Over the last 10 years newspapers have been reporting the difficulty education authorities are having when recruiting headteachers and the situation is getting worse. This project aims to identify areas of extreme pressure by discovering new approaches to school leadership. We are going to look at why highly qualified teachers, possessing the skills and competences to perform as excellent headteachers are not applying for these roles. However, the problem of retaining headteachers is also at crisis point. In the UK in 2018 a national newspaper reported that a third of headteachers leave the profession and this problem is reflected worldwide. So what is it about leading a school that has become so unattractive and unmanageable for those who, previously, were both successful and enjoying the demanding role of headship? In this ever-changing society wellbeing is high on the agenda. Wellbeing of pupils and teaching staff is a major concern of all school leaders. However, what of the school leaders themselves? Are improvements to the wellbeing of our headteachers the key to unlocking some of the problems experienced by current and aspiring leaders? And who is responsible for change? Can a school change from the inside and what lessons can be learned from successful heads of schools? The project has four areas of focus: -Accountability of headteachers -Management of funding available to schools -Mental health and wellbeing of staff - teachers and headteachers -School leadership policies and procedures - the role of the headteacher on a daily basis Each area of focus will involve in-depth research across regions and professionals will exchange good practice leading to the planned intellectual outputs designed by educators for educators and for sharing with local and national governments. We will research effective practice, implement change and transform our schools into learning spaces for all, staff and pupils alike. Where headteachers can develop in safe spaces where they can grow professionally alongside teaching staff and the pupils in their care.
It soon became obvious from the outset that the accountability of Headteachers in all three countries is markedly different. In both Spain and Romania the focus of the Headteacher is very much on leading teaching and learning in the school and there is a great emphasis on trusting the professional leaders in schools, whilst in Wales at the beginning of the project headteachers and senior leaders commented on the lack of trust from all five levels of accountability. The partners therefore set out with 3 questions: • Is this problem unique to Wales or is it fairly standard across Europe? • How do other countries support and challenge their schools? • What evidence is there to demonstrate that a support model yields far better results than a challenge model? To enable us to answer these questions, the project set out four Intellectual Outputs listed below. The areas of chosen became even more prevalent when the pandemic hit within 6 months of the project beginning. -Accountability of headteachers -Management of funding available to schools -Mental health and wellbeing of staff - teachers and headteachers -School leadership policies and procedures - the role of the headteacher on a daily basis
This project was conceived through an identified need by Headteachers who wished to address the issues that were being reported in the media in recruiting and retaining new Heads teachers. In the UK in 2018 a national newspaper reported that a third of headteachers leave the profession and this problem is reflected worldwide. It is well known that the well-being of staff and pupils is high on the agenda in many schools globally but there was no consideration for the well-being of the school leaders themselves. The partners began the project by conducting interviews with Headteachers in all 3 regions, Wales, Romania and Spain, as a baseline to ascertain the level of support received and to drive the importance of improving the well-being of the Headteacher and the positive impact on the school community as a whole. Within 6 months of the project starting the world was hit with a global pandemic. The resulting schools closures, staff illnesses and teaching moving to an online forum enabled the project to become more important and successful than originally envisaged.