Succession Planning for Headship

What would you do if your school’s Headteacher resigned tomorrow? Here are some of the facts facing schools nationwide today:

• In 2008, 26 percent of Primary Headteachers will be over 55.
• In 2008, 24 percent of Secondary Headteachers will be over 55.
• In the very near future, there may be a shortage of high-quality candidates to become Headteachers.

The impact of falling rolls, changes to the curriculum and other issues means that developing high quality leadership has never been more important.

Succession planning for headship is a consideration not only of what the governing body would do if your Headteacher resigned tomorrow, but also what the governing body is doing now to spot and nurture leadership talent in your school. Important questions to ask are:

• Do you know who has leadership talent in your school?
• If you don’t, how can you find out?
• If you do know who has leadership talent, what are you doing to support them?

The NCSL website (www.ncsl.org.uk) provides resources to support Governing Bodies in succession planning for headship, including:

• Recruiting a Headteacher and Senior Leaders
• Retaining School Leaders
• Leadership Succession

The local authority is developing a programme to support schools in this area of their work. More information will be available in the autumn. A succession planning questionnaire for governors, which you may wish to distribute prior to your governors’ meeting in preparation for discussion, can be accessed on the NCSL website (www.ncsl.org.uk) - succession planning/governors/external links/NGA/NCSL discussion paper.

For further information contact:

• Jeanette Hamilton
• Development Officer
• Governor Support Service
• Tel: 01629 580000, ext 5769