CONTRIBUTORS
Pay day shouldn’t be stressful for your school
In his column this month (written before the closure of the UK’s schools), GRAHAM COOPER, Product Strategy Director, Juniper Education, talks about the challenges of school payroll and offers some solutions.
It’s in our nature to take things for granted until they go wrong. Like when the boiler breaks down on Christmas Eve, your holiday flight is cancelled, or the Wi-Fi drops out hours before the big deadline. Just thinking about these scenarios is enough to send our stress levels up a notch. It’s the same with pay day. The staff at your school rely on their salary
being correct, on time and in their bank accounts, and when the figures are not as expected, the resulting anxiety can affect people’s work and wellbeing. But keeping a school’s pay day stress free is more challenging that it looks. A taxing task Every payslip contains a complex set of calculations, deductions and adjustments, and these all have to be accurate to keep the payroll running like clockwork. It only takes a tax code change to be missed and a staff member could find
themselves facing a large tax bill several months down the line. And an incorrect pension contribution could result in financial hardship in the future. For support staff in particular, where you’re taking multiple roles and payrates into account, calculating pay can be something of a minefield. Cause for concern For example a school might employ a teaching assistant who also provides one-to-one learning support, works as a midday supervisor and runs the breakfast club. It’s also quite possible that each of these roles could be paid at a different rate. It’s hardly surprising that mistakes are made. But when someone doesn’t
receive the wages they were expecting, the impact on their wellbeing can be far reaching. Bearing in mind that support staff can make up to two thirds of a school’s
workforce, having people on the team who are distracted by worries about missed pay can affect the smooth running of a school. Payroll can be a factor in the stress levels of a school’s finance team too. The person calculating your payroll is likely to be simultaneously comforting a poorly pupil, receiving deliveries of stationery and greeting a parent who has brought in their child’s packed lunch. Your school’s payroll is in the hands of a multi-tasking superhero.
Relieving the stress To make life easier for your payroll superhero, ensure they have accurate and up-to-date information about every member of staff. This could include contact details, working hours and any additional information that might have an impact on their pay such as student loan repayments, sick pay and maternity leave. When there’s a quick and simple way for staff to inform you of a change in
circumstances or a new bank account, you’re more likely to have the data you need in plenty of time for next month’s payroll. If your payroll is outsourced, ask your provider to work closely with your school every month to triple check the data before it goes to the bank, so you can make adjustments on time and spot anomalies before they cause problems. With your payroll running smoothly, you can take the stress out of pay day and keep school staff focused, motivated and happy.
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www.education-today.co.uk Keeping children engaged
While schools are shut and outside activities are limited, children’s learning falls to parents and carers. For those without teaching training, and during this unusual situation, keeping children engaged can be tricky. In her regular column for Education Today, KIRSTY BERTENSHAW has some ideas to help.
ROUTINE! The importance of routine cannot be stressed enough. Not only does it help continue the learning journey, it is good for our mental health to differentiate between the days and have a purpose to each activity. Some children depend on routine and struggle with changes or random activities. So, write an order for the day together and stick to it so children know what to expect. This will also help parents that have to work from home at the same time as educating their children.
Rewards charts work well and act as an incentive to continue learning. Set up a reward chart where the child gets to choose a reward. Good rewards can be movie afternoons, time on their games console etc. Make sure it’s something they want to do and decide together how they can earn the points to do it. Don’t forget to award the points and stick to the reward promised.
Schools are providing work from home to help you follow the curriculum, but there is an opportunity to expand the horizons of children. Topics can be learned beyond the curriculum guidelines in as much detail as the children want to know about a topic area or using ideas and knowledge you already have.
Learning can be fun too! Not all learning has to take place at the table, and not all learning has to take place online either. While there is fantastic provision online and many celebrity lessons on YouTube, sitting at a screen all day is not motivational or healthy. Try downloading some free printable maths games so children practice their skills without realising it. Go outside into your garden and have a bug hunt to see what species live there- just remember to put them back if you disturb them. Play Countdown style games or even ask children to design their own board game
Keep an isolation diary – this is a time that history will remember so keep a record of what it’s like each day to show someone in the future. Diaries can contain drawings as well as words so it can work for all ages. Diaries don’t have to be an example of perfect spelling or good grammar, but rather an expression of thoughts and feelings. Write letters to family members or neighbours to keep up handwriting practice or write a book or comic strip to entertain others.
Babbel are offering a free month subscription as long as children sign up using their school email address, so start learning a language or continue the language learning already began in school. Encourage the children to use the language by joining in. Try and organise lunch using only the new language or label the household items with their correct name in another language.
Perhaps the most important thing to remember at the moment is that children respond to the stress they sense around them, and they are having to change their routine and expectations as well as the parents and carers. Honesty with the children, explaining why they are doing what they are doing and giving them choices over what subject area to learn when will help to build a functional teaching relationship with them. And if they have questions or suggestions, consider them carefully as they might actually be good ideas to extend the learning and provide entertainment too.
https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/babbel-free-month-for-students
http://www.mathematicshed.com/uploads/1/2/5/7/12572836/21funma thgames.pdf
Kirsty is the founder of STEMtastic, an education consultancy with a focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths
www.stemtastic.co.uk
April 2020
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