Q&A for partners
Keynote speaker Q&A session - Terry Piggott
Director of Children's Services, Rochdale Local Authority
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Q. Is there a policy concerning a minimum number of applicants that are needed before interviews can be arranged? For example, when I applied for my job, there were just two applicants. The governors were advised to re-advertise, which generated one more applicant. All three of us were shortlisted but one dropped out, so we were back to just two and a bill of £1000 for the second Times Educational Supplement advert! If there is just one applicant, why not just interview one?
A. There's no policy, but governors usually like a choice. If governors were convinced that a sole applicant was exceptionally strong, they might interview them. But for all concerned (including the lonely applicant!), a competitive process is better.
Q. Doesn't the notion of one headteacher serving two or more schools directly contradict the assertion that headteachers are the single most important determinant of what a school achieves? Would having half the determinant result in half the achievement?
A. No. Capable and experienced headteachers who have their current school well in hand may relish an additional challenge. If they're well supported by senior and middle leaders, the model of one headteacher leading more than one school can work well - as several successful examples show.
Q. What are the speaker's views on the deputy headteachers who are, in the NCSL's words, 'sitting tenants' - ie deputy headteachers with no headteacher ambition, but who have been in post for over a decade and therefore are blocking potential deputies on the next career step towards headship?
A. There can be no compulsion to promotion. If sitting tenants appear to be blocking the way, then other opportunities need to be found for promoting blocked individuals. This is where secondments and other inter-school arrangements - probably brokered by the local authority - become vital.
Q. How has the 345 secondment gone down with headteachers who are reluctant to lose their star deputies to other schools?
A. Heads know they'll lose deputies who are stars. Some long-serving headteachers can point to a veritable production line of their past deputies who became heads. This is the right attitude. The role of all senior leaders is to bring on the next generation. Heads in Rochdale are more inclined to share than to hoard talent.
Q. It can sometimes seem that the deputy gets the job as they are seen as a 'safe pair of hands'. Often they are, but there are too many instances when this has not been the case. How can local authorities and partners work together to prevent these poor appointments?
A. I can see a danger of succession planning appearing to legitimise the 'heir apparent' syndrome. The key here is for the local authority to ensure the governors have an objective view of the school and for the recruitment and selection process to operate independently of the outgoing headteacher. Therefore, if the school needs more of a shake up than what an internal safe pair of hands seems is likely to bring, the governors are equipped to make the right decision.
Q. How many local authorities are actively planning future headteacher requirements and putting in place a strategy to fill the expected vacancies, or is Rochdale a unique example?
A. NCSL is supplying all local authorities with data. All can see the issue already, but data helps to quantify the scale and target action. So Rochdale is by no means unique.
* See recent case studies from Birmingham for more information:Leadership succession overview - Birmingham(PDF, 145kb, 2 pages) and Leadership succession in Birmingham (PDF, 153kb, 2 pages).
