headteachers | Schools Week

Why effective heads don’t need to have been teachers

Too many headteachers are nearing retirement with too few to take their place. But there are plenty of highly skilled people with the potential to run schools, says Mike Buchanan. Toby Young, Sir Michael Wilshaw and Sir Anthony Seldon are all colourful characters who prod us with their pronouncements. They are all passionate believers in […]

Character education: teaching through subjects

Dr Tom Harrison, Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues, University of Birmingham What have you been working on? The Teaching Character Through Subjects publication and programme of activities – funded by one of 12 character grants handed out by the Department for Education – is built on our prior research at the Jubilee Centre into […]

Why the latest research shows heads should give teaching assistants space to do their jobs

The Education Endowment Foundation has released its latest research on new tools for teaching assistants and called for them to be used more effectively in schools. Here, senior researcher Jonathan Sharples explains why the research is significant. One of the challenging aspects of conducting honest, robust evaluations is that they often suggest, honestly and robustly, […]

The seven deadly sins of executive headship

Taking on the role requires a new set of skills. It’s easy to lose the personal touch you had before, but to move on you need to abandon what you previously held on to in order to grow and develop. Toby and Russell look at the perks and pitfalls of the role and how to […]

‘Talking down the job of a headteacher stops people doing it’

Being a headteacher is a tough job: but it is also a brilliant one. Let’s talk up the positives and encourage the best senior leaders to take on the challenge. It is true that being a headteacher is not an easy task, and that’s not surprising: you have hundreds of young people in your care, […]

Finding the right woman for the job

Figures suggest governors have a gender bias when they appoint headteachers. So what happens when they don’t have a say? I have written before about the apparent gender bias among some governing bodies that contributes to women being significantly under-represented in headship. So I was interested to see what would happen when we took governors […]

“School-to-school support is more important than ever”

In Nicky Morgan’s first major announcement since the election, the education secretary has declared she would accelerate plans to “revolutionise” state schools, with tough new measures to sack underperforming headteachers. Although addressing the failings of schools is important; care and attention should be given to ensure schools receive the best chance of survival. If we […]

Why be a headteacher?

The next generation of school leaders should look to the National Standards of Excellence for Headteachers for inspiration The self-improving school system — an underlying thread in the new headteachers’ standards — needs great future leaders and demands that current heads are nurturing talent spotters. Experience in one urban authority a few years back taught […]

The third member of a school’s holy trinity

School business managers are more than a finance manager or an admin officer. But exactly what their role is should be clarified as schools take on more responsibility The emphasis on performance and standards in the education sector is exacting; financial pressures are significant. In the future, both will continue to rise and accountability will […]