Head of English or Head of Year dilemma

[Pmc1234]

Hi there, I would really appreciate some objective advice. I work at a great school and I am currently Head of Y6 but an opportunity has come up to become Head of English. I love my job and working with lots of parents and children is incredibly rewarding. The head of English is available and as I work in the department, I know I’m in with a good shout of getting it. My dilemma is that on one hand, head of a core subject is an interesting role with accountability and challenges, but i really enjoy my current role which I’ve been doing for two years - I work with lots of families and students and enjoy the unpredictability and relationships you build. I aspire to move into senior leadership and I would be genuinely interested in whether this is a step up, or whether I should stick to being a head of year. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated. Many thanks

From a career progression point of view, if you have done the role for a couple of years, getting experience in another area is a good move. Head of a core subject is definitely a step towards SLT as you will be line managing others too. But if pastoral is what really interests you, subject leadership might bore you. It is a lot of admin and data, and I say that as a subject leader who loves the role!