Tricia,
A few comments from
Phil which are in 3 areas
1
Campaign
timescales – could you and Pauline look at this.
2
Salary
scale for Team Leader – again can see his point and we could find a high calibre
individual capable of doing the job with less than 6 years experience. Could you
see how we could express that? Is it MPS – UPS depending on experience +
TLR2b?
3
Geographical proximity
to
Regards,
Liz
From: phil.cunningham
[mailto:phil.cunningham1@talktalk.net]
Sent: 23 March 2009 00:17
To: Liz joyce
Subject: Re: Job Advert
Hello
Liz
Thank you for sending me the first
draft of your advert. Regarding the timing I would suggest that Friday 17th
April is not a good date for publication since it falls at the end of Easter
week when schools will be on holiday. Delay by even a week may not be a good
idea for a national advert since in some areas schools work up to Maunday
Thursday and then have the following two weeks off. So the possibilities would
be that Catholic Teachers Gazette will not appear on Friday 17th and may not be
seen the following week in those schools which are only resuming on Monday 27th,
the first week of a new term not being a prime time to be looking for a new job.
I would also suggest a longer break betweeen the last date for applications and
the shortlisting to allow time for references to be
sought.
Since it would appear that you
cannot get the advert out before the Easter break, I would suggest that the
whole process is put back a fortnight for advertising and an extra week inserted
between closing date and shortlisting. It is also normal to offer posts to
successful candidates on the day of the interview making the suggestion about
offers made a week later than interviews redundant. On a personal note it would
help me as I will be on holiday from 4th - 17th May although Harry O'Neill could
well find someone else to help governors if you decide to stick with those
dates.
With regard to the content of the
advert itself, I am not sure that it is a good idea to say UPS + TLR 2b as this
implies that applicants have at least the six years experience required to reach
the upper pay scale. I suggest you talk to Trish Telfer about this to see if she
has any thoughts on necessary experience but it is my experience that ambitious
teachers are applying for assistant and deputy headships well before they reach
UPS. Also since you are hoping to attract people from a wider geographical area,
it might be worth mentioning that Hexham is within reasonable travelling time of
Newcastle ( it took me only half an hour to drive into the city centre last
Thursday after leaving the school without seriously breaking any speed limits.)
Other than that the advert should appear attractive to anyone who is looking for
a new challenge and I hope that it brings a good number of
responses.
Best
wishes
Phil
Cunningham