“How can the Teacher Trainng Agency be so confident that it has come up with the right single formula?” asks Bob Doe in his article on the National Professional Qualification for Headship (TES, June 13).
As a recipient of NPQH training in the North-west pilot phase it appears to me that it has come a lot closer to what is required for headship than many other academic qualifications.
My colleagues on the course have a variety of post-graduate qualifications and we quickly realised that many of these qualifications would be in jeopardy as a result of this specifically vocational qualification.
Now new heads, or deputies, will not be “flying by the seat of their pants” when they take over, as they were before despite their doctorates and masters degrees.
Professor John Adair of Exeter University said: “Any leaders Britain does have are as a result of accident, not design.
“We tend to wait until we’re on the beaches at Dunkirk before looking for our Winston Churchills.”
The TTA, through the NPQH, is finding leaders of schools by design. Being a leader is about getting out there and making good things happen.
The training I’m receiving through NPQH is about practising how we achieve that, whether it be through “welfarism” or “new managerialism”.
Darrah Lemon Deputy head Breckfield CC school Hamilton Road Liverpool Merseyside
