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Where will the next generation of school leaders come from?

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For the first time, NAHT’s Annual Conference will debate issues facing the teachers who are becoming the next generation of school leaders. NAHT Edge is the association’s new section specifically for teachers who combine classroom responsibilities with managing colleagues, giving them a unique and important perspective on the challenges facing schools today.

Louis Coiffait who leads NAHT Edge said: “It’s time to be frank, we’re facing a recruitment crisis at all stages of the education system. Until we address it at each of those stages, there’s no chance that we’ll have the quantity or quality of head teachers we need in the future. That’s why we set up NAHT Edge – to give the next generation of school leaders the support they need to overcome the challenges they’ll face in their careers.”

Data from over 1,100 school leaders collected at start of this academic year, shows that right across the country there is a growing issue with recruiting teachers at all levels, as well as deputy and assistant heads. Nearly 62 per cent of those surveyed said they were struggling to recruit teachers on the upper pay scale.

14 per cent said they had failed to recruit deputy heads and 20 per cent said they had failed to recruit assistant head teachers.

Ross Caldow is a head of subject at a challenging secondary academy and an NAHT Edge member. Despite the challenges, he does want to take charge of a school one day: “In discussions I’ve had with head teachers and other senior leaders, they often speak of the pressure of the job putting off a number of senior leaders moving from Assistant Head to Deputy and then Deputy to Head.  However, I think the opportunities to make a real difference as the person in charge, outweigh the pressures that come with the ‘top job title’.”

At this year’s conference, NAHT members Gareth May and Christine Coulbeck from the East Riding Branch will propose a motion to highlight what they describe as an “exodus from the profession” and for more to be done to both “retain the most talented of our young teachers” and to urgently address the “unrealistic expectations” being placed upon them. (Motion 27)

Conference will also hear from Bev Sheppard and Lorie Dickson from NAHT’s Deputy and Assistant Committee who will argue for the “the importance of assistants and deputies gaining experience of leadership, as well as the increasing demands of system leadership on head teachers” They will ask delegates to back a motion to explore how schools can provide better support for all aspiring leaders. (Motion 28)

Mr Coiffait added: “Nothing is more important than ensuring children have access to the best possible standards of teaching. But any improvements we’ve seen in education will stutter and stall if there’s no investment in teacher development and career progression.

Promising professionals will leave and would-be leaders will choose not to take on leadership roles. That can’t be allowed to happen.”

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