Hi Sharon

The generic matter of hr support to staff ratios crops up regularly in this Forum, with the inevitable 'how long is a piece of string ' / 'horses for courses' / 'it depends.......' / 'far too many variables apply ' answers that it's futile really.

However, would have thought that total teaching and non-teaching staffing a lot more determinant than student numbers so with the number you quote would think 20++ bodies might be involved?

In a typical (if ever there was one!) SME, I think 0.6 FTE devoted to HR would be usually considered more than ample support provision for around 20 employees, but there again 20 biscuit - packers on a production line is a far different kettle of fish to say 20 university lecturers and professors and 20 school teachers maybe something in between.

All that's relating though to just keeping things ticking over fairly nicely - if you really want supercharged total organisational performance as opposed to lumpy tickover then I'm sure effective and well-resourced HR *management* can in many circumstances work very well indeed

In reply to David:

Just a guess on my part but with 680 children I would suspect it was more like 45-60 staff (teaching & non teaching) in total not 20.

Having said that 0.6 HR bods seems about average.

In reply to Keith:

You're probably right Keith - was just thinking at very bottom end

In reply to David:

Yes that's right Keith 40/60 split, teachers/support. Thanks as always for both your responses. I am so pleased I decided to post my queries as learning lots through the forum.

Hi Sharon, as other responders have said, the HR workload is probably more driven by things like; staff turnover rate, total no of staff employed (regardless of no of students), the state of school HR systems, policies & HR processes. And the quality of management (skills to handle HR issues arising before they escalate). Also whether the payroll, absence management & HR leave reporting are outsourced or not. As a basic guide, my school (a secondary, academy trust) has about 1,200 students and about 1.5 HR staff with about 212 staff in total. The cleaning function is done inhouse, but catering & lettings management is outsourced.