How long should headteacher stay at school?

[Southseabelle]

Whats your general experience of how long heads stay at schools?

Is it a sign of a dynamic school if the head changes often or a sign of something else?

Back when I was at school heads seemed to be there for ages - I think my headmaster had been there 5ish years when I joined and left a few years after me so in total he had 12+ years in post.

Whats caused me to think about this is that yesterday I found out that DCs' school head is leaving and I feel we've hardly got to know her.

This is Portsmouth Grammar School so hardly a failing school but the head after 3 years is going on to bigger and better things (in this case a Kings College School in London
www.kcs.org.uk/senior-school/news/kings-college-wimbledon-governors-announce-head-s-appointment) and I am feeling slightly annoyed at her lack of loyalty.

Or am I being unreasonable?; do we expect more from our teachers? Or is head at one school just another job for someone on the way up?

We had one who lasted 2 terms. Does that help?

Following on from these discussions the Portsmouth Grammar School announced to all parents the new head yesterday to replace the departing Dr Cotton.

They have gone for David Wickes who is current head of Merchant Taylors School in Crosby - www.pgs.org.uk/new-head-announced-pgs/ .

I hope will stay longer than the current head and see changes through. (Although interestingly he has only been head at the current school for three years so maybe 3-4 years is becoming the standard spell for head teachering) He also has experience of turning around schools - I think PGS could do with a lift after the past few years

@Jumpalicious
That is much more than a prime minster's pay!!

think if you get an ambitious head under 50 then they're unlikely to stay long? JAGs in Dulwich had this with their previous head - think she was just settling in when she got offered St Paul's school and took it. Not ideal for JAGs but understandable from her perspective?

Alleyns has been a funny one - the head banged on for years about why co ed was the only way to educate kids. until he got offered the Westminster job and suddenly went v quiet about coeducation....

The most dynamic heads are often more ambitious and career minded than those who stay many years in the same post. In terms of prestigious jobs, Kings is quite a step up from Portsmouth Grammar. Private schools can be brutal in that regard!

Yes I agree Kings is quite a step up but I think in a way it will be easier as the head's role is different.

Although there is strong competition from others schools across SW/SE London Kings has a wide range of potential pupils who can pass the entrance exam and parents who can afford the fees and are happy to buy into the prestige within the area in which the school operates. Portsmouth on the other hand has a far fewer number of parents who are awealthy enough to send their children to the school. The head has to do far more work in promoting the school and engaging with potential primary schools and parents to get the 120-150 pupils a year in each year. Hopefully the new head who is used to working in the Merseyside area will be better at the promotion and being a presence in the local area.

Non of any parents business?
Teachers and HT have their own career paths they are following.
Same as other adults.
A HT might decide to move for a million reasons

@FrippEnos

3 years is just enough time to see if the changes that are implement are going to fuck the school over. 5 years will see the first co-hort through and have implement changes to what didn't work. 7 years to get everything fully settled and embedded.

This

@GrandmasCat

I don’t know. Our brilliant headteacher stayed for almost 20 years just for the next headteacher to find out he left such a mess bot in finances and academic stuff that the only reason why our brilliant school was not put in Special Measures was because we had already got a new headteacher, who is doing a far better job than the previous one.

Change is good.

I'm a Governor and as I started this happened. I was sceptical before then realised how bad the smoke & mirrors was

The mixed intake well performing (for all) state high my DC go to has a HT who is amazing. Genuine all round education for all & a ton of extra curricular. Secure safe environment. I hope he doesn't leave for 7 years!!

More than two years to get settled and start changing school culture is necessary. Sixty-six years in harness, as for Frank Boyden at Deerfield Academy is way too much. He was much loved, but heads of school are too tired after seventy to lead effectively. Deerfield is still a very traditional school, now coed, but with plenty of misogyny and unequal opportunities for girls.

@ChnandlerBong

think if you get an ambitious head under 50 then they're unlikely to stay long? JAGs in Dulwich had this with their previous head - think she was just settling in when she got offered St Paul's school and took it. Not ideal for JAGs but understandable from her perspective?

