Leadership Skills - Teaching Expertise

Can - and indeed should - someone from a background other than teaching become a school leader? School business manager Ruth Bradbury explains her aspirations to become a school leader and, below, two readers respond with their comment

David Dixon adds his voice to the debate about the role of the headteacher in today's schools and suggests that ‘fast-track’ and non-teaching heads may be the poorer for missing out on the daily detail of school life read more

Recognising and minimising risk in the school environment is a vital part of a headteacher’s management role, says former head Roger Smith. read more

Headteachers Anne Clarke and Annabelle Guyver analyse the benefits that trips abroad bring to participating pupils and to the staff leading them

Working to meet the standards laid down by Investors in People (IIP) is an effective way of raising standards and improving staff morale, argues former head Roger Smith. read more

New maternity and flexible working rights mean employers must brush up on the law, says Derek Eccleston

Bringing school and community expectations into line with national priorities and targets is just one of the many challenges facing new heads. Richard Bird, former headteacher and now legal consultant to the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), charts the road to success. read more

Richard Bird, former headteacher and now legal consultant to the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), analyses the vital role an outgoing head has to play in the succession process. read more

What helps new teachers feel welcome in a school? Colin Smith looks at the early professional learning (EPL) of teachers, and discusses the key areas to look at when welcoming new teachers into your school, with reference to research in real schools

Judy Durrant and John Bartholomew of Canterbury Christ Church University describe developments that are leading to real and sustainable improvements in CPD and pupil’s learning. read more

Susannah Temple, Giles Barrow, Julie Leoni and Trudi Newton describe how teachers can use the principles of transactional analysis (TA) to build relationships that stimulate learning. read more

Anne Clarke explores the role of the headteacher and asks: ‘Is the notion of a headteacher an out-of-date concept?’ read more

Who is responsible for what? When do you delegate — and where do responsibilities overlap? Richard Gold explains. read more

Headteacher David Dixon muses on the nature of headship and how partnerships outside the world of education can lead to school improvement. read more

Julie Jennings considers how you can go about monitoring the effectiveness of your Foundation Stage team

Julie Jennings considers how to build your Foundation Stage staff into an effective team. read more

In this first of a short series on leadership Julie Jennings, an experienced teacher and educational consultant, looks at what it takes to be a leader at foundation stage

Rivington and Blackrod High School has developed various ways to engage and respond to student voice — not least of which involves students giving staff feedback on teaching processes. The school is also involved in an LEA-wide initiative to promote collaborative leadership at a student level

Distributed leadership has the potential to transform schools, raising achievement and inspiring more effective practice from staff. Trevor Arrowsmith shows how

Communicating the change agenda in a cruising school

Carole Farrar starts a series on communicating with parents by looking at what makes effective communication. read more

Creating an effective school read more

School leadership is being reviewed by the DfES. Former head Roger Smith looks at assumptions about what makes a good leader and ponders on where the review will lead. read more

Deputy head Rob Bray considers how his responsibilities have changed over the years as the core function of deputy headship has developed from ‘management’ into ‘leadership’

Richard Bird, former headteacher and now legal consultant to the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), suggests that heads – and those appointing them – should consider the myths they need to match. read more

Headteacher Anne Clarke takes a close look at the roles and responsibilities of school governors and highlights the importance of creating a positive and trusting relationship with them.

A review of the attitudes of the whole school towards global citizenship resulted in changes to the School Development Plan. read more

Many communities are keen to know what is happening in local schools and the profile of your school can be raised and presented in a positive light by successful use of the media. This counters a great deal of the damage done to the public view of education by more generalised central reporting, where sensationalism is the main criterion for publishing/reporting. By Linda Trapnell read more

Rob Sheffield examines three techniques to help your school staff team explore problem solving

How can school leaders and managers create an environment in which highly effective work can take place at all levels and all times? Former deputy head John Jackson suggests an approach. read more

Former headteacher Edward Gildea explores the ways in which disagreements with parents can be resolved and used to improve the school’s partnership with them

In July 2005, there were 1,557 poorly performing schools in England, according to the National Audit Office’s recent report, Improving Poorly Performing Schools in England. Around 23% of secondary schools were in the ‘poorly performing’ category. read more

Peter Kent, headteacher of Lawrence Sheriff School, Rugby, and his deputy Annabel Kay, describe how a new model of ‘professional friendship’ has reaped dividends at their school. read more

This case study follows the change process in a school that, under the effective leadership of a new headteacher, was able to transform its culture from one of a once cruising school to a highly successful moving school with an enviable local and national reputation