Looking for some advice on career progression

[IJustHadToLookHavingReadTheBook]

Hello!

Looking for some help with what to say in a meeting for my DH. I'm a teacher too so have some pointers but looking for some hive mind.

Husband has been a head of faculty encompassing four humanities subjects in the same school for 7yrs, teaching for 14yrs total (he was a head of history for 4yrs before that). He's very hard working and produces a lot of stuff for the faculty. He's geography trained, which is important as he's the only geographer in the whole school and runs their GCSE and A Level. He's the only one teaching geography at exam level, one man band.

Last year he was passed over for an assistant head post- told he was second in line but there was just a better external. Fair enough.

One of the subjects he heads up was deep dived in a recent OFSTED and he absolutely knocked it out of the park. Inspector was so impressed with him that he was mentioned in the report as having helped turn around this subjects fortunes. He was personally congratulated by the head and Chair of Governors together. Lovely stuff.

He's just applied for an assistant head job at another school with an interview for next week. He told the head he was applying and when he was called for interview he was pulled in for a meeting with SLT asking what they could do to keep him. He said he wants more responsibility, whole school responsibly and more money. They said that was fair enough and that they was sure there was something they could do to offer him what he wanted. Things floated in this meeting were an associate assistant head job and giving him a whole school project that he would be paid an extra TLR for.

Today he was told that they'd met and worked out that there was no money to do either of those things. Instead they could offer him a whole school project to do for free, but he would be paid by a mentorship from the SIP (!) they've asked that if he accepts this that he doesn't go to the interview.

He- understandably- thinks this is an insult. He's got a meeting with them tomorrow to refuse this, but wants a list of things to say about why this is an insult and why he won't take it and why he's worth more.

I'd really appreciate your help. Thanks in advance.

Don't let him go in with a list. They know it's a crappy offer and there's no need to tell them and burn bridges when he's likely to need a reference soon.

Bluntly, if his present school wanted to make him an AH they would have done so by now. If he is ambitious and wants to move into senior leadership then seven years in the same middle leadership role with no progression and no opportunities to lead whole-school is a long time. If he stays any longer it will be too long.

It's time for him to focus his attentions on moving on. Tomorrow's conversation can be very simple: 'I'm looking for a permanent promoted role, with a senior leadership portfolio and a commensurate salary on the leadership scale. I have been very happy here but if I need to apply elsewhere to find this then I will. I am going to attend the interview next week.'

Good luck to him

I agree, I don't think he needs a list to say why it is an insult.
Just say that he is committed to wanting an assistant head post, he sees this as the next step in his career, and if he doesn't get this job, he will continue to apply for suitable jobs when they come up.
He's clearly doing an amazing job, and they want to keep him but on the cheap. It's ridiculous schools do this!

How did it go @IJustHadToLookHavingReadTheBook?