Alleyns has been a funny one - the head banged on for years about why co ed was the only way to educate kids. until he got offered the Westminster job and suddenly went v quiet about coeducation....

In those 5 years at JAGS the impact was significant, in my view. The old JAGS head been there for years (not sure how long) and JAGS had the reputation of a hot house. Mrs Huang made a significant impact on pastoral care and the well being of girls. I hope the tone has been set and the new head seems to have taken up the mantle. They are slowly shaking off the hot house rep. Interestingly, an academic boys school is never described in the same way.

My point is, a head staying in place for many years is not necessarily a good thing and a relatively short headship can still have a positive impact.

This is quite common with heads in certain parts of the independent school sector. It basically attracts some people who are incredibly ambitious and careerist. Which is fine, except that I'm not sure it's a job which is done well by people whose main interest is serving their own career. My main worry here looking at her CV would be that she has barely taught and can't have done any job for very long at all - I am now on my third "set" of SLT in the school I work at - none of the ones who did the job for a very short period of time were any good. I also have to wonder what the point is - there is nowhere up for her to go now really, so unless she wants to do something else aged 45 (fine and perhaps that is so), what's left?

Erm low pay? Not for the top indie school heads.

@Jumpalicious the poster you quoted made it clear that she was talking about state schools. Top independent schools are a whole other world, and a tiny proportion of secondary schools.

Of course there's no shortage of heads in a top indie, and the salaries are higher. Who'd want to do the job in a state secondary, I've no idea. I suspect they're entirely different jobs.

@saraclara I suppose bright, tenacious, ambitious people who really believe in state education and are aren't chasing just a salary.
There are some absolutely incredible ones. They don't have to spend time on sales and marketing and parent pleasing in the same way that fee paying heads have to, so their skills are very different.

@Toastfiendish
What’s left? Plenty. Chair of quangos. Chair of a charity. Adviser on education all over the world. Lots of possibilities open up.

Lots of heads on the up don’t stay long in the lower ranking schools. Even when heads have done 13 years at a school as deputy and head, parents grumbled at our private school. It’s only to be expected they will move if they are any good. New parents but into the vision of the head and don’t want change. However the best can move on very quickly. Few independent heads need to teach for many years. Their role isn’t about leading from the front re teaching. It’s far more about PR, dynamics of the school, ethos, development, recruitment, finances and of course results. Lots can be delegated to others in private schools!

This is an interest thread. I dug this out and wonder what would happen to DCs' schools.

DS2's primary school.

Our "what-a-brilliant" headteacher just started before Covid taking over from a head who had run the school from Outstanding to a downgraded "Good" (shortly after her well-timed retirement 5 years on post). DS1 is about to leave the school this year, whilst DS2 just started... 6 more years to go.

I doubt she'd stay longer than the next Ofsted inspection - the school is heading upwards back to "Outstanding" in my view. I initially had doubt on her, as she's so young and has such a strong character (I had really awful experience with young leaders at previous company. So quite a bit bias there!). But it turned out, she's probably the best head a school could have! Deep caring and full of energy - I think that makes a difference!

DS1's secondary school (pending an offer in March!)

Used to be one of the best schools in the region. But a new head took over 8 years ago seemed to have altered the caring environment they inherited from the previous head. People complaining it's becoming a cold and uncaring place aiming at hothousing only. We might have the choice between this and another school which is grammar but 1 hours commute. With mind previously was set on this school, I'm half way thinking if it's really suitable for DS1...

Just looked at the previous heads history, most of them only stayed just about 10 years, including the previous well-loved head. I'm a bit surprised, as I thought schools like this which has long history tend to have heads staying much longer in the past. But I kind of wonder that the current head seems to be quite ambitious and may not stay more than 10 years... That would mean another change of head, after DS1 just starts...

Anyway, just some thoughts that I have a the moment. Not sure if worth anyone to follow!

If we are talking independent schools, which PGS is, personally, I think moving on after 3 years suggests to me that a head may not have been a good fit for the school or vice versa.