| First created: | 25 March 2015 |
|---|---|
| Last reviewed: | 2 June 2020 |
| Review cycle: | Two years |
| Approver: | Senior Leadership Team |
| Owner: | HR Officer |
| Stakeholders: | Staff (non-teaching) |
| Child Safety: | National Principles 4, 5, 7 |
Overview #
Rehoboth Christian College is committed to partnering with staff in their development and growth, whatever their job role. The College strives to provide distinctly Christ-centred education for families that leads students to living for the glory of God alone.
Non-teaching staff (NTS) are a vital, valued, and important part of the Rehoboth community. Together with teaching staff, they have the responsibility to fulfil the vision and mission of the College, as well as live out the College’s values.
The College’s Strategic Plan provides the overarching context and organisational outcomes for the College which in turn provides staff with an opportunity to align their individual and team performance with these desired outcomes.
At Rehoboth, the NTS development and growth plan consists of clear and regular communication between staff and supervisors, self-evaluations, and interviews. The purpose of such an initiative is to enhance the learning, productivity, development and professional growth of non-teaching staff. It provides an opportunity for staff members to gain feedback and fulfils the registration standards and requirements for Non-government schools (Department of Education Services – Non-Government Schools: Guide to the Registration Standards and Other Requirements for Non-government Schools 2016).
This process should be motivational, provide feedback, acknowledge and affirm effort, involvement, and achievements of staff. While this procedure provides the opportunity to clarity any expectations or misconceptions, it is necessary that any specific issues should be dealt with as they arise, and not be drawn into the Development and Growth Plan. Merely remediating issues at the end of the year inhibits learning and does not increase performance. For further clarification please refer to the College’s Performance Review Policy.
Scope #
This policy applies to all full-time or part-time non-teaching staff of the College, which includes, but is not limited to:
- Administration Assistants;
- Bus Drivers;
- Business Office staff;
- Canteen staff;
- Education Assistants;
- Grounds and General Duties staff; and
- Librarians.
A Biblical Rationale #
The following provides a Biblical rationale for the formation of the Staff Development and Growth Plan:
- ‘I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call – one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every join with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that is builds itself up in love’ (Ephesians 4:1-16).
- ‘Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ’ (Colossians 3:23-24).
- ‘For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them’ (Ephesians 2:10).
- These four questions can serve as a guide to ensure that the Development and Growth Plan is Christian in character:
- Does it bring glory to God?
- Does it edify the body?
- Is it compatible with Christian beliefs?
- Does it encourage and aid the development of the individual?
Process #
1. The Development and Growth Plan aims to:
- provide transparency and a formal review of role distributions and expectations;
- identify individual contributions to the strategic and operational initiatives of the College;
- identify ways the College can help each non-teaching staff member thrive and excel;
- recognise, reinforce, and refine individual strengths and knowledge;
- reinforce the College’s support of career aspirations and progression through planning and development;
- create avenues for effective partnerships, ongoing constructive feedback, recognition of effort, and support and coaching between non-teaching staff members and their supervisors;
- foster and develop the subjective skills and abilities of non-teaching staff;
- identify behaviours that demonstrate a commitment to the Biblical principles, behaviours, conduct a lifestyle consistent with the Bible, the Westminster Confession of Faith, and the Protestant Christian faith;
- identify behaviours that demonstrate commitment to the College’s values;
- review and assess the outcomes of the previous non-teaching staff Development and Growth Plan;
- review any barriers to the completion of objectives for the year; and
- identify several key objectives for the following year.
2. It is envisaged that a Development and Growth Plan will be undertaken annually The appropriate scheduling of this review will be set in consultation with each staff member and their Supervisor as to the most appropriate schedule. Before the meeting, the staff member will be asked to document a self-reflection guided by a combination of questions that cover both specific growth areas and professional practices. The Supervisor will also document a reflection of the staff member on specific growth areas and professional practices.
