Have I worked myself into an 'unemployable' corner?

[Shadowboy]

I am in my 11th year of teaching. I have reached the top of the upper pay scale. So I'm 'expensive' compared to a newly qualified teacher. I'm really keen to take on a department or ideally a head of year (I love the pastoral side of my job) now here's the additional problem- I've only taught KS4 and KS5 in an FE context since 2010 so no contact with KS3 for many years. I've applied for 4 jobs (2 x HOD and 2 x HOY) and not been sifted despite a previous HOD reading through my application and saying it's well written and I have had an OFSED outstanding observation as well as consistently good KS4 and 5 results. I'm also a lead examiner for 2 exam boards in my subject area and have yearly CPD courses. So basically am I too expensive and specialised for most schools? Or is it just that I'm completing applications incorrectly?

Stick at it. At my current school the head really doesn't consider the cost of staff as he's appointing; he chooses the best. I've heard that's not the case everywhere, but it means you shouldn't despair.

My friend's a deputy head of a big secondary school and she says they look at the team before recruiting, so if everyone's experienced they'll bring in someone who's newly qualified etc. They have to have everything covered - if they don't have many examiners on the team, for example, that will be worth a lot.

Thanks folks- I'll keep applying although doesn't look hopeful for this year. Cut off is only a few weeks away

Hello. I'm on a similar thread at the moment. where I am bemoaning my inability to reach a shortlist. I've been at it for 10 -14 years now.. be warned!

I doubt it's the money ; you may well be right that you seem too specialised, although your exam board work helps.

If you want to progress pastorally (which is what I did) you'll maybe need to move into an actual school. Check out how much it values the pastoral side of things first, though -as not all schools do any more - or those roles go to non teachers (cheaper and they have more time as they don't have to leave their desk to do that pesky interference called teaching!!) There's not always good progression beyond pastoral either, bear in mind, if you're keen to progress even further. Pastoral skills are a bit undervalued. there's a tendency to find a loud, well-liked bloke who teaches PE and assume he can do the job!
What kinds of things are you applying for?

Sorry - you answered that question yourself...

I think you need to choose which one you want to do at first. You will find there aren't many pastoral jobs advertised externally.

As a non-teacher I find the quest for inexperienced/cheap staff slightly odd. If every teacher sticks it out and has a 40+ year career they will only be cheap for the first few years. Obviously some teachers move into management roles and other leave the profession, but even if that was half of them, you'd still expect quite a lot of staff in standard teaching roles to have taught for many years. Surely the supply of teachers means that schools have to accept that some of their teachers will be older and more expensive. Does the supply of teachers mean that it is actually feasible for every school to have a balanced staff?

There is more and more financial pressure on schools now, with cuts in funding and increased costs (pension, apprenticeship levy etc) so yes more schools are moving away from high cost staff where they can. But there is always a need to have some experience in each department, so just keep going, you will find the one eventually.

I do think arguments about 'cheap ' staff don't apply once you get to leadership posts, though. I'd expect most heads of year or large departments to have enough experience to be trusted to do the job. It's unusual to find one without at least one UPS point in a 'normal' school.

I suspect it's more to do with selling the validity of your experiences. Have you visited the schools you applied to?

What's your subject? For HOY posts that often comes into it, as a school will need to slot a HOY into the timetable. For HOD, if it's a more "specialist" subject (as opposed to core) then there are sometimes teachers in the school ready for promotion. Keep trying though - you never know what's round the corner.

If you haven't taught KS3 for some years I think it's unlikely you will be shortlisted for a HOY job involving KS3. Have you thought of applying for a teaching role in KS3 as a stepping stone? I've seen similar when recruiting DHT roles and applicants who are not in teaching roles any more but do other senior roles think they can step back into school leadership with no recent teaching experience. You need to be able to show relevance.

There are definitely financial pressures, and experienced staff are discounted because they cost too much - and management posts are the same, you would never have got a HoD job of a core subject after two years teaching when I started 19 years ago but I've heard of at least two schools appointing exactly that. Experience matters, but not in today's educational environment.

Interestingly lougle. We have just appointed head with eight years out of the classroom. There were only five applicants, mind you!

I think different schools manage financial pressures in different ways. A common approach is getting rid of teaching pastoral leaders. So, it's a small pool of posts to apply for there : probably means a bigger field of applicants. And twins is right : they often shortlist based on the need for the subject you teach in the school. In fact a head of sixth form post near me is specifying that applicants must be maths teachers (I reckon I'll see that readvertised !)

Is your CPD in anything pastoral? that would matter.

I think a HT role is different. You wouldn't expect a seasoned HT to have been in the classroom much.

But if a post has a teaching component or is expected to inspire and lead teachers in performance, then it's reasonable to expect the applicant to demonstrate they can 'walk the walk'.

Ah OK - think I may not have understood what you were saying. What were these senior roles people were doing before applying? Were they out of schools?

When I said 8 years out of the classroom btw ,I meant out of schools.
He hadn't had a headship yet.
He was a good candidate in lots of other ways though.

I have both CPD in pastoral and subject based areas.

I don't think I'd be selected for a sideways step as for standard teaching roles I would be expensive NQT is what? £23,000? I'm £38,000 - you could employ an additional TA for the difference between us.

Sadly my current place of work people just stay for years... my boss has been there for 24 years....

Shadow , I feel your pain. We also have a very stable (and quite nepotistic...) staff!

Emphasise the importance of your CPD when you apply. Work something in that shows how it improved your practice and/or your knowledge.

Are you being too ambitious? Have you looked for roles that are stepping stones to Hoy or Hod ,such as leading a KS in your subject area . I don't think assistant year heads are ever advertised externally - but taking on something like safeguarding (if allowed!) might help your portfolio.