Current Headteachers

Seminars are designed to support Headteachers in dealing with new initiatives, research and issues. They are opportunities to share experience and to hear interesting ideas. These sessions tend to be participatory and developmental and are varied in content. Dates are published in advance but to keep them topical content is only arranged termly. Recent sessions have included visiting a local Islamic school, an Extended School within another LA and exploring the relationship with governing bodies and the Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE) http://www.surestart.gov.uk/research/keyresearch/eppe/

Schools in Hounslow are formally members of an Education Improvement Partnership which was built on the success of the collaborative activities of the Hounslow Excellence in Cities programme.

All schools, primary, secondary and special, West Thames College and the LA are committed to taking a collective responsibility for all the children and young people in Hounslow working collaboratively in partnership together within the framework of the Hounslow's Children's and Young Peoples Plan, (CYPP).

Currently the work of the EIP is focussing on the development of the three primary EIP groups – West, Central and East, the work of the Behaviour and Attendance Partnership and the initiatives of the 14-19 Partnership.

The EIP has its own budget voted through by the Schools Forum and to support its work has a facilitator. There are plans to employ a second facilitator to work within the primary phase to encourage the coordination of partnership activities across the three primary EIP groups.

Through the work of the EIP, Headteachers have a strong voice in Hounslow and take a lead in developing the future of Children's Services within the borough.

Roger Shortt tells us about his role as EIP Faciliator and his thoughts and experience on moving on from Headship:

“Hounslow schools and the Local Authority have formed themselves into a set of Education Improvement Partnerships. There are three geographically based Primary groups, a Secondary partnership which includes membership of the local college, a 14-19 partnership and a Behaviour & Attendance partnership.

During the year 2006/7, whilst I was still in post as a secondary school Headteacher, I worked with colleagues to develop these structures and then on retiring at the end of that year, was fortunate to be asked to take on the part-time role of EIP Facilitator. This role ranges from building up the calendar of meetings for heads, representing Heads on a range of consultative groups and trying to make connections and synergies across the wide terrain of Children’s Services. I also write a weekly bulletin reporting to Headteachers on the range of meetings that I have attended and also putting out reminders of future events.

In many ways this has been a natural extension from my role as a Headteacher working within the model of distributed leadership, to that of seeking to support a range of structures through facilitation, using the knowledge that I gained through my years of Headship. Being a Facilitator is a fascinating role and of course there is an adjustment to be made from being a leader to trying to be a “behind the scenes” enabler – not always easy for an ex-Headteacher.

I have been very grateful to have this “bridge” into retirement, to have been able to continue using my knowledge and skills and also hopefully to have been able to lighten the load for my colleagues.”

London Leadership Strategy

The London Leadership Strategy is a strand of the City Challenge ( The London Challlenge) initiative. It focuses on the development needs of school leaders and on the expansion of all aspects of leadership capacity in London schools. The strategy affords leaders in London the opportunity to build leadership capacity at every level within their school and to work in close collaboration with other schools. This programme is run by NCSL in conjunction with City Challenge and affords Headteachers the opportunity to expand their skills and remit within the wider scope of leadership. For more information please go to:

 http://www.ncsl.org.uk/citychallenge-london

SELT and the Early Headship Provision

Southern Educational Leadership Trust (SELT) is the provider for Early Headship Provision in three regions of England ( South East, London and South West) and working in partnership with the National College of School Leadership (NCSL).

SELT is a partnership of Local Authorities, Higher Education Institutions and Dioceses. It is a Registered Charity dedicated to leadership development and supporting work in schools and other educational settings. Our aim is to work in a complementary way with all our partners to ensure that new and acting headteachers are given the best possible support in the early days of headship and beyond. SELT delivers a number of NCSL contracts and has a broad repertoire of leadership development activities.

For more information please click here for the following document about SELT and the opportunities available to you as a Headteacher: Guidance on SELT and Early Headship Provision.

For more information about being a Headteacher in Hounslow and the opportunities open to you, please go to our Join Us page.