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© Crown copyright 23 September 2014 National College for Teaching and Leadership Confidential

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NPQH Final Assessment Guidance for Trainee Headteachers and Sponsors September 2014


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NPQH Final Assessment Guidance for Trainee Headteachers and Sponsors

Contents Page Overview of the Final Assessment Process 3

NPQH competency framework 4

Award of NPQH 6 School Improvement Task 6 Interim feedback 20 School Placement Leadership Task 20 Presentation/interview 28 Registering for Final Assessment 34 Appendix 1 NPQH Final Assessment Competencies 35


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Overview of the Final Assessment Process Graduation from NPQH will demonstrate your ability to be an effective headteacher and that you are ready to take up your first headship. The NPQH Final Assessment process has therefore been designed to provide opportunities for you to demonstrate your leadership in practice through the successful completion of school improvement work undertaken in your own and other schools, as well as your capacity to perform well in presenting and at interview. NPQH Final Assessment is competency based, testing key competencies that are required for successful headship. The assessment process will enable you to demonstrate the progress you have made towards successful headship through NPQH. Full details of the competencies tested are given below. The Final Assessment comprises several tasks: School Improvement Task: You will undertake a task in your school (or agreed school setting if not based in school) in which you lead for an extended period on an actual school improvement priority. The school-based work will need to be achievable within a 12 month period and must produce demonstrable positive impact and sustainable change. A submission will be made for assessment.

School Placement Leadership Task: You will undertake a strategic leadership task in your placement school related to an actual school improvement priority. You will also, over the whole period of the placement, develop a relationship with the placement school to enable you to extend your own learning about school leadership and to improve your leadership. A short report will be submitted prior to the presentation/interview. In addition you should be prepared to answer questions on the impact of your leadership and your leadership development from your placement at interview.

Presentation/interview: You will make a presentation to a panel on ‘Resourcing improvement: How I used resources efficiently and effectively to improve progress and attainment’. You will need to ensure your development activities for NPQH enable you to develop your leadership in the competency of Efficient and effective to enable you to do this well. Following your presentation you will answer questions put by the panel on the content of your presentation. You will also need to be able to show you have developed the competence to present in a credible way as a headteacher. The presentation will be followed by an interview on a further five competencies. Two of these competencies will be Impact and influence and Holding others to account. The other three competencies will be selected by the panel based on the evidence you submit for the School Improvement Task, the School Placement Leadership Task and the Presentation/interview. The panel will select competencies that enable you to demonstrate you have made sufficient progress towards successful headship through NPQH. Should you have performed below the highest possible level in any competency at an earlier stage these competencies will be tested at the interview. You should also be prepared to answer questions on the impact of your leadership and your leadership development from your placement at interview. Overall, you should be able to demonstrate how you have used your


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NPQH experiences to reflect upon and improve your leadership to a level that shows your readiness to take up your first headship.

For all aspects of the assessment you will be expected to draw upon your practical experience, research and school evidence to inform your leadership decision making. You will also be expected to apply your learning from the essential (Leading and improving Learning, Leading an effective school and Succeeding in headship) and elective modules you have completed and to draw upon your knowledge and expertise in key national policy priorities, for example, leading and improving the quality of teaching and pupils’ behaviour, teacher appraisal and financial management. The assessment tasks can also be used towards CATS points if required.

NPQH competency framework

NPQH is underpinned by a competency framework of 16 competencies. These competencies define the characteristics that are needed to be ready for headship. In preparing for your development and final assessment it is important that you read and understand the competencies in the NPQH Competency framework. There is a description of each competency tested at Final assessment, a statement as to ‘Why it matters’ and the positive competency indicators in Appendix 1. The competencies include characteristics that are needed to be ready for headship, including knowledge (including specific technical knowledge), skills, motives and ability which are expressed in actions or behaviours:

Knowledge is what a person knows about a particular area, for example,

strategies for improving teaching and learning, ways of managing financial

and human resources, and project management for planning and

implementing change, performance management and legal issues relating to

employment or child protection.

Skills are things a person knows how to do well to achieve a goal, for

example, collecting and analysing data, monitoring progress, using new

technologies, planning, communicating, getting community feedback and

carrying out accurate self-assessment.

