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Bett - ExCel London - 24-26 January 2024
Bett - ExCel London - 24-26 January 2024

The Life of a Deputy Headteacher: The Finale


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School Leadership Deputy Headteacher Thinking Man

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Ross Morrison McGill founded @TeacherToolkit in 2010, and today, he is one of the 'most followed educators'on social media in the world. In 2015, he was nominated as one of the '500 Most Influential People in Britain' by The Sunday Times as a result of...
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How can teachers support and challenge the status quo to build a fairer system for all?

It's been six months since I resigned from my school leadership position as a deputy headteacher and when I wrote part 10 of a leadership series of reflections. This post explains why I have made the transition from school leader to university tutor and teacher trainer, how I have utilised those skills and adapt to work in a different way. At least for now, this is the last in the series of The Life of a Deputy Headteacher.

Bittersweet Inspection Outcomes

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29th April 201821st September 2021 by @TeacherToolkit
Posted in Basic Account, Leadership (Senior), School Inspection (Ofsted), Staff Well BeingTagged Consultancy, Contextual Value Added, Department for Education, Education Datalab, InstagramBlog, Mental Health, NAHT, NAHT Accountability Commission, Ofsted, Paul Garvey, Progress 8, Quintin Kynaston, school leadership, Soft Bigotry, The Life of a Deputy Headteacher, Wellbeing, Workload, YouGov

25 thoughts on “The Life of a Deputy Headteacher: The Finale”

  1. @bocks1 says:
    29th April 2018 at 11:48 am

    A loss to teaching in one sense, I have no doubt, but a huge gain in the ripple effect of your contribution and input as a trainer. Which essentially results in a win-win for the profession and for you and your family.

    1. @TeacherToolkit says:
      29th April 2018 at 12:44 pm

      Thanks Mark – I guess the difficulty is that teaching part time is a challenge for teachers and also senior leaders. The profession does need to get smarter on this issue, as with social media, traditional day jobs will become obsolete and how we work in the future will change. I suspect this will filter down into the way we teach students in the future too.

  2. Leigh Adams says:
    29th April 2018 at 4:17 pm

    Great article Ross. There was one line that really made my hairs stand on end, even more than the photo ‘If we want to publish OfSTED outcomes for parents‘. Read this in context and then read it out. Imagine if parents were Ofsted judged? How the paradigm would shift then.

    The school I have recently left has just been judged RI from a previous good even though all kpi’s were on a positive trajectory after a period of instability. Every school requires improvement doesn’t it? Glad to say I am so happy to be ‘out’. Mental health is slowly being rebalanced.

    1. @TeacherToolkit says:
      30th April 2018 at 10:24 pm

      Good to hear you are back on track; it’s relentless and unsustainable. Fingers cross Spielman pulls her finger out and makes radical changes for September 2019.

  3. Lynn How says:
    30th April 2018 at 10:16 am

    As someone who has resigned from Assistant Headship after a horrendous experience upon returning from my 2nd Mat leave, then taking a teaching role in a large dictatorship (I mean MAT) which I hated, I can certainly empathise. I’m reassessing what I want out of my career and work/life balence. If in 10 years, I’m exactly where I want to be, then I can hopefully say that it wouldn’t have happened without these experiences. It’s inspiring to me to hear your story whilst on my rocky journey. Currently searching out my educational niche!

    1. @TeacherToolkit says:
      30th April 2018 at 10:27 pm

      Hey Lynn – rest assured you are not alone; despite that being a poor excuse for the system. MAT dictatorship is a by-product of OfSTED accountability that is currently blighting 10% of all schools – approx. 50,000 teachers. That’s just over what the profession needs to recruit every academic year – go figure what the solution is 🙂

  4. Dan Frater says:
    2nd May 2018 at 10:31 pm

    A really interesting read Ross. Having returned to school after a 3 month mental health related absence I am asking myself a lot of the same questions I suspect you have asked yourself in the last year. I love working in the classroom but the management side of things as an AHT in a tough school is just seems less relevant and less about education every day. Very frustrating to be coming to the conclusion that the best way to survive after 22 years is to get out!

    1. @TeacherToolkit says:
      3rd May 2018 at 9:18 am

      Thanks for the comment. I know I am not alone and I am sad to read this – thanks for speaking out. One day someone very brave at the very top will do something transformational. I also think we’ll look back on this period of education with a cringe and wonder why on earth we allowed this to happen to ourselves. Attrition is a natural phenomenon in any profession, but there are things we are doing to one another that simply is driving good people away unnecessarily – and costing the taxpayer far more. The thing that makes me more frustrated more, is some folk are given ‘gongs’ for off-rolling children and sacking teachers with gagging orders so that ‘when inspected’, they appear more favourable in the current MAT dialogue. Trust me. In 20 years, we’ll slowly be moving back to wanting schools to operate within their local areas and ‘cooking and drawing’ will be important once again 🙂 Best wishes to you and keep your head up. It’s not you.

