headteachers | Schools Week

Headteachers: take back control of school audit culture!

The endless papertrails modern school life seemingly requires are now actively making things worse for our overworked teachers. Becky Allen explains how to change all that Teaching should be the best job in the world. It has all the components of a satisfying profession: autonomy, impact, purpose and a sense of human connection. So why […]

Superhead researchers reveal 9 indicators of a successful ‘turnaround’ headteacher

Heads with the best long-term school improvement plans are often nearly fired two years into the job simply because they don’t get “quick exam results”, according to a new study by controversial management researchers Ben Laker and Alex Hill. Boards expect to see better exam results almost immediately under the regime of a new headteacher, […]

Headteachers struggling to find time for training

Headteachers are missing out on training opportunities because of funding shortages and heavy workloads, according to research commissioned by the Department of Education. The study by CooperGibson Research found that very few leadership development courses are actually targeted at headteachers or executive headteachers. It also found that “budgetary constraints, workload at full capacity and staffing […]

Making the Leap: Moving from deputy to head by Jill Berry

My first thoughts when I received this book was that the crevice over which the person on the cover is jumping was not wide enough! Perhaps this is because of my own journey to headship… it was not a little hop but a large jump – and, if I am honest, I still haven’t quite […]

Landmark ruling means teachers may have to reveal more about private lives

A landmark court ruling on a headteacher’s failure to disclose her relationship with a convicted sex offender could mean school staff will be asked to reveal more about their private lives in future, legal experts have warned. The Court of Appeal recently quashed the unnamed former headteacher’s bid to overturn her dismissal in 2011, when […]

Professor Dame Alison Peacock appointed CEO of the Chartered College of Teaching

Professor Dame Alison Peacock, executive headteacher of The Wroxham School in Hertfordshire, has been appointed as the first chief executive officer (CEO) of the Chartered College of Teaching. Peacock will assume the role from January 1, 2017 and will act as CEO designate until that time. Reporting to the board of trustees, she will provide leadership […]

Headteachers Roundtable to draft alternative white paper

An influential group of leading headteachers has launched a think tank to crowdsource an alternative white paper that focuses on classroom concerns rather than “political diktat”. The Headteachers’ Roundtable (HTRT) held a conference last Friday at the Sheffield Institute of Education, part of Sheffield Hallam University, to discuss the content of its own proposed policy […]

Executive Headteachers: what’s in a name?

The government does not know how many executive headteachers are actually working in academies, a new report has claimed, raising concerns over how it will meet future demand for up to 6,000 more senior leaders. Executive Headteachers: what’s in a name? found “limitations” with how the government records executive heads in the school workforce census. […]

‘Trojan Horse’ turnaround head takes over at Perry Beeches

The executive headteacher brought in to turn around a Birmingham school at the centre of the “Trojan Horse” scandal has now been parachuted in to lead the scandal-hit Perry Beeches Academy Trust. Schools Week can reveal Adrian Packer, chief executive of the Core Education Trust, based in Birmingham, has been appointed as chair of directors […]