Case Study: ‘Support Plan process gone wrong’

Case studies from subscribers

We support school staff in England and Wales with a wide range of employment-related issues in schools.These range from clarification with employment contracts, PPA time, job references to allegations from pupils, dismissal from role to employment tribunals and Teaching and Regulation Agency hearings.

Below, we highlight the types of questions and situations teachers contact us about. We have removed specific details about the cases and the actual names of subscribers for confidentiality reasons. You can also read our latest reviews from our subscribers on TrustPilot.

Case Study: ‘Support Plan process gone wrong’

Case Headlines

Alice had been teaching 8 years and been at her current secondary school for three years. She had a lesson observation that didn’t go well and was subsequently called in to see a member of the senior leadership team. The lesson feedback was very critical. She was told that she would be put on a Support Plan. 

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In initial discussions with her caseworker she felt this was the first stage of the school looking to remove her and felt it was all out of the blue. She felt her job was at risk because of the fast moving and aggressive approach taken by the employer. She viewed the words ‘Support Plan’ as anything but supportive in the way it was presented.

How did Edapt support?

The first stage was to check the terms and conditions of employment along with the policies connected to Performance Management and Capability processes. 

The Caseworker identified the clauses in the policies that map out the clear stages that must be put in place before formal capability can be started.

It became clear that the school had omitted its own Performance Management stages where they ‘deal with concerns’ and simply proceeded with a lengthy support plan document. The policy was clear that if concerns persisted beyond interventions within Performance Management, only then would an informal support plan be put in place.

This was pointed out to the school with wording from the Caseworker. The lengthy document that had been laid out then seemed then to be shelved in favour of a measured set of developmental discussions about targets. This was much more inline with Performance Management objectives and the school’s structures.

Early and proactive intervention from Edapt identified both the flaws in the school’s approach and also worked alongside Alice throughout as things got back on track. Inappropriate use of pre-capability processes were stopped.

Alice described the timely and ongoing support at each stage as being really reassuring and supportive, without which she wouldn’t have been able to stop the support plan process and, as she initially feared, possibly capability processes moving her out of the school.

The Outcome

Swift action agreed between Alice and the Caseworker arrested the school’s inappropriate implementation of a process. Alice remained within the normal management processes of Performance Management, just like all her colleagues. 

She did not enter a support plan phase which she genuinely feared would lead to formal capability.

Find out more about the service we provide at Edapt: https://www.edapt.org.uk/