Looking ahead and preparing for change

 

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  I'm Judith Bennett, I'm Chair of the National Governors' Association.

  Governors are part of the leadership and management of schools. This is the view of the Department for Education and Skills, even if other organs of government don't always remember this reality. The governing body is recognised as 'Leadership and Management' by Ofsted, and is judged as such. It's seen as the accountable body, and governors must always have this in mind when they carry out their responsibilities. The governors' role is specifically 'strategic leadership': the governing body both monitors the effectiveness of all aspects of a school's provision and performance and looks towards the future of the school - its needs, the development of the education it provides for the pupils, and its place in its local community.

  Governors are called upon to make many decisions, but the single most important decision a governing body takes is the appointment of a headteacher. Finding the right person can be the key to a school's success and to its future - moving it forward, maintaining and raising standards, creating a culture of achievement and a sense of well-being for pupils, staff, and indeed for governing bodies too.

  It's in fact a tribute to governors, to the quality that has existed amongst aspiring heads in the past and to the guidance, support and training that can be available from local authorities and other bodies, that the process has usually been successful, and schools have found themselves with just the right person to suit their needs. However, that the luck has held so far is not enough, and it is time for us to prepare for the future, for the certainty of changing circumstances.

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  In the past there has always seemed to be a ready supply of aspiring headteachers. And in most cases, appointing a new head has been an occasional event and it's therefore perhaps understandable that most governors traditionally have only considered the recruitment process when a change of headteacher has been 'thrust upon them'. My own school has seen something a little out of the ordinary, if I may be anecdotal, in that my governing body has appointed two heads in five years, and I must emphasise, two very good heads. The need for two in so short a time does sound like carelessness, but the first, in fact, moved on to greater things. In both cases we were lucky. We were well supported by the local authority, we were fortunate that several of us had undergone training, and we spent a great deal of time preparing all elements of the process.

  However, none of this makes me feel complacent - rather, it makes me aware that we were blessed with luck throughout the process. The picture may not have been so rosy had we been trying to recruit in 2009, rather than in 2002, and 2006.

• View Part 3 transcript

  Times are changing and governors need to recognise this. The signs of coming problems are already manifesting themselves. And I think we must all be aware of schools that have advertised and re-advertised and still not found a head teacher.

  There are, of course, often some specific reasons for this. For instance, there are schools that have particular difficulties in recruiting now. There are, for example, small rural schools, which present a potential headteacher with the prospect of coping with the responsibilities and workload of a head and with a sizeable teaching commitment too. The financial reward is not substantial, or attractive, in comparison with remaining as a deputy head. The salary differentials are not great and the post of deputy head tends to be a good deal less stressful.

  Faith schools too, particularly Roman Catholic schools, are confronted with problems. In their case, it is that the pool of potential headteachers is not equal to the number of vacant posts. Again, if we look at inner city schools, particularly in London, these do not attract aspiring heads easily because of perceived assumptions that there will be 'challenging' circumstances - low attainment and aspirations; probably behaviour and attendance issues.

  And of course, there are schools with 'clearly-defined difficulties': those categorised as causing concern or in special measures or similar, are not always viewed as attractive propositions.

  These problems exist now. But to these we must add what we might call the 'demographic time bomb' - the expected retirement of half of the current headteachers in only a couple of years' time, and the acknowledged fact that there will not be sufficient supply of aspiring heads from the traditional age profile to meet the needs of schools.

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  The challenge for governors is to plan ahead now to meet these new circumstances, but this will require quite a culture change, which may not be easy. The solution lies in moving beyond the obvious. Instead of looking to the 40 plus generation - the customary source of new head teachers - we must look to those in the profession who are 30 plus, or perhaps even younger. For many governors this will be a considerable shift of expectation: it is too often the 'accepted wisdom' that 20 years in the profession is a requirement for headship.

  So, we need to change - to recognise that 'quality' may be as valuable as 'quantity' in terms of experience. And to achieve this, we need to look first within our own schools and to encourage our current headteachers to identify potential future leaders. Then we must support them in providing opportunities for these younger teachers to take on responsibilities and leadership roles. It's time to be imaginative and innovative and to learn to speculate to accumulate.

  Of course a real broadening of experience may not always be within the capacity of one school and indeed, to do this effectively, provision should not be confined to one establishment. We must look beyond our own school gate. It has been the case in the past that the 'marketplace' created by the league tables, and related issues, has led to competition between schools. Now we are required to move on, to learn again the value of collaboration. The 'Every Child Matters' agenda and the move to extended schools have begun to create a climate for working together, but what is needed now is a real culture shift.

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  We need to work with other schools to allow talent to prosper, to let prospective leaders gain experience by spending time in other settings. This might be for a week, a month, half a term. And there must be reciprocal arrangements if we are to nurture the potential in younger staff and to allow them earlier opportunities to grow. A willing partnership will be key to success.

  And we need, above all, to understand that this must be seen, not as growing talent, only to lose to it to another school, as teachers aspire to headship and move on - but as a co-operative endeavour aimed at providing good future leaders for the benefit of all.

  I began by talking about the strategic role of the governing body. To prepare for the professional leadership of our schools is to take strategic planning an important step further. It is the path that we must follow. It's a high aspiration, but I don't believe that there is any alternative.