Where have all the heads gone?

9:25am Friday 28th March 2008

It is probably one of the most important jobs in education.

So why are Essex schools struggling to fill posts for headteachers?

Since January this year, Essex County Council has advertised 40 headteacher vacancies across the county.

The shortage is country-wide, but Essex is one of the "worst affected" regions, according to a national headteacher's association.

Also, figures from the Eastern Leadership Centre in Cambridge found only 27 per cent of teachers in the East aspire to headship, compared with 38 per cent in the South-East.

The majority of vacancies in Essex are in primary schools, including ten in the Colchester and Tendring areas.

One reason that has been widely touted is that many headteachers are approaching retirement age at the same time (50 per cent of headteachers are more than 50, according to the centre in Cambridge), creating the need for a major recruitment drive.

But some Colchester headteachers believe there are other reasons why Essex is suffering from a lack of candidates.

"My wife describes herself as a head's widow," said Kevin Prince, headteacher at St Helena School, in Sheepen Road, Colchester.

Mr Prince took over in September 2007 and it is his first role as a head. He was deputy at the school for eight years and has been a teacher for 32 years.

"I work three nights a week until 8 or 9pm. I start work at 7.30am. I work one day at the weekend. It is pretty relentless," he said.

As a former deputy, his eyes were wide open when he took the role.

"There is no work-life balance. Being a deputy headteacher is a job. Being a headteacher is way of life."

It's not just the long hours that could be off-putting.

"We live in a target-based society and there are constant demands, along with the responsibility. Headteachers are accountable in a way they were not a decade ago," he added.

This seems to be a common theme for headteachers. Not surprisingly, they are finding the increasing number of targets and rules a heavy burden to bear.

Barry Hawes, who has been headteacher at Prettygate Junior School, in Plume Avenue, Colchester, for nine years, said: "There are too many initiatives coming through from Government. We try and be proactive, but we could achieve better results if we could get on with our jobs.

"Some of the admin requirements are hefty and, as headteacher, you are accountable to everyone. That could be one of the reasons why it is difficult to recruit.

"People feel overloaded, but at the same time it is the best job in the world."

Mr Prince agrees. Personally, he enjoys his job, but said accountability can mean shaky job security.

"If the school gets into difficulty, it is fairly easy to find you don't have a job at all. You could argue that is why we are paid more.

"But this is not about money. It's about quality of life and the Government needs to reflect on the expectations put on headteachers."

The National Association of Headteachers (NAHT) is constantly lobbying Government to relieve some of the administration and target-driven burden laid on headteachers' shoulders.

Norman Taylor, secretary of the Essex branch, said potential candidates see the "hassle" headteachers have to go through and "can't be bothered" with it.

"The Government must trust schools to do their jobs, rather than the constant interfering that goes on," said Mr Taylor.

He added that access to headship training must be made easier.

"Essex is one of the worst affected areas for headteacher shortages," he said.

"The number of training places in Essex has been reduced so there are not as many people coming through university with the necessary teaching qualification in the first place.

"Headteachers have to do the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH), but there has been a delay in providing the courses, so there are not the deputy and assistant heads qualified in time to fill the vacancies."

If something is not done, future generations could suffer and the Government will find have fewer heads to meet its targets.

MARK TO BE SCHOOL'S FIFTH LEADER IN THREE YEARS

Kendall Primary School in Colchester has had its fair share of trouble finding a headteacher.

When new headteacher Mark Carter-Tufnell joins the school in Recreation Road in September, he will be its fifth in three years.

Following a poor Ofsted inspection and the retirement of its headteacher, the school advertised and interviewed three times before finding Mr Carter-Tufnell, the current headteacher at Wix and Wrabness Primary School.

Chairman of governors Jim Oliver admitted while the school was not "an attractive proposition", the standard of some candidates was not up to scratch either.

"The candidates coming through did not have the drive to take the school forward," he said.

"Work is needed to get young, dynamic deputy headteachers.

"They need to experience running their own school so they are aware of the stresses of the job.

"Then look at the standards of existing heads and retrain them."

HEADLESS THIS YEAR

Schools in the CO postcode area that have advertised for a headteacher since January 2008:

• Kendall Primary, Colchester
• St Michael's, Colchester
• Friars Grove Junior, Colchester
• Gosbecks, Colchester
• Harwich Community Primary
• St Andrew's, Wormingford
• Kings Ford Junior, Colchester
• Millfields, Wivenhoe
• Monkwick Junior, Colchester
• Wix & Wrabness Primary, near Harwich.

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