Struggling to recruit SLT?

[good96]

Is any other school out there struggling to recruit for senior leadership team vacancies at the moment? We’ve had an AHT vacancy advertised since May and haven’t been able to attract the right candidate so far.
We have appointed someone temporarily in the role but they have mentioned that they’ll only do the job for a year. They have been in post since the summer half term in June and given the lengthy notice periods that roles often have, I’m starting to panic if I am honest.

Secondary or primary? Secondary AHT roles are very competitive around here at the moment. Don’t worry too much about notice periods. It’s usually only headteachers who have to give longer notice.

Secondary. We never had a problem when we last recruited a few years ago, but we’re struggling this time. All seem to be getting is HoD’s who have been in their current post for less than 2-3 years with limited experience or track record.

The person covering the role at the moment is a very experienced HoD and would be someone who we would appoint permanently but they are planning to take semi retirement next year and go part time and don’t want the added responsibility.

We can't recruit middle leadership. Usually they are the ones that go pretty quickly.

All seem to be getting is HoD’s who have been in their current post for less than 2-3 years with limited experience or track record.

Do you absolutely need more than this though? Time served generally doesn't tell you much about who will be good in a leadership role. Everyone has to get their first job at the level somewhere - is your school particularly challenging that it needs someone with a lot of years experience?

What's the salary range? We have recently recruited for AHT in a large city, L10-L15, and we had over forty applicants, half of whom were shortlistable. Quite a few were current middle leaders and I agree that this isn't necessarily a problem.

If you are looking for a fully-formed experienced AHT to make a sideways move you are going to have to pay accordingly, with scope for progression in the range.

My previous school recruited two new AHTs last year, but both were making the move up from middle leadership. I also know an AHT who has said he wouldn't make a sideways move at this stage, as he thinks it would be bad for his career (he wants to become a head teacher eventually).

As others have said, to attract an AHT from another school, you'd need to give them some incentive to move, which generally would mean a pay increase.

And lots of people do get internal promotion relatively quickly now- people who have been in a HoD/HoY post for a long time tend to not want to move up any further.

Is there anyone internal who lacks some of the experience you want, but could be supported in the role?

I’m SLT looking for a sideways move. The thing that puts me off applying is that I want to know what an average week looks like in terms of start / finish times but nowhere seems to advertise this and I worry I’ll look unprofessional if I contact the school to ask (I’m not lazy or workshy, just have childcare to organise). I’d happily take a pay cut for a better work-life balance than I have now.

@voxnihili SLT at our school work ridiculous hours. None of us envy them even with the additional pay / title.

That’s the thing with SLT. Teachers who aspire to progress don’t really see the full extent of what is required in a senior leadership position. My working day usually starts from 6.30am when I will check the emails before heading into school. Arrive at school at 7.15/7.30 and I’m there most days until gone 6/6.30 sometimes later if there is a function on. I used to always work from home in the evenings too but my lifestyle became unhealthy now so I like to keep my evenings and weekends as free or minimal from work unless I have to.
I’ve been a HT since 2007 and luckily over the years I have had incredible Deputies and Assistant Heads who have supported me incredibly. I’d dread to think doing the job without that support.
In regards to my initial post, we’ve had a couple more applicants apply - we’re doing interviews first week in Jan, with the view to them starting after Easter or Whitsun.

I hope you find someone suitable.

Thinking about it, I wonder if the reason for a lack of applicants might also be the Easter start? I've only ever seen SLT move for a September start, unless they were retiring.

I feel like a lot of people in secondary see it as bad form to move mid year now, and even more so for those in leadership roles.

Update to the post - we were finally successful in our recruitment drive. We appointed someone who is an experienced AHT up country and is relocating to the area. They start with us after easter!

That’s the thing with SLT. Teachers who aspire to progress don’t really see the full extent of what is required in a senior leadership position. My working day usually starts from 6.30am when I will check the emails before heading into school. Arrive at school at 7.15/7.30 and I’m there most days until gone 6/6.30

It's heads like this that create a culture where lowly classroom teachers need to check their emails late in the evening and upon waking before setting off for work as there will be multiple things to act on outside of working hours.

What an unnecessarily mean-spirited post. You have no idea if that is what the OP does.

Thanks to the marvellous invention of the schedule send button there’s no need for emails
to arrive outside of working hours, even if they were drafted and sent early or late.