Hi Chelsey... and welcome to our Community. You've posted to the right group.

You'll find that you'll get support and/or validation here quickly with specific queries... but for some general background support, tehse are good starters...

 HR in education 

 Connecting with those working in HR in Academy Trusts 

In reply to Steve Bridger:

Hi Steve,

Thank you for the feedback, I will definitely look into these.

Kind regards,
Chelsey

I currently work in a MAT of 9 schools and am happy to connect with you and share ideas/support.

Thanks

In reply to Emma Louise:

Hi Emma,

That would be great thank you so much! How is best to reach you?

Many thanks,
Chelsey

Firstly, welcome Chelsey and congratulations on the promotion. Good times and scary times with steep learning curves about skills as well as the sector conditions. I don't work in education although I have friends that do and you have some good pointers below about that. I am used to working in new settings though and also used to steep learning curves.

I'd highly recommend:
1. Networking - talking to others in the same or different sectors can be refreshing, reassuring and eye opening. Getting the right networks and the balance right so you don't add to the sense of overwhelm, has been helpful advice for me.

2. Listen a lot and ask questions to clarify understanding. I've got a lot of experience and this never becomes tired advice for me. I try and listen and remind myself regularly 'there's no such thing as a silly question'; questions truly help us learn. No one, no matter how experienced or whatever their position knows everything and I remind myself of this, which helps take the pressure off.

3. Use the CIPD resources and branch learning. The professional skills map (probably not the official name :-)) is great to check out skills gaps, build on strengths and guide us to think about where we need to focus our development.

Finally, take it easy. It takes time to settle into a new setting and role and we can often put pressure on ourselves when allowing ourselves a bit of time and space is what we need.

I say all of these things to myself regularly to remind myself "Rome wasn't built in a day". Good luck.

In reply to Sharon:

Hi Sharon,

Thank you so much for the lovely message and the advice is great. I'll definitely be taking this on board.

Many thanks,
Chelsey

Hi Chelsey,

Firstly congratulation on your new role. I've been working in HR in schools and higher education for most of my career, and it's a really interesting sector to be based in. Very happy to be a contact (probably easiest for you to find me on Linked In), and to answer any questions I can.

My strongest advice to you is to get to grips with the single central record and safeguarding and safer recruitment training. There's nothing in schools that is a higher priority than keeping children safe, and the SCR is key in every inspection. Go through the regulations and then through the document itself until you know it backwards! It's time well spent.

In relation to the peculiarities of schools generally, it's something you'll pick up over time. Dealing with TPS, term time contract calculations, the bizarre conclusion of the Harpur Trust case etc are specific to the sector - but people issues are just the same as other businesses. People working in schools tend to care a great deal about what they do - it makes them passionate about their work which is great, but when things don't go so well it can be harder for them to deal with.

A good resource I find is law firms that specialise in the education sector - they provide a lot of free resources and webinars that are great to latch onto. But more generally, build a network - find people working in nearby schools in HR, and arrange to meet up in the holidays when most people aren't working (but we are!). I find that support invaluable - and it's also great to co-ordinate training activities.

Best of luck.

Nina

In reply to Nina Waters:

Hi Nina,

Thank you for the great advice, I will be taking all of this onboard.

Many thanks,
Chelsey