that would be seen in / found by COLLECT LIVE, but that might not be found by your MIS) as soon as data is loaded in the MIS, once the school’s MIS system is capable of producing a 2015 SWF return (If your MIS does not seem able to produce an SWF return for 2015 by mid-October, ask your MIS support provider for details on when the production of a valid SWF return will be possible, to allow your school to use the COLLECT Familiarisation site to test your data for issues, a few weeks before census date at https://sa.education.gov.uk/idp/Authn/UserPassword SWF2015 familiarisation is likely to be permanently closed by Oct half term break week, over a week before census date. If entering arbitrary data for the headcounts of the occasional staff in school, during testing, remember to clear those arbitrary figures again after testing is over (before census date) ready for correct figures on census date. Full LA SWF guidance is published in stages from Sept (by mid October 2015) on WebFronter: http://webfronter.com/towerhamlets/dataandstatistics/menu/mnu1.shtml#m-liid_357746 Meanwhile our 2015 SWF “Ongoing Loading and Updating staff data (and commonly missed SWF items)” guidance has been updated (it was up-to-date by end of 14th Sept 2015): http://webfronter.com/towerhamlets/dataandstatistics/other/Ongoing%20loading%20& %20updating%20of%20staff%20data%20(and%20commonly%20missed%20SWF %20items).doc (Please replace any 2014 or older 2015 copies in use/on file with this Sept 2015 version there). D) SWF data schools must capture on Census Date (05 November 2015): Schools must ensure that on census date itself (or if school is shut on census day then the first working day after) the school captures the name lists needed for calculating the school-level headcounts part of the return; recording this name list data on census date (not retrospectively): We recommend strongly that any capture sheet you use should record the people with their name and role (ready for you to count for the SWF headcounts) rather than only recording a count, so that school staff involved in making the SWF return can be sure who was counted, as the Head/LA may ask much later, if certain visitors/occasional supply staff are in a count or not. We have created a form for schools to adapt as necessary to capture data for the headcount part of SWF return (we do not need any form sent back), available at: http://webfronter.com/towerhamlets/dataandstatistics/other/SWF-Capturing-Headcount-Data- On-Census-Date(FormForSchoolsUse).doc (it was up-to-date for 2015 by end 14th Sept 2015). E) For all schools migrating to a new MIS, we advise that particular attention is paid to check the new system has all appropriate SWF fields populated, including: staff qualification records, contracts (including roles, hours, pay & additional payments), staff absence records (for period covering absence that either starts or ends on or since 1st Sept 2014) and any contracts ending either on or since 1st Sept 2014 (for current staff with older contracts and also contracts for staff who left school on or since 1st Sept 2014). If you have recently migrated data into a new MIS then it should have involved migrating staff records for all of the academic year 2014/15 into the new MIS as well as data for current situation at the point of migration, to give the new MIS all the contract change and staff absence data necessary for this 2015 SWF census return to then extract. Any missing data must be loaded before the 2015 SWF census return is made. SWF Contact: David Saxton 020 7 364 49 42 This file last updated: 2015 v3 on 07/10/2015 This file: SWF Autumn term Actions Needed By School before SWF census.doc