John Werner. Retired. secondary head, now Advocacy Officer, Blatchington Court Trust, Hove, East Sussex
I discussed your “golden hello” report (TES, March 23) with my teacher daughter-in-law. My 12-year-old grandson was as shocked as the director of school services and some of the school’s parents. He suggested that a job-share should have been considered for the post.
In May 2006, research commissioned for the National College of School Leadership suggested that co-headship and job-sharing could help to retain experienced headteachers, attract new ones and improve life-work balance.
It mentioned that 30 UK schools were involved in co-headship or job-share headships. The report went on to say that this was not a panacea but that such measures “could be a creative response to looming headteacher shortages”.