superheads | Schools Week

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, […]

‘Superhead’ Jo Shuter has teaching ban overturned

A superhead who was banned from teaching for life over her expenses can now return to the classroom after a government disciplinary panel ruled that a prohibition order against her be set aside. Jo Shuter was banned for life in 2014 after a misconduct hearing into expenses claimed at London’s Quintin Kynaston School, but was […]

SSAT 2016: We are in a new education age obsessed with identity, says Andy Hargreaves

English schools are “way ahead of most of the world” in terms of collaborating to improve opportunities for pupils, says Andy Hargreaves. Education has moved from a focus on achievement and effort towards a “new age” anxious about identity and well-being, said Hargreaves (pictured), of Boston College in Massachusetts, but the English education system was […]

Historians make the best superheads. Ugh.

While it is easy to lie with statistics, it is even easier to lie without them. And if you are going to accuse teachers from certain subjects of being worse school leaders than others, you probably ought to have some numbers to back you up. Researchers Alex Hill and Ben Laker are no stranger to […]

PE and RE teachers are least effective superheads, new study reveals

Heads who taught PE or RE before leading failing academies are more likely to adopt a damaging “short-termist” approach to running schools, but are awarded the most honours. A major study by the Centre for High Performance has identified the impact of different “types” of headteacher – with their leadership style linked to their degree […]

Super heroes don’t solve problems, they punch people

Watching Nicky Morgan getting beaten up by her own party over forced academy conversions, I suddenly realised the fatal flaw of her plan is not so much money, but the fact it relies on imaginary, magical people. The idea of every school becoming an academy is that headteachers can do it all. They can train […]