What it takes

BBC: Ofsted 'can deter would-be heads'

Ofsted inspection pressures deter talented teachers from taking on the top jobs in schools, research suggests.

A National Association of Head Teachers survey of 500 members found 86% thought the impact of Ofsted meant potential head teachers were put off applying.

Yeah, and I could have been a great ballerina, if only I'd been prepared to lose a few pounds and go through the sex-change.

Stop bloody whinging. Dealing with Ofsted inspections is part of the job of being a head teacher. You can't pick and choose which aspects of the role you want to fulfil. Managing a school requires an entirely different set of skills to overseeing a class of kids. If you don't think you've got what it takes, don't apply for the bloody job.

Simple as that.

Richard Carter

A fat, bearded chap with a Charles Darwin fixation.

6 comments

  1. "If you don't think you've got what it takes, don't apply for the bloody job." ... and that's the problem, too many teachers are taking your advice, and now there aren't enough Headteachers!

  2. They should recruit from outside the teaching profession. You don't need to have been a teacher to be a head teacher. Get some proper managers in there.

  3. You're right about that - then Heads could concentrate on education not on drains and leaking roofs.

  4. Unfortunately, you don'tneed to know the job to become a manager. Someone willshow you how to blag it.There is no substitute for experience.

    Information is not knowledge...Knowledge is not wisdom...etc. etc.

  5. The point I'm trying (unsuccessfully, apparently) to make is that the management (head teacher) job is a totally different kettle of fish to a teacher's job. Horses for courses, and all that.

  6. I think anyone who has been managed by someone who doesn't know how to dotheir job will tell you that it's a recipe for bad decisions and resentment. It's not perhaps so much of an issue in a large corporation where most people's direct managers have a knowledge of their jobs and the higher management don't actually have to deal with the staff directly. Shcools are very flat structured and I reckon a "manager" head will find it harder than you think.

    I agree that the headteacher's management job is quite different from front-line teaching, but without first-hand experience of what the teaching job involves, they will have to work very hard not to make decisions which would be obviously absurd to an experienced hand.

    All that said, I agree that Ofsted is part of the job, and if it's preventing enough good heads being recruited then those with the potential should have the opportunity to train in the new skills they will need for promotion. Dealing with Ofsted is clearly one of them.

    Wish we were playing scrabble with spam-codes. I have XYQQX!

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