Deputy head.... should I? Advice please!

[User65412]

Hi everyone! I'm looking for some advice. I've been teaching 9 years and am at the top of ups3 in a large primary. I'm currently on mat leave but saw a job advertised for deputy head at a very small village primary. I applied and have an interview next week. I know I'm getting ahead of myself but I really don't know what to do if they offer me the job. I live very rurally so opportunities like this are few and far between and I would love to be a head one day. However, I am very happy at my current school and most importantly have my workload completely sussed and manageable - I work hard but no longer for endless hours in the evenings and on weekends like I did for the first few years. It almost made me leave teaching and I just don't know if I can go back to that - especially now I have a baby. Are there any primary deputies out there that can tell me honestly what it's like? The job is only 1 day out of class, maths lead and DDSL as well.

The smaller the school the more jobs everyone does. The hardest I ever worked was as acting deputy in a school with 103 children - I taught a mused year 1/2 class and was subject lead for all foundation subjects (not PE) and maths.

Small schools are hard hard work.

Thanks @toomuchicecream. This is what I'm worried about. Problem is at my school there's no way to move up. We have assistant heads but they are young and paid more than heads of smaller schools in our county so unlikely to move! So tricky.

Have you checked how the salary compares to UPS3? L1 = MPS + TLR…

I think it depends entirely on how robust your childcare is and the sort of hours your child’s other parent works. If they can pick up a lot of slack then I’d go for the interview with the mindset that you are interviewing them, ask them what time people usually arrive and leave and see what feel you get. I think it’s also worth considering whether it’s a case of right job, wrong time.

I have a friend who started a deputy role in a single form entry school when pregnant so only did just over a term before mat leave. The Head went on mat leave while she was off so the deputy returned to work as acting head. It was tough. Very tough. But they’ve now got a good routine going where one works 4 days and the other 3 and they are co-heads and it’s working well for them. So it could work well for you and you won’t know unless you find out more. Good luck!

I’m a primary deputy in a small school. I was deputy for 4 years before having my first baby. And I had my second one 4 years later (now). I’m on maternity leave and will be going back as deputy but I’m handing my notice in at the end of the school year. I’m a successful deputy but I know that the level of workload isn’t what I want for me and my family longer term. You might think differently and manage it differently but I have similar release time to what you describe but I always have to spend Sundays planning for my class. Deputy things take up the weekday time. I’m done hiding away from my own children on Sundays.

If you're worried about working too hard, stay out of senior leadership

How small is very small? Our school of 60 doesn't have a deputy, just a senior teacher. The job is pretty thankless from what I can tell. Would the head be on site every day? Our senior teacher is essentially the head 2 or 3 days a week but for little of the pay or status. Working in a small school I also spend much longer planning than I used to due to mixed year group classes and no one to share the load with. I love it though - can't imagine going back to being in a big school.

@ISayPotato I'm not worried about working too hard - it's my belief that you can work very hard, do an excellent job and still have a couple of hours free each evening and on the weekends, even if you're part of SLT. I'm guessing that's not the case for you?
I was shortlisted for interview but didn't get the job. It was great experience though and I'm glad I went for it. Thanks for everyone's advice on here.
@Sparkles715 thanks for your input - that's exactly what I was worried about. Hope you enjoy all the Sundays off with your children!

Sorry to hear you didn't get it OP. Hope the right job comes along for you soon.