Motives may be expressed in a person’s values such as what he/she believes

in or what he/she believes it is important to do (for example, commitment to

the pursuit of excellence, working in a collaborative way, insisting on a safe

and healthy working environment or through preferences (such as

achievement or affiliation), for example, a person with a strong achievement

motive will continuously want to achieve and make things better.

Ability covers both a person’s ability to think and act rationally and to use their

emotional intelligence, for example, identifying trends in performance, using

school self-review to make sound decisions, and the ability to build effective

teams. Ability can be affected through the working of the emotions and

changed through self-awareness and self-management of these.


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The 16 competencies in the framework are grouped into three areas that reflect key dimensions of highly effective leadership, as demonstrated through research evidence: Strategic leadership: highly effective school leaders have a strong sense of direction: they have a vision for the school and a clear sense of how to achieve their vision. They can lead successfully in a highly autonomous and accountable system. Educational excellence: highly effective school leaders have the leadership of teaching at the heart of their work: they can lead effectively in a self-improving system to deliver high-quality outcomes for all pupils and students. Operational management: highly effective heads have very effective systems and processes that are consistently applied by all staff: they manage the school to ensure efficient and effective use of all resources and achieve a fit-for-purpose organisation. Figure 1: Three areas of competency

Strategic leadership Educational excellence Operational management

Self-awareness and self-management Personal drive and accountability Resilience and emotional maturity Conceptual thinking Future focus Impact and influence

Delivering continuous improvement Modelling excellence in teaching Learning focus Partnership and collaboration Organisational and community understanding

Efficient and effective Analytical thinking Relationship management Holding others to account Developing others

Not all of the 16 competencies will be directly tested in the Final Assessment process; there will be a focus upon assessing the following nine leadership competencies. Figure 2: Competencies tested at Final Assessment

Strategic leadership

Personal drive and accountability

Resilience and emotional maturity

Impact and influence

Educational excellence

Delivering continuous improvement

Modelling excellence in teaching

Learning focus

Partnership and collaboration

Operational management

Efficient and effective

Holding others to account

The descriptions of these nine leadership competencies can be found in Appendix 1 but there is further guidance in the sections that follow on the specific competencies


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that will be tested in each task and on how you will be able to develop these and then demonstrate them when presenting for final assessment. Award of NPQH The award of NPQH will depend upon reaching a high standard in all of the nine leadership competencies tested. Each of the tasks (the School Improvement Task, the School Placement Leadership Task and the Presentation/interview) will contribute to a single judgement on your readiness for headship and the award of NPQH. You will receive some developmental feedback after the school improvement task and at the end of the process. If in the School Improvement Task or the Presentation/interview you not reach the required standard you will be advised of this and given the opportunity to take the task again. In addition, if you do not reach the highest possible standard in any of the competencies tested in the School Improvement Task you will be advised of this to enable you to prepare for the Presentation/interview. School Improvement Task Leading a School Improvement Priority in own (or agreed) school This element of the final assessment will enable you to demonstrate that you can deliver successful and sustainable school improvement in your school setting (or agreed school setting if not based in school) and that you can use the experience to reflect upon and improve your leadership competencies. This task will test eight leadership competencies:

Figure 3: competencies tested in the School Improvement Task





Educational excellence Delivering continuous improvement


Learning focus


Operational management Holding others to account

The full descriptions of the eight leadership competencies tested can be found in Appendix 1.


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The key requirements of the task are:

You are required to lead for an extended period (a minimum of two terms) on an actual whole school improvement priority

The task needs to be completed within a twelve month period and must be sufficiently advanced by the time of submission for you to demonstrate sustainable improvement

The improvement priority selected should be in the school improvement plan or similar whole school plan. The task should be strategic and you will implement it for the whole school

You are required to demonstrate your capacity to effectively utilise school, local and national data; to develop and implement a strategic plan and to be accountable to stakeholders, including governors or equivalent. You will also need to show how you used:

o research and school evidence

o learning from the essential and elective modules

o knowledge and expertise in key national policy priorities

to inform your leadership decision making

Your submission must include your strategic plan and your evaluation report to governors or equivalent (or appropriate extracts from these)