3. A meeting will then be held to discuss these reflections, to determine a mutually agreeable personal Development and Growth Plan, and reach a shared understanding of individual role requirements. Supervisor should set out what will be discussed prior to the commencement of the meeting so that individuals can be prepared. Any amendments that need to be made to the Development and Growth Plan need to be mutually agreed upon and discussed with the staff member. These discussions are considered confidential and whilst past performance will be reviewed, as this stage around 80% of the meeting time should be spent on future objectives and the development of the new plan.
4. Supervisor and non-teaching staff members will be required to organise regular quarterly, individual “check-in” meetings, in order to allow expectations for the upcoming term to be discussed, priorities to be reviewed, comments to be made on recent work and provide an opportunity for coaching to occur. Quarterly meetings also allow managers to understand how their staff are going, what they are working on, and discuss the progress towards their Development and Growth plan objectives. These meetings are confidential in nature and should allow for open and honest communication between the staff member and their Supervisor. Furthermore, this gives Supervisors an opportunity to deal with specific issues as they arise, in a gentle and appropriate manner, with the wellbeing of the staff member in mind.
Formation of the Development and Growth Plan #
Sections to be completed:
- Workplace Obligations and Responsibilities:
- Keep up to date on important workplace responsibilities;
- Review and amend the non-teaching staff members position description; and
- Discuss any changes to role responsibilities as this has implications for workload. Appropriate consideration is needed for an amendment or reallocation of duties to occur.
- Objectives:
- Identify 3-4 objectives relevant to the staff member’s role;
- Create specific, measurable objectives with clear outcomes; and
- If possible, link these objectives to the Strategic and Operational Initiatives of Rehoboth Christian College.
- Career Aspirations:
- Identify any career plans and aspirations;
- Discuss how these career aspirations can be supported by the College; and
- Discuss the steps and actions that need to be taken to progress towards these goals.
- Learning and Development:
- Identify any additional skills, knowledge or capabilities required to perform your role well;
- Identify any training and development opportunities or needs;
- Discuss how these learning and development opportunities will be put into action; and
- Discuss how these can be supported by the College.
- College’s Fundamental Beliefs and Values:
- Reflect on and demonstrate your support for the shared beliefs and values of the College; and
- Reflect on what can be done to better live out the Biblical principles and values of the Christian faith and the College in the future.
Review of the Development and Growth Plan #
Sections to be completed:
- Briefly review and discuss the following:
- Achievements and performance of workplace obligations and responsibilities
- How specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timebound the objectives were;
- Commitment to the College’s fundamental beliefs and values; and
- Progress of career aspirations and the implementation of learning and development initiatives.
- In-depth discussions should mainly focus on:
- future direction; and
- development of the following year’s plan.
Appendix 1 - Formation Plan #
Summary
‘Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ’ (Colossians 3:23-24).
Non-teaching staff are a vital, valued and important part of the community at Rehoboth, and together with the teaching staff we have the responsibility to fulfil the vision and mission of the College, as well as live out the College’s values. The College strives to provide distinctly Christ-centred education for families that leads students to live for the glory of God alone.
Rehoboth Christian Colleges’ Strategic Plan provides the context and organisational outcomes for the College which in turn provides staff with an opportunity to align their individual and team performance with the desired outcomes of Rehoboth.
The Development and Growth Plan consists of, clear and regular communication between staff and Supervisors, self-evaluations and interviews.
Process
The Development and Growth Plan is a two-part process that will be undertaken annually. The appropriate scheduling of each part will be set in consultation with each staff member and their Supervisor. Part 1 of this form should be completed first and looks ahead to objectives, goals and areas of personal development over the next 12 months. Part 2 should be completed as a reflection at the end of each 12-month cycle. It is intended to show how you have grown over that time and to encourage fresh goal setting for the next season.
Non-teaching staff members and their Supervisors are to complete Part 1 (Formation of the Development and Growth Plan) and/or Part 2 (Review of the Development and Growth Plan) individually as self-reflections before a meeting is held to determine a mutually agreeable personal Development and Growth Plan for the year.
This Development and Growth Plan odes not replace the regular quarterly informal meetings that should occur throughout the year. These meetings allow managers to understand how their staff are going, what they are working on, and discuss the progress towards their Development and Growth Plan objectives.
For further clarification please refer to the Development and Growth (NTS) Policy.