How important is the headteacher?

[lickthewrapper]

Hi all,

We're looking at secondary schools to send our DD(10y) to. I was just wondering how important you think it is to personally like the headteacher of a school? Would you overlook it if the school seemed really good, but head was kind of pretentious, a little distant, maybe a little snobby? Would that be a red flag to you? Does the headteacher factor at all into your decision?

You don't have to like the headteacher, they just have to be good at their job, and supportive of the students.

Is the head who the students have to see, or is there a separate senior school/junior school head, head of year etc?

Far less important than they think.

To be fair, a good head can make a huge difference to a school but don’t expect them to be involved with pupils very much at secondary level.

Heads can move on, so I wouldn't make it a big factor in your decision about a school tbh.

When we were looking at secondaries, I did feel there was a bit of a trend to have a 'charismatic' head, not all of whom impressed me.

My child attended separate infant and junior schools and had a change of head in both. In fact, the secondary head is also leaving so if we'd picked a school based on the leadership factor we'd have been disappointed!

I don't think my child is causing heads to depart btw although I do slightly dread the inevitable rash of new initiatives that follow an appointment.

My dcs' is substance over style. A nice chap but not particularly charismatic and doesn't do brilliant sales pitches but runs the school very well.

I have had two children at two different secondary schools. One had an excellent head the other is really quite poor. There is amazing difference in both schools. The excellent head ran the local secondary modern and my child did amazingly well there. The other school is a state selective grammar and the head and his senior leadership team are just poor, it reflects in everything about the school. As you can tell I'm very disappointed in his school, it could be great but it really is not.

The Head really says everything about the ethos of a school. A secondary head is not the same as a primary head in that they tend to be less visible but should have their finger on the pulse. They should be ensuring the highest quality teaching, making sure they have an innovative curriculum that meets the needs of DC, ensuring that teachers are supported regarding behaviour policies to eliminate low level poor behaviour that prevents learning and make sure the school supports SEN and other disadvantaged groups. Lots more! Being a Head is a massive job. Not everyone can do it and their personality might not be outwardly friendly but if a Head has great staff, gets good results, good progress and other good stats, then you probably have a good Head.

The Head might move on but you need to trust a school to keep all the balls in the air - any new head must be able to do this. It’s vital. So less about personality - more about skills at secondary level.

A bad head can make a huge difference to a school - staff leave and morale is poor, which feeds down to the kids.

Ask about staff turnover, what percentage of teachers left last year.

It's not about if you like the head or not, it's about how good the HT is. Look at staff turnover if you can, ask for the behaviour management policy, how their pastoral care is run, how they manage the SEN department, and how they manage 'gifted and talented' children. These are often telling aspects of the school. If every bid of efforts is towards 'academics' the SEN department will suffer.

I do take the Headteacher into account when choosing a school and more so for my child with SN than my child without. It's not really about liking them though, its more about seeing if what they believe in is the same I believe in for education. I also see any indication of whether staff are happy or not and ask students about how often teachers change.

I find in secondary there's less of a direct influence on my kids as at primary but its still there.

I think the head is really important. The head sets the whole tone of the school. A good one will ensure that the staff are motivated, the kids behave and everyone works hard.

If the head is bad, the staff are pissed off, bullying gets out of hand, and both kids and teachers are cutting corners.

I think the head is hugely important - not necessarily the version that they portray to parents, but the leadership / support they offer to the staff working in the school as that can change the dynamics entirely. Have observed a good school slide to a decidedly average school as a result of new Head.

An incompetent head or one who treats staff badly can have a very detrimental effect on a school, but as a parent I wouldn't reject a school on the basis that the head didn't appeal to me on a personal level.

Thank you so much for all your input! I think the head teacher in question didn't really appeal to me on a personal level, but the school overall seems to be pretty good. I guess my concern was if the head teacher seemed aloof and distant and kind of unapproachable, would a child who needed help feel able to or encouraged to talk about it with him or his staff. I guess the feeling I got from the rest of his staff was one of openness and a willingness to engage. But something felt a little "off" about the head teacher.

Reading with interest - I went to an Open Evening earlier in the week and felt exactly the same about the headteacher. I just didn't warm to her and also wondered how important that is. DH seems to think it's not a big deal but I think it matters. Hmm...

A secondary school pupil in large secondary school will have very little to do with the head. They will see the head in an occasional assembly and possibly for a praise event, and for the opposite - exclusions although these are often handled by deputies. Some heads like a wander round the school and will appear on duty at break/lunch, but the majority of heads I’ve worked for have been fairly distant from the pupils. The first person pupils and parents are told to approach in school is their form tutor or head of year. If you are concerned about pupils approaching staff, then ask the pupils on a tour, who do you talk to if you are worried.
Signs a head is not doing a great job, unhappy staff (and you can tell as the facade can slip) high staff turnover, results on a decline, behaviour declining.

Be a little bit careful about staff turnover. It’s not always a sign of a school head having problems with staff. I know excellent heads where staff have moved away (with higher earning husbands), get promotion elsewhere to a senior post, or sometimes leave because of elderly parents and not coming back after having a baby. It’s not always dissatisfaction with their employment and other factors are often present. Staff occasionally might be seconded or doing further training so are not actually at the school. However staff who are enthusiastic (or not) tells a story.

Heads do walks around schools and many will pride themselves on knowing DC but a child wouldn’t expect to see the Head with an issue and neither would you in the first or even second instance. They are doing a managerial role so they delegate, as any Chief Executive would. That’s why getting and keeping high class teachers is vital.