The school improvement priority you select should be one that is sufficiently ambitious and challenging to enable you to demonstrate:

o quantified evidence of your personal impact, including the positive difference your work has had in the school relating to improved teaching and learning/outcomes for pupils and meeting stated goals. You should demonstrate your capacity to put systems/structures in place to sustain the change and identify any further action necessary

o improvements in your leadership through your development as a school leader (the essential and elective modules will introduce you to leadership strategies and behaviours that will support your development)

o all eight competencies tested in the task (the full descriptions of these

leadership competencies can be found in Appendix 1 and you should begin by reading these. There is further guidance below on the competency indicators tested in each part of the task and on how you can develop these and then demonstrate them in your submission).

The task will be assessed in three parts and your submission will reflect these:

Part 1 Supporting the school vision through planning for improvement Part 2 Leading the implementation of the whole school improvement priority Part 3 Evaluating the impact and accounting to stakeholders


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Part 1 Supporting the school vision through planning for improvement For this part of the task you should document how you gained a full understanding of the overall performance of the school to identify the need for improvement; how you set challenging targets for the school; how you identified and evaluated strategies for improvement and how you produced a strategic plan to deliver these. You should also show how you worked with stakeholders and made contacts/used networks and built partnerships, involving both yourself and others, in the planning process. At this stage you should also set leadership development priorities and personal development targets for yourself. Your submission should include:

Goal and target setting for improved performance, including teaching and learning and pupil outcomes, based upon your understanding of school performance, with reference to relevant school, local and national data. Your targets should include one or more of the following:

o improved pupil progress and personal development

o improved attainment

o improved teaching

o improved pupils’ behaviour and safety

o improved attendance

o improved resource efficiency (financial, human or environmental resources) leading to positive impact upon pupils.

Devising, evaluating and selecting strategies to improve performance, including teaching and learning and pupil outcomes, using appropriate information. It is for you to decide on and demonstrate your use of the most appropriate analytical tools to support your planning.

Your strategic plan to deliver your goals and targets for improved performance, including teaching and learning and pupil outcomes. The plan should make it clear what school and other evidence you will be collecting to measure impact. It is for you to decide on the most appropriate format for your strategic plan. This plan must form part of your submission.

Part 1 of the task will assist you to develop four of the leadership competencies in particular and the assessment of this part of the task will focus upon Personal drive and accountability, Impact and Influence, Delivering continuous improvement and Partnership and collaboration.


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A summary of the key competency indicators used in the assessment for Part 1 of the task is provided below:

Personal drive and accountability, including being results orientated through setting goals on what you want to achieve for yourself and the school in relation to the task, being self-motivated, energetic and decisive in taking responsibility for achieving these goals and adopting a high personal profile while leading on the task, using the experience of leading the task to enhance your own and others’ effectiveness and motivating others to achieve results

Impact and influence including listening to others views and being able to tailor communication to suit the audience; holding attention and inspiring and engaging others; having good negotiation and communication skills and presenting arguments and proposals clearly and logically so that others are persuaded of their efficacy; making a positive impact through the ability to unite others around the school’s vision and through presenting information and proposals in a way that increases understanding

Delivering continuous improvement including involving and inspiring governors and stakeholders to support the school vision for the school improvement priority and in strategically planning for its delivery, determining innovative strategies for action to improve teaching and learning and/or the curriculum in the context of the school’s performance using relevant data and information; setting suitably ambitious targets and success criteria

Partnership and collaboration including building positive relationships with a wide range of people, being aware of different agendas and perspectives and taking these into account in building consensus, creating opportunities for working collaboratively with a wide range of stakeholders

Part 2 Leading the implementation of the whole school improvement priority For this part of the task you should document how you conveyed your vision and expectations to stakeholders and staff and led staff to implement your leadership strategies, including those to whom you distributed leadership. You should include how you collaborated with others and created opportunities for collaboration. You should explain how you overcame any difficulties and monitored to hold staff to account and to keep the improvement work on track. Your submission should include:

Implementing your strategic plan and improvement strategies, including those to improve teaching and learning and pupil outcomes. This plan must form part of your submission.

Preparing staff for the effective delivery of the priority, including distributing leadership.

