As the only educationist among what were mostly managers of small firms in Hampshire, the head of Noadswood school, near Southampton, felt slightly out of place. But it was not a feeling which lasted long.

Whereas most of the managers were used to handling turnovers of a few hundred thousand pounds a year, Noadswood has an annual budget of Pounds 1.6 million. And while some of the private companies employed as few as five people, the school has 50 teachers along with other staff.

“They were surprised how well organised the school was and that fact that we had a five year development plan and other policies,” he recalled. “In lots of areas their firms were still thinking about what to do.”

Mr Samuels was invited to work towards the MCI, which is equivalent to a level five National Vocational Qualification in management, by one of his governors. Dorothy Shirvell is a partner at Qudos, a private management development and training consultancy, and led the 15-strong group.

“The school had a stable organisation whereas the firms were relatively unstable,” she said. “It was the middle of the recession and they were firefighting all the time. They soon came to respect John and tap into the expertise which he had.”

Mr Samuels, who in November became the first among the group to gain the MCI, needed little persuading to improve his management skills. He was already aware of the growing importance of vocational education and welcomed the fact that UK organisations, including schools, were starting to adopt a competency approach towards training.

“In education we often promote heads of departments because they’re good teachers rather than because they’re good managers,” he said. “They don’t always have the chance to experience aspects such as running a team.”

The Management Charter Initiative is entirely practical. “What appealed to me was that we could set something in train which was relevant,” he added. “That’s not always true of staff development.”

The MCI was launched in 1987 to try and improve management education and development in the public and private sectors. The four key areas it covers are managing operations, finance, people and information. The MCI has been designated the lead body for NVQs in management and currently offers qualifications at levels three to five.

At level five, the MCI consists of 10 units. These include monitoring and controlling the use of resources, recruiting and selecting personnel and exchanging information to solve problems and make decisions. Each unit is broken down into up to six different elements.

All candidates are given an assessor. In the case of Mr Samuels this was Ann Foote, another partner at Qudos. Candidates must produce evidence to show that they possess the competencies to achieve each unit.

As a result of working towards the MCI, Mr Samuels had the opportunity to review procedures which were already in place at Noadswood, a 830-pupil mixed comprehensive in the New Forest village of Dibden Purlieu.

Previously staff development had been based upon whichever INSET courses were available. The MCI encouraged the school to review the competencies it required and carry out a skills audit among staff to find out which gaps needed to be filled. “We are looking much more at courses which provide on-the-job training,” he said.

Other features were already in place. The MCI requires managers to obtain and evaluate information to aid decision making. After taking part in the Successful Schools project run by Keele University, Noadswood carries out surveys among parents and pupils to find out the school’s needs.

The MCI also provided the opportunity for upward appraisal. John Samuels asked teachers for their opinions on a programme of one-to-one interviews involving staff and pupils which he had introduced as an example of initiating and implementing change.

When it came to recruitment, the private sector managers decided they might be able to take a tip from education. Private employers rarely tell unsuccessful candidates why they failed to get a job and were interested in the appointment procedure normally used in schools.

Noadswood has improved its interviewing process. “The MCI encouraged us to decide beforehand what skills we need,” said Mr Samuels. “We interview in a more objective way now to see if a candidate has those skills.”

Dorothy Shirvell believes Mr Samuels gained the MCI more rapidly than the other 14 managers because Noadswood already had many of the systems in place. “John was able to demonstrate competence in many areas very quickly,” she said. “You need to have your own targets in place and stick to them.”

Pauline Peregrine, development manager for the MCI, said the standards were already well-recognised in both schools and colleges. Some people had complained about the terminology, but that was true in other sectors besides education. “Understanding the standards is part of the process of learning how to use them,” she said.

Dr Peregrine said the MCI would be encouraging more schools and colleges to use the qualification, but it did not want to tread on the toes of teacher trainers. “We don’t want to wander into the domain of teaching and learning competencies.”

Following the success of John Samuels, 10 other teachers at Noadswood school are working towards level four of the MCI which is aimed at first line managers. Sandra Hockings, head of modern languages, achieved level four last summer after completing the nine units in just 11 months.

Ms Hockings said teachers needed to be more aware of the management aspects of education. “It’s good if the head has gained the MCI because it filters down through the school. But it can be a slow process if it is restricted to senior managers,” she said. “We have more contact with mainscale teachers.”

The MCI had helped her department to review the way staff consulted one another and evaluated procedures. “I have always discussed things with my colleagues. The MCI made me aware of the need to be more formal. Now I always take notes of the things we discuss.”

The use of the MCI for staff development at Noadswood has been relatively inexpensive. Hampshire county council granted Pounds 9,000 over two years while Mr Samuels received additional sponsorship from Hampshire Training and Enterprise Council. The cost to the school has been about Pounds 180 per candidate.

With much of the work being done by individuals in private, staff are also required to spend very little time away from the classroom. Mr Samuels said he had only been out of school for a total of six days.

Other teachers at Noadswood who do not feel that the whole of the MCI is relevant to their post are being encouraged to work towards individual units. Dorothy Shirvell said Mr Samuels was trying to create a culture of competence within the school.

Mr Samuels said the school wanted to develop the sort of management structure where people strive to achieve best practice. “I’m much better at evaluating and asking the purpose of why we do things,” he said.