What makes a great Head of Department?

[EnglishHOD]

Name changed for this so as not to out self!

I'm moving schools in september - same job, bigger department, lots of new staff.

I've got a pretty good idea what I'm doing in terms of curriculum, but haven't line managed this many people before. I want to set the right tone from the start so am interested in views: what makes a good head of department? (Or a bad one?) What do you like about your HOD? (or don't!)

Thank you!

be open with your department, let them know what is going on

When I starting my first teaching job, our HOD was "hot" on resource sharing which really made my life a lot easier (and the admin staff & other teachers). It was in the days before online electronic sharing, so it was done in a series of lever arch files. Rather than writing my own materials, I could refer to the file, pick out the sheets I wanted and the admin staff would photocopy/print them off for me (They had most in electronic format in a directory structure). That was an absolute godsend at first when I was finding my feet. In return, he expected his teachers to put back into the file whenever they created anything new, although that usually happened automatically if the admin staff were asked to type out a new hand-written worksheet as they'd automatically save it in the general files.

When power point and projectors came in, our HOD must have spent hours on creating "generic" power point presentations which he wanted the teachers to use as far as possible, and again, it saved us all re-inventing the wheel.

As you can guess, he was very keen on standardisation, not only to reduce the time we were all spending on writing similar materials, but also so that all teachers were consistent which helped when we had to cover eachothers' classes or when moving between levels.

Good things about my HoD:

• very clear about when deadlines are and sticks to them
• incredibly professional
• listens to my ideas even though he his much more experienced than me

Bad things:

• never says thanks
• can be dismissive if something doesn't affect him
• doesn't insist that people with tlrs actually do their jobs, just passes it on as "that's Dave's responsibility" without realising that I know it is Dave's responsibility but Dave isn't doing it so I can't do my job properly!

Try to achieve the right balance between between consulting your team and making decisions by committee.

Always have time for people: easier said than done!

Don't take the piss. Recognise it when you are asking or expecting people to do more than their job, and thank them.

Don't ask them to do anything you can't do yourself.

Follow up behaviour.

Think about the impact of changes on workload.

Plan, plan, plan: put in place a crystal clear curriculum and assessment map.

Accept that people will make mistakes and don't go in all guns blazing.

Get/advocate for resources for your team. I have a new and inexperienced HOD and have had to provide at my own expense stationery, board pens, etc because she didn't think to order anything until months into the year. To be fair, the budget is tiny, but I feel it's her job to advocate to improve that!

Remember to give praise when you can and give feedback promptly after observations. Receiving criticism but no praise has been a direct contributor to my deciding not to remain at my current school. She did say some nice things about my contribution when I resigned. Don't leave it till then!

The fact you are even asking suggests you'll be fine, though...

Oh - don't complain someone's not marking enough and then ignore their epic efforts to mark more!

To add to what I already said...
Don't moan to your department about photocopying charges, but then blatantly copy things in colour for your own classes (ten times more expensive here).
Or, insist on department meetings when they're not in the calendar. The goodwill won't last long.
Just treat people like they're your team, and for the most part, you're on their side, to sum it up.

Every once in a while have some team building time with your department. Its easier said than done but my team had lunch at nando's the other week. It got us out of school and was a little treat.

I took over my team from the last HOD who took an AVP role - she was amazing, always supportive but honest, solutions minded and careful with our time. If a meeting could be done over email rather than taking our time then it was.

And food to each meeting is great. But mostly try to understand how your team already works and fit into that for at least the first term before changing anything drastic. I feel as though a brand new HOD would be received as well as a brand new teacher would be to students. You meed to earn trust and respect before making changes really. Good luck!

We have a 20minute morning meeting every week and the HOD always provides breakfast. Always be approachable and be one of the team.

Thank you all. I'm still reading. Really appreciating the comments.

The best line managers I had always did the worst jobs themselves and delegated the jobs that others might actually enjoy.

The worst line manager left the building before kids were even out of his room and never spoke to me! He made it clear that he only did the jobs that suited him and left all the other crap for me to do (only two full time in dept).