Working with staff and stakeholders on delivery and creating opportunities for collaboration and sharing of expertise.

Taking actions which involve leading, preparing and holding to account teams of staff, leaders and other individual staff members.


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Monitoring and evaluating outcomes, including quality of teaching and learning.

Part 2 of the task will assist you to develop four of the leadership competencies in particular and the assessment of this part of the task will focus upon Modelling excellence in teaching, Learning focus, Partnership and collaboration and Holding others to account. A summary of the key competency indicators used in the assessment for Part 2 of the task is provided below:

Modelling excellence in teaching, including your understanding of the characteristics of excellent/outstanding teaching and the theories and research on effecting teaching and learning, your capacity to articulate your expectations of teaching and learning and to identify strategies to improve these that are critical to the success of the task, your ability to recognise and use good leadership in teaching and learning in delivering your strategies and to share your knowledge and expertise in teaching and learning to embed good practice, systematically monitoring the impact of your work throughout the task and evaluating its impact on teaching

Learning focus, including sharing your passion for improving learning and your capacity to develop staff and to embed a culture of learning for all members of the school community through your leadership of professional development in relation to the task, addressing diversity issues or barriers to learning which are critical to the success of the task such as high standards of attendance, punctuality and behaviour and/or issues faced by pupils and parents in and outside of the school, and systematically monitoring the impact of your work throughout the task and evaluating its impact on learning of individuals and groups of pupils

Partnership and collaboration including building positive relationships with a wide range of people, being aware of different agendas and perspectives and taking these into account in building consensus, creating opportunities for working collaboratively with a wide range of stakeholders, creating processes for cooperation, collaboration or sharing expertise between institutions so that the stakeholders of institutions benefit.

Holding others to account including creating levels of accountability within the school and ensuring all understand their roles and responsibilities, standards required and accountabilities, distributing leadership and delegating effectively, demanding high performance through making expectations clear and spelling out the consequences of non-compliance, using the performance management (teacher appraisal) systems effectively to set objectives and targets to deliver school priorities, systematically monitoring performance and progress against objectives and targets, praising success and giving constructive feedback but also taking swift action when performance levels drop.


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Part 3 Evaluating the impact and accounting to stakeholders For this part of the task you should document your evaluation of the impact of your leadership of the school improvement priority. You should also explain how you recorded impact, reported and accounted to stakeholders, including governors/equivalent. You should use relevant school, local and national data. If your strategic plan is being implemented over a longer period of time you should also address next steps and how you will measure the continuing impact you will have on school improvement. At this stage you should also evaluate and demonstrate the progress you have made in your own leadership development. Your submission should include:

At the conclusion of the task evaluating your personal impact and the positive difference your leadership had in the school and on meeting its goals, including quantified evidence, with reference to relevant school, local and national data, of one or more of the following:

o improved pupil progress and personal development

o improved attainment

o improved teaching

o improved pupils’ behaviour and safety

o improved attendance

o improved resource efficiency (financial, human or environmental resources) leading to positive impact upon pupils.

Evaluating the effectiveness of your strategic planning and the improvement strategies you selected.

Reporting, including in written form to governors/equivalent. It is for you to decide on the most appropriate format for your report but the report should cover progress on the school improvement priority and next steps, including the implications for school policy. This report must form part of your submission.

Evaluating your leadership of the priority and the impact and influence you had. You should also demonstrate improvement in your leadership and evaluate your progress towards meeting your development priorities/targets. It is for you to decide how you demonstrate the progress you have made against your development priorities/targets, including the specific aspects from each of the eight key leadership competencies you identified for improvement. You should provide specific examples of how you acted and how you interacted with leaders, teams and individuals, including governors or equivalent and other stakeholders, in your submission. Such examples should include how you dealt with significant challenges, such as overcoming pressures or conflicts.

