Paul Fisher finds money is not everything as headships go unfilled in the wake of funding curbs and staff cuts. Adequate school funding and a variety of training programmes are two possible ways of injecting greater stability into the fraught trade of running a school.
The West Midlands seems to have it about right, for according to the Oxford Brookes survey, it is one of the easiest areas to recruit heads. The Birmingham education service has contributed to this success with cash guarantees. An announcement in mid-January confirmed: “Current plans provide for real increases in schools’ budgets to back primary and secondary guarantees and to meet the pressure on special educational needs. Increased pupil numbers would be funded as well as realistic pay award settlements.”
“Birmingham is a good place to live and has a huge commitment to education, ” said a city council press officer. “We have no problem attracting quality candidates for headships.”
Another approach is to rely on training. This is the route favoured by Roman Catholic education administrators who, in l9934, had to deal with a 40 per cent increase in readvertised vacancies. It is a traditional difficulty because, in recruiting heads and deputies, Catholic schools distort their market by insisting on religious faith as well as teaching competence. The limited choice means Catholic headships are the hardest of all to fill.
The response of four southern dioceses has been to introduce “Towards leadership in Catholic schools”, a programme of evening and residential courses. Anthony Mackersie, the director of the Westminster diocese education service, said: “It is for co-ordinators and deputies who want to progress to the next managerial tier. We’re targeting potential promotion candidates and helping them to bridge a managerial gulf. We’re trying to counteract negative images that have attached to headship.”
In contrast to this attempt at succession planning is the Department for Education Headlamp scheme. This will train heads once they are in post, and from April those starting their first headships can claim a training grant of up to Pounds 2,500.
The National Association of Head Teachers (which is recruiting staff to look after “management development needs”) is developing Headlamp courses with several universities. It polled its newer members who highlighted a need for training in leadership, personnel, and dealing with governors.
Jeff Holman, the NAHT assistant secretary for education, voices a consensus that the training should have preceded appointments rather than demanding time when vulnerable newcomers are busy asserting themselves in their new jobs. “But we welcome Headlamp as the first stage in a broader training programme, ” he says.
