Moving to RI school

[Thisismynewusernamedoyoulikeit]

Would it be sensible to move to a school that has a recent requires improvement ofsted? Is it likely to be more difficult/stressful? It would be on middle leadership. Good pay rise, but I'm concerned about workload.

I’ve literally just done this. Was at my previous school for 21 years and spent 17 of those as a headteacher.

The new CEO of the academy trust wanted me to implement a turnaround plan for a school that was graded RI earlier this year back in March and the previous headteacher resigned before dismissal.

Obviously my experience will be different as a head for sure but I can absolutely guarantee to you as a middle leader, you will have much more pressure than what you have at your current school and the workload will increase and chances are you probably won’t have much of a worklife balance than what you do now.
I hold my Deputies, Assistant Heads and HoDs to more accountability and they are also the driving force in the step change. If you succeed, it will be a great opportunity to progress your career further.
Ride the rough with the smooth!!

I've just done this. Moved from an outstanding school to be HoD in an RI school. The workload is insane and I have no life let alone a worklife balance. It's very stressful. But the changes are rapid and there's a strong sense of comradery. If it's a school intent on changing, it can be a positive change, but if they don't acknowledge their problems, then they won't change.

Would it be sensible? It depends! I once joined a school in special measures. Before I arrived, it was judged to be in special measures and the Head was gone the next day.

A new Head was in place a few months later, and I was invited to join "the journey" under new leadership as I knew the Head. It was stressful yes, with weekly visits from school improvement teams and the local authority but the journey to improvement was really rewarding. It was fun in some ways, to improve the school for the children. The Head assembled a team of dedicated staff, who all helped each other to turn it around.

Expectations from the school improvement team was very low (as the school was graded so lowly), so when they actually see some half decent teaching, you get praised etc, when they can see the school being turned around. We got graded good, two and a half years later.

You need to investigate what the leadership team is like. If it's the same leadership team, before the school was inspected, then I would do your research. Behaviour is likely to be poor etc. If the Head seems strong, supportive and is determined to make change, it could be good. The risk you take is that behaviour is dreadful and you are put into impossible situations with week leadership and staff on their knees. Do your research I would say.

I really appreciate the responses. Lots of food for thought! I've worked in schools of different ratings, but earlier in my career, so I was wondering how it would be at this stage.

It partially depends what RI is for, too.

RI mainly based on teaching and learning/ results will come with a completely different amount of stress for subject-based middle leaders compared to a school that is in RI because of safeguarding issues or behaviour.

I'd steer clear of any school with RI in leadership; the poor leadership team often stays and merely undergoes a reshuffle in responsibilities, and working under poor leadership can mean an even higher workload for staff than it needs to be, whereas in an inadequate school they can get replaced and things can turn around rapidly.

I have worked as a middle leader in RI schools for years; some ended up good, some were forever RI and some went inadequate. Whether I stayed or left always depended on school leadership.

I am living this now. Joined current RI school in September as HoD (first official HoD post - only been acting before).
It is tough, no question. School improvement team are trying really hard to embed new systems for behaviour and T&L but staff turnover last year was huge, so pupils assume all new staff are supply and behave accordingly.
I came from a school that went from Outstanding when I started as an NQT, to RI, then back to Good so I've seen how improvement can happen but as PP have said, it depends on the reasons. RI Leadership that hasn't changed probably won't, sadly.
If you're committed and determined you can be part of the change, but it very much depends on your personal situation as regards the impact on your work/life balance. My kids are older now and more independent so I can give more to the job. 5 years ago when they needed me more, no chance could I have reasonably made it work, but everybody's famy/support system is different.
As we approach the end of this first (ridiculously long) half term, I feel like I'm starting to get ahead and get a handle on things but I won't pretend that my overriding thought in the first few weeks was "what the F* have I done?!?!".
Sorry this ended up being longer than I intended, so well done if you have stuck with it.
Feel free to PM me for anything if you want/need. 🙂