Part 3 of the task will assist you to develop four of the leadership competencies in particular and the assessment of this part of the task will focus upon Personal drive and accountability, Resilience and emotional maturity, Impact and influence and Delivering continuous improvement. A summary of the key competency indicators used in the assessment for Part 3 of the task is provided below:


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Personal drive and accountability, including being results orientated and adopting a high personal profile while leading on the task, using the experience of leading the task to enhance your own and others’ effectiveness and motivating others to achieve results, regularly measuring progress towards both personal and school goals and evaluating the outcomes and impact of your work, accounting for your own and school performance to governors or equivalent, and to other stakeholders on the successful delivery of sustainable change

Resilience and emotional maturity, including being resilient and tenacious to achieve the task and secure sustainable improvement within the time allowed, remaining optimistic and focused upon the task when under pressure or when faced with resistance to change, addressing difficult situations and resolving any conflict in a restrained way, responding positively and with resolve if faced with personal criticism or setbacks, speaking and acting in accordance with school values when it is necessary to implement decisions that others find challenging and being able to bring the task to a conclusion even in changing situations

Impact and influence including inspiring and engaging others; having good negotiation and communication skills and presenting arguments and proposals clearly and logically so that others are persuaded of their efficacy; making a positive impact through the ability to unite others around the school’s vision and through presenting information and proposals in a way that increases understanding

Delivering continuous improvement including involving and inspiring governors and stakeholders to support the school vision for the school improvement priority; determining and evaluating innovative strategies for action to improve teaching and learning and/or the curriculum in the context of the school’s performance using relevant data and information, setting suitably ambitious targets and success criteria, and working with leaders, staff, governors (or equivalent) and other stakeholders on delivery

To summarise Figure 4 Competencies tested in each part of the school improvement task

Part 1 Supporting the school vision through planning for improvement





Part 2 Leading the implementation of the whole school improvement priority


Learning focus


Holding others to account

Part 3 Evaluating the impact and accounting to stakeholders






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Preparation for the task: You should think about and plan in advance:

How you will obtain and analyse information and relevant school, local and national data to inform your understanding of the school’s performance and your strategic planning.

How you will set targets for the school improvement priority, including considering your expectations for improvement based upon your understanding of the school’s performance.

How you will define and measure the impact and the positive difference for the school - remember you are required to provide quantified evidence, using relevant school, local and national data, of your personal impact and the positive difference your work had in the school and on meeting its goals.

How you will use research, knowledge and expertise in national policy priorities and learning from the essential and elective modules to inform your leadership decision making.

How you will devise, evaluate and select strategies to improve performance, including teaching and learning and pupil outcomes, using appropriate information. It is for you to decide on the most appropriate analytical tools to support your strategic planning.

How you will plan for, lead the school improvement priority, monitor and evaluate progress and assess the impact of your actions. It is for you to decide on the most appropriate format for your strategic plan. In choosing the most appropriate format for your plan you can use any appropriate planning methodology. This plan must form part of your submission.

How you will use line management and performance management and other systems to hold others to account.

How you will use existing, or create new arrangements, for partnership and collaboration to support the implementation of the priority.

How you will account to stakeholders and governors or equivalent for progress and impact. In choosing the most appropriate method for reporting you can use any appropriate format. This evaluation report must form part of your submission.

How you will identify where you intend to improve your performance and set some development priorities/targets for yourself in relation to specific aspects of the eight key leadership competencies tested in the task. Some of these should be measurable. You should also decide how you will be accountable for the progress you make towards achieving your personal targets. The competency Personal drive and accountability is particularly relevant to personal target setting and accountability.


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Submission of evidence The submission for assessment will comprise:

Your submission for assessment

Your sponsor’s submission for assessment – based on both observation of your leadership of the school improvement priority and your submission to the Assessment Panel.

Your submission for assessment In your submission you should provide evidence of your leadership of the whole school improvement priority, your personal impact and the positive difference you have made and in doing so demonstrate the improvement in your leadership in relation to the eight competences being tested. The format for your submission for assessment will be:

electronic form: four sections to provide background details of the school improvement priority and evidence for each of the three parts of the task, and

actual school documents: strategic plan and evaluation report and additional documents you have selected to provide supporting evidence.