  5. Marcella McCarthy says:
    3rd May 2018 at 9:20 am

    That’s a shocking story Ross, but unfortunately not as rare as it should be. You put across with great clarity some of the challenges that are facing even the most dedicated leaders who choose to work in challenging schools. It’s hard enough to do that at the best of times–to do it without proper backing is impossible. I’m seeing more and more good teachers and leaders leaving the profession or downsizing in order to stay sane. That’s a good decision for them, but not great for the profession as a whole. What worries me is that the signals are not being read by those in power. Even when you have a situation such as this, where every teacher leaves a school http://metro.co.uk/2017/07/21/primary-school-in-crisis-after-every-single-teacher-quits-6795867/ it doesn’t look as though the message gets through–things just keep going in the same way.

    1. @TeacherToolkit says:
      3rd May 2018 at 12:52 pm

      Hi Marcella – thanks for reading and adding a comment. That news story is shocking! On my travels over the last six months, I am starting to discover that the recruitment and retention issues are genuinely everywhere. Schools are facing hard challenges and what strikes me more than anything, it won’t improve until funding is resolved and OfSTED/DfE take workload seriously. Every time I live poll, marking habits/expectations, school leaders’ perceptions of what OfSTED wants and workload generate by OfSTED wants is everywhere. We could fix this overnight if people in power would make some brave decisions. Teaching is very hard and we all know this, but it is made incredibly difficult when the ‘powers that be’ do not recognise that some places to work are much more difficult than others, and worse of all, when some people celebrate the fact that they are succeeding within the same system – under a different set of circumstances – and then use this against another to suggest that one is failing or not quite up to scratch. I’m not denying there are some poor leaders/teachers out there, but they are in the minority by country mile … I don’t see myself stepping up to headship unless it changes.

  6. Nicky Clements says:
    5th May 2018 at 8:41 am

    Thoroughly enjoyed reading this as it gives hope that there are people genuinely fighting for a fairer system. Also my 25th year of teaching this year and it’s been a colourful journey! I’ve been in plenty of measures schools and 2 where we weregraded outstanding for EY (my area). The irony is that my values & practice were similar in all of them! I do continue to self-improve and learn, you never reach the top of your game in teaching, and leadership has been a whole new learning curve. But I remain true to my values and am lucky to be with a great values-driven Trust (they are out there! You were a key note at our conference this year). When in a measures school years back one effort to ‘support’ teachers was to bus them out to another school (recently graded outstanding) and do the walk of shame around the classrooms to see what we ‘should’ be doing. I was horrified at some of the practices in EY! Again ironically, that school is now in measures 4 years later, same staff. Go figure!

    1. @TeacherToolkit says:
      5th May 2018 at 9:23 am

      Hi Nicky – I remember the keynote very well. I am sure there are great trusts and schools out there. I just think I’ve had two bouts of bad luck, each lasting 6 months each. In both schools, I also had many years of happiness – just the system that ended the journey and not necessarily any individual. Also important to add, the my work as a blogger has grown exponentially and has become a 2nd full time job without knowing. This in itself is another significant reason for my own mental health, workload and also being in a position to be heard, but also have a choice to do things for myself. I know not everyone has that choice and I know I am fortunate enough to be able to do so. It may not be forever either… as I’m not ruling out returning to school, I’m just enjoying a sabbatical. You also highlight the irony of the system. I’ve done no different in any of the schools – it’s simply down to intake and how students are measured – which is why I now pose the question, ‘why choose to work in a challenging school if it comes back to haunt you?’ I’ve done challenging schools for 25 years – bitten twice. I’m not sure I’d go back and do it again, so I’ll be very choosy the next time – and definitely opt for a part time role so I can balance TT demands. Thanks for reading/comments.

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  8. Steve says:
    9th May 2018 at 6:50 pm

    Hi Ross, very much like you I decided to leave teaching four years ago to concentrate on my own kids and only now am I excited about contributing back into education but on my own terms. I admire you honesty and ambition. The ripple effect you and your team are creating is fantastic so thank you and keep smiling because life is too short

    1. @TeacherToolkit says:
      10th May 2018 at 9:07 am

      Hi Steve – thank you for your comment. It’s too early to say if I’m missing my own school environment – but I have to say the impact and experiences I am now having on others and myself is far greater. It comes with its challenges, but seeing my family more and feeling better about my workload and mental health in light of where I was 12-18 months ago are poles apart.

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  10. Katy Cheetham says:
    13th July 2018 at 7:34 am

    I have followed you for some time and am sorry you have been having such a difficult time. I facilitate support/action learning groups for both Heads and DH/AHTs and walk away from each one struck by the astonishing dedication and commitment of those school leaders but also in despair about the impossible jobs they are expected to do.
    I would love to have a chat about it and how it might be possible to rebuild a broken system.

    1. @TeacherToolkit says:
      13th July 2018 at 10:24 am

      Hi Katy – thanks for the message; happy to chat over the summer. Email me via website. Thanks.

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