First headship

[newtermnewstart]

Hi,

I'm going for my first headship after having moved to a new area.

I have the initial walk around visit this week. I've done my homework on the school, know the context, it's PP & Send numbers, have read through everything about the curriculum and data/results available on the website, and all else on the site, have read the recent ofsted and have questions/discussion points planned out based on all the above.

I was at my previous school for a long time and rose up through the ranks to deputy there so I've not interviewed somewhere unknown for a quite a while.

What else can I do to make sure I'm fully prepared for the 'informal' chat/school tour to help me stand out?

Thanks

An exciting time in your career though albeit nervous too! I’m a HT and I remember back to early 2007 when I was going through the application process for headship - although I was deputy at that school.

Doing your homework as you already have done shows the interest you have in the role. Although the informal chat /tour is for you to get a feel of the school, I have shortlisted candidates based on how they come across on these days.

Having an insight into the last OFSTED report is good if it’s recent. You will know what needs to be done etc.
If it is years ago then not really useful as it is historic and a lot will have changed since then!! In my last school, we were inspected by OFSTED in 2011 and didn’t have another inspection until 2019 - a whole 8 years!

League tables are a good indicator into school performance and how students performed at exams. I’m guessing given the time of year, the proposed start date for the role is April or September 2025? If you were successful and it’s the former then you won’t really have much impact as such as a Head for this academic year as you’ll only be starting just weeks before exam season, but come next September you will.

When it comes to the day itself. I’d be engaging in conversations with everyone from the current HT and senior leadership team, teachers and support staff also. You want to give them a good impression as their prospective future leader.
The current HT would be able to give you a strong insight to the school too so if you do get shortlisted you can use this information to your advantage.

Go and visit the local area so you understand the catchment more. Read the local paper online, join a local Facebook group, look up what clubs and facilities there are for children of the age group that attend the school, where does the school feed from and send on to?

Absolutely good ideas there. With the power of social media you can indeed establish more information about a school!

Thank you both.

I've done some local research and visited the area where the school is at different times of the day. Lots of googling!

The ofsted was last year; they did well, 2 development areas & both areas I have a lot of experience with, so I hope that will help.

I too have recommended - or not - candidates when I've led the tour on behalf of the head in the past. So I'm anxious to make the right impression.