ADES Report On Headteacher Recruitment

Appendix E: Case Studies

CASE STUDY 1

GRADE OF PRESENT POST
Depute Headteacher point 6

YEARS IN PRESENT POST
19 months

YEARS IN SERVICE
14.5

TYPE OF PRESENT SCHOOL
Urban non-denominational secondary

GENDER
Female

DO YOU HOLD, OR ARE YOU WORKING TOWARDS A HEADTEACHER QUALIFICATION, IF SO, WHICH?
Working towards new headship qualification

DO YOUR FUTURE CAREER PLANS INCLUDE APPLICATION FOR A HT POST?
Potentially! I am undertaking this course to allow me the option to apply for HT post in future. I certainly want career progression beyond DHT, whether this is to HT or into authority level post eg QIO .I am not yet sure. Certainly the course will allow me to have a deep understanding of what the post involves which will be vital whichever route I take .

WHAT WOULD YOU ADVISE THAT WE DO TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE INTERESTED IN BECOMING A HEADTEACHER IN SCOTLAND?
The new qualification in my view is too demanding on time. To expect participants who are working full time, with families etc to do it all in their own time is unrealistic and I would hesitate to recommend this to anyone. No other profession would expect this of people. More needs to be done to release people, 1 day per week, even half a day per week, and allow completion of this.

With this becoming compulsory there is a real risk of there not being enough qualified HTs in Scotland very soon, I can guarantee that of the participants who began this year not all will complete.

More again needs to be done to look at the remit of HT, e.g. in terms of the admin management side, allowing the individual to remain focused on the reason they entered the profession.

Serious consideration needs also to be given to salary scales to make it an attractive move from DHT to HT. It would need to be financially worthwhile for me to move to a headteacher post with the additional responsibility and time commitment required.

CASE STUDY 2

GRADE OF PRESENT POST
Depute head teacher

YEARS IN PRESENT POST
Two years - with approximately five months acting head on two different occasions

YEARS IN SERVICE
21 years

TYPE OF PRESENT SCHOOL
Urban, non-denominational primary school with a role of 222 primary and 57 nursery pupils

GENDER
Female

DO YOU HOLD, OR ARE YOU WORKING TOWARDS, A HEADTEACHER QUALIFICATION, IF SO, WHICH?
I do not hold a headteacher qualification and am not currently working towards one. However, as someone who very much likes to keep options open I am dipping my toe into the waters of further study and qualification by undertaking a masters level module with the potential for this to lead to further modules and qualification if I find that i can manage this and my daily remit.

I am currently non-teaching but will revert to being a teaching depute in august and believe that balancing class contact and associated commitments with management responsibilities would not be conducive to managing further study.

I feel that, because the local authority I work within has a management structure of teaching deputes in their schools, I am (as well as my fellow DHT colleagues) at a disadvantage in comparison to colleagues in local authorities where deputes are non-teaching in terms of workload and the opportunity to take on further qualification and study.

DO YOUR FUTURE CAREER PLANS INCLUDE APPLICATION FOR A HT POST?
Having had the opportunity recently to experience the role of HT in an acting capacity i feel that i am less likely to take on the role of head teacher in the future for the following reasons:

1. The impact the role has on your time, health and personal life (and I speak as someone with no dependants and an exceedingly supportive husband who happily takes up the slack at home when necessary but feel this is not sustainable long term)

2. The role is less about the development of teaching and learning within your school and more about managing staff; dealing with very difficult situations with families and children with a decreasing amount of support available from further up the management structure or local authority provision; dealing with finance and budget

3. The constant strain of managing staff absence and cover

WHAT WOULD YOU ADVISE THAT WE DO TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE INTERESTED IN BECOMING A HEADTEACHER IN SCOTLAND?
1. A level playing field across Scotland in terms of provision of a business manager type role and also management structure (teaching deputes!)

2. Learning on the job with a peer teaching/mentoring approach (having a qualification does not equip everyone with the skills required to be a HT)

3. Pay scales - my salary as a depute head is very good; why would I take on a more stressful position for the same or less?

4. A higher priority placed on staff wellbeing across the education sector.