Moving from being a senior leader to head was the best move I made, but also the hardest. However, saying that, being a head is simply the best job in the world, and I hope my reflections on making that transition are useful for those who read this.
Why headship?
For me, the prospect of headship has grown throughout my career; it wasn’t something I went into teaching seeking, in fact in my first teaching post I thought that I would be very happy remaining in the classroom, being with pupils at the coalface. I rather fell into my first middle leadership role as Head of Department and from then on have found that I really enjoy it, and it is a role that fits my character and skillset. As I moved from middle to senior leadership, I found myself both increasingly comfortable with more responsibility (and the chance to bless others) as well as feeling increasingly frustrated that I wasn’t able to set the tone or that I was bumping my head on layers above me; whenever the latter occurred I knew it was time to look for a new role or school. I have (more recently) moved schools for promotion. This is just my journey; others have risen internally and it is simply different avenues, neither one better or worse than the other. It’s just about the situation someone is in and what becomes available. The main thing is to make the most of the role you are in, because you will always find yourself using those experiences and the skills developed through them when you go on to the next position. A reflective leader is always a more effective leader. I would also encourage you to face challenges head on; they will be uncomfortable and hard but you’ll grow and develop leadership muscles that will become invaluable later on. The hardest relationships, or decisions, are more often than not the most important ones.
How did I lay the ground work before applying
Headship was on my agenda for about four years before it happened. I knew that was what I wanted when I became Deputy Head Academic. Coming up the academic route gave me experience of timetabling, data analysis and staffing, but it didn’t give me much exposure to safeguarding or the pastoral side of leadership. It isn’t necessary to have experienced both pastoral and academic elements of school life, but I found it beneficial. I ticked one of those boxes by becoming a governor for a local state school. As safeguarding governor I was able to learn the procedures and processes for this essential element of school life. Being a governor demonstrates you have an understanding of the strategic nature of headship, and is something that recruitment agents and appointing governors often look for when sifting applications.
The next step was training and building a network. Participating in Leading an Independent School in January 2020 was an initial step on this path. Jill and Andrew lead such a brilliant course about the role of headship, how to work with governors, the bursar as well as other stakeholders and external agencies – I built a really strong foundational knowledge of the role. One of Jill’s phrases still sticks with me today: a governor’s job is to ask good questions and my job (as the head) is to have good answers! More recently, I undertook a Masters in Educational Leadership and Management which ticked the CPD route; either this or the NPQH is an invaluable demonstration on your CV that you are preparing for headship. HMC and GSA also offer Preparing for Headship courses which can be a way of dipping your toe into the water. Finally, I would highly recommend getting involved in an organisation such as the Chartered College of Teaching. Again, it demonstrates that you are invested in education more broadly and understand the debates educational leaders and policy decision makers are engaged in.
In addition, as part of the HMC Women in Leadership programme, I asked for a mentor who was a serving head, and together we worked through gaps in my CV and how to prepare for interviews. I found it invaluable to have someone who had been there but was outside my own school – their encouragement and insight made me believe that I could do it.
Finally, make the most of your social media platforms. LinkedIn is a great way to build your profile – recruitment agents use it to find out about you so try to keep your profile reasonably active if you have one. It is also a great way to connect with heads and schools to understand the educational landscape, opportunities and challenges.
How I prepared once I had been appointed
You will have done a lot of research and preparation before being appointed but don’t think it stops there. You’ll have months before moving to a new school (or a new role in your current school) so do two things, (a) learn as much as you can about the role of headship from your current head (and bursar) and (b) visit your new school as often as possible (presuming you are moving schools). Your current head should give you at least a couple of days to visit. In these days try to meet:
- PA/EA – they will be absolutely crucial and a lifeline for you. This is a relationship that is very precious. I could not do without mine.
- Senior Leadership Team
- Middle Leaders – at least pastoral or faculty leads
- Pupils – at least the Heads of School/Prefects
- Attend SLT meeting
- Attend Full Board meeting (you can do this as an observer)
Spend time preparing for your first day, first week, first term.
- Who do you need to meet?
- How often will you meet with the Chair of Governors?
- What impression do you want to give to pupils, parents and staff?
- How will you introduce yourself to parents?
- What tone do you want to set? If you are a values-based leader, how will you communicate these values to pupils, staff and parents?
- Do you need to be aware of anything on the horizon? We had ISI imminent and they arrived in my 5th week in post.
The first 100 days/term in post
Again, a hat tip to Jill for one of the things I did in my first term…..I met every member of staff in no particular order and asked them two questions: what do you love about the school and if you could change one thing, what would it be? This gave me great insight into their characters and what the main issues were. Our five-year strategic development plan was borne out of these conversations.
Be visible – get out and about to talk with pupils and staff; do not get trapped in your office.
Learn staff names before you start and ask for photos of all the pupils.
Be on the gate in the morning so that parents get to know you – this also helps you know which parents belong to which child and you can test yourself on remembering children’s names. I made it into a competition with myself to see if I could remember five new names each day.
Make sure you have gaps in between meetings – if each meeting takes 55 or 25 minutes rather than one hour or 30 minutes then that gives you a 5 minute gap to note down reflections. It can be too easy to have a day of back to back meetings without the crucial moments to stop and think about one before another. So work with your PA/EA to help you manage your diary. They will need to be alert to when meetings do overrun to help minimise repercussions. Create breathing space in the day – your PA will help you to manage your diary and block out time to think or just be in classrooms or the staffroom.
Use your Senior Leadership Team – hopefully they will have diverse skills and experience which you can use. You don’t have to have all the answers; an effective leader listens and ensures all voices have a chance to contribute before coming to a decision.
There is so much more I could share but perhaps that is enough for now. However, if you would like to connect and if I can be of any assistance at all, please get in touch. You can find me on LinkedIn: Liz Gregory (FCCT)
Liz Gregory,
Head of The Maynard School.
January 2025
jillberry102 