April 2023
Dear Colleague
With the summer term well underway now there is much focus on preparing for the coming academic year as well as ensuring that this term is as successful as it can be on so many fronts. Many students are preparing for public examinations and teachers are working hard as ever to support them in maximising their ability to perform as well as they are able. On the staffing front, we are focused on recruiting new joiners for September who will bring talent and enthusiasm for their crucial role in our schools in support of our learners.
In all the busyness, it is important to remember to look after ourselves too as maintaining our health and overall wellbeing in the ways that we know are helpful to us as individuals. The lighter days and longer evenings are a blessing in this respect. It is a strength to know when we need to put a focus on looking after ourselves and this DET Dispatch puts the spotlight on various 'people' matters.
I hope you will take a moment to be reminded of the support available to all staff at any time through our Employee Assistance Programme which operates 24/7/365.
I thank everyone for their continued commitment and dedication in their roles supporting all our learners in our schools. With not one, not two but three bank holidays in May and a half term break on the horizon, I hope that the coming month will bring time for rest and relaxation too in preparation for the crescendo of activity which characterises the final months of the school year in June and July.
With best wishes
Mary Cope
Mary Cope, Head of HR
Danes Educational Trust
Making the difference together
Our EAP (Employee Assistance Programme)
Life throws many things at us all these days and sometimes help is needed to deal with the challenges we face. Support is available to all DET staff, including immediate family members also (*) via Spectrum Life through our Legal and General Policy.
(*) Immediate family members include spouse, partner, registered civil partner, parents, siblings and children aged 16 to 24, living in the same household.
It's quick and simple to make contact using
Freephone 0800 195 0655
Online using the access code: BewellEAP
WhatsApp/SMS by texting 'Hi' to 0800 197 0655
The Spectrum.Life app is in your Android or iOS device using the access code: BewellEAP
Support includes access to a 24/7/365 confidential helpline. Calls are handled by experienced counsellors and advisors who will offer support and information in a friendly, non-judgemental manner. Specialist advice and a range of online support tools are also available.
Many other sources of help available, also on a 24/7/365 basis, and these include
MIND which offers advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health issue.
Go to the website and click on ‘get help now’ to go through to emergency advice and crisis resources. Telephone 0300 123 3393
SAMARITANS
This organisation offers emotional support 24 hours a day in full confidence. Visit the website or call 116 123 from any phone or email
Expectations of a line manager
Being a line manager in our Trust’s family of schools is, as in any organisation, a key role with a specific set of responsibilities and duty of care for those who report into them. It is expected that all line managers at DET will act as role models by demonstrating the highest standards of personal, observable behaviours which support all our core values and who will coach their team so that these values are embraced and embedded within our culture.
As the first point of contact for direct reports, the duties and responsibilities of line managers can be very varied in their nature. Here in this Trust we are especially keen to ensure that all staff know what they can expect from their direct line manager and that line managers have the skill and knowledge to support their team well.
The HR Team have worked with colleagues in schools to develop a one-page summary of the core purpose and responsibilities of this key role, a link to which is here.
Given the wide-ranging and sometimes challenging matters which line managers can be faced with, advice and guidance is always available from their own line manager and the Human Resources team whenever it is needed. While in the last DET Dispatch it was announced that a set of support materials for line managers will be published and form the basis of some briefings this term, given the busy-ness all round in this summer term, the launch of the Line Manager Essentials programme will now kick off during the autumn term.
Weekly recruitment bulletins and referral scheme
So as to ensure that all staff are aware of the range of opportunities across the Trust, a weekly update is collated and circulated to all staff, some schools put the link into staff briefings from the head and others send out an email to all staff direct.
The most recent bulletin is here and is updated weekly with new roles.
Where you know of someone who would fit a role being advertised please do recommend/refer them to us.
If they are successful, as a thank you for supporting the Trust, you have the option to choose:
· Either £250 (net payment) payable to you via payroll following the start of the new employee
· Or to request a donation of £250 to be made to a charity or cause of choice (subject to approval by relevant Headteacher/CEO for Central Services)
All staff, teaching and support staff, (apart from HR staff, staff involved in the hiring process and members of the Senior Leadership Team) are eligible for this incentive.
Full details of the Employee Referral Scheme are on the DET policy page.
School-based HR contacts in Human Resources
Each of our schools is supported by an HR Coordinator who, through their support to the recruitment process many staff will already have met – whether as a new starter or as a recruiting manager.
Our HRC's meet each half term, in a different school across our Trust, together with colleagues from the Central HR team and the focus is always on continually improving, simplifying and streamlining wherever possible, processes which support the range of tasks, often ‘behind the scenes’, in connection with employment matters in our Trust.
Our HRC's are always ready to offer help and guidance as a first point of contact to staff in connection with queries which arise and assist in whatever way they can. While questions commonly relate to policies, procedures or payslips for example they can in fact be about almost anything (!) and where there is no immediate clear response they will get one or signpost accordingly.
You HR Coordinators are listed here for quick reference and clicking on any name reveals the email address:
Primary Schools
Ascot Road: Leann Beasley
De Havilland: Gemma Samroo
Jupiter: Anna Spevack
Lanchester: Kerry Bridgewater
Secondary Schools
Chancellors: Karen Rockliffe
Croxley Danes: Birva Solanki
Elstree Screen Arts: Corinne Ward
Onslow St Audrey: Naomi Taylor
St Clement Danes: Katy Domm