The electronic form: Background section of the form enables you to provide details of the scope of the school improvement task, why you chose it and details of the leaders, teams and stakeholders you worked with. This is background information and should be kept brief – you will benefit from using the majority of your page allowance for your competency-based evidence. Three sections relating to parts of the task:

Part 1 Supporting the school vision through planning for improvement

Part 2 Leading the implementation of the whole school improvement priority

Part 3 Evaluating the impact and accounting to stakeholders

Each section has a box to enable you to briefly outline your key actions in relation to each part of the task and to cross reference your main supporting documents. This is followed by a box for each of the competencies tested in the section. As the assessment process for NPQH is competency-based you should ensure you include your key evidence in the relevant boxes for each competency. The guidance given above, including the summaries of the competency indicators will help you to decide what evidence to include for each of the four competencies tested in each part. You should demonstrate your competence using examples: good competency-based evidence should cover not only what you did but also how you did it and the impact of your actions: with specific examples of your leadership relating to actions taken and your interactions with leaders, teams, individuals, including governors and other stakeholders.


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You should also use the form to make reference to your supporting documentation and to explain how the documentation demonstrates the competences being tested.

An outline of the form is provided in figure 5 below.

Supporting evidence from actual school documents:

These documents must also be submitted electronically.

As stated above, it is a requirement that you include your strategic plan and your evaluation report to governors or equivalent. Where these documents are too lengthy to allow you to submit them in full and keep within your page allowance you should submit appropriate extracts. You can use the electronic form to explain you have done this.

You are able to choose what additional supporting documents you submit, subject to the page limits set out below.

You will need to decide what actual school documents, or extracts from these, will best demonstrate your actions and the impact on the school and your own leadership development but these could include, for example:

Extract from school improvement plan or equivalent for the priority

Outline of staff development led by you

Extract from policy document(s) produced under your leadership

Quantified analysis of outcomes /positive impact prepared for use in school.

Overall, you should aim to get a good balance between actual school documents and evidence provided using the electronic form if you are to provide the best competency-based evidence you can. You are advised not to exceed 10 sides on the form as your supporting documents will provide important direct evidence of your work and competence.

Please number your supporting documents (eg 1, 2, 3) and annotate any key sections that you refer to in the appropriate column in the form (eg 1a, 1b, 1c) to enable your sponsor and assessors to find your supporting evidence easily.

Length of submission

When submitting your written evidence of your leadership and leadership development, the form plus actual school documents/extracts from school documents, must not exceed 22 sides of A4.

The form will be provided in a pre-set format and you should not reduce the font size. For other documents the overall page limit is based upon the use of a font no smaller than size 11 for Arial, Tahoma or equivalent.

In the event of a submission exceeding these limits the additional pages will not be assessed.


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One of the skills needed in school leadership is the ability to present complex information clearly and succinctly. You should explain clearly what you did and how you led the priority. It is suggested you use active rather than passive sentence constructions and you use ‘I’ rather than ‘we’ when describing what you did yourself (eg I did x, then I did y). On occasions you may also need to explain why you took the action you did.

Verification by sponsor You need to agree with your sponsor that you are ready to submit. When your form and the supporting documents are complete you should email these to your sponsor, together with a copy of this guidance, to enable her/him to complete her/his sections of the form. You should ensure that your sponsor is aware of this process and that she/he is expecting the email from you. You should also make sure that your sponsor has a generous amount of time to complete these sections of the form before the deadline for submission. Sponsor’s submission Sponsors are asked to verify the evidence you submit and give his or her assessment of your leadership of the school improvement priority, the positive outcomes for the school, and of your leadership development. They will be asked to give an evaluation of your leadership of the improvement priority based upon both their observation of your leadership in school and their reading of your submission for assessment. Sponsors should read:

The descriptions of the eight leadership competencies being tested in Appendix 1 and the further guidance given above on the competency indicators being tested in each part of the task.

The guidance for participants on undertaking the task and submitting evidence for assessment.

Sponsors should complete the boxes relating to the competencies for parts 1 to 3 of the school improvement task. The background section is for the participant to complete. Sections shaded grey on the form should be left blank. In completing parts 1 - 3 of the form sponsors are asked, in relation to the eight leadership competencies:

As sponsor, to verify the evidence provided by the trainee headteacher and to give an assessment of the trainee headteacher’s whole school leadership of the school improvement priority, including commenting upon or adding to the evidence provided by the trainee headteacher on their impact and the outcomes for the school.

As sponsor, to verify the evidence provided by the trainee headteacher and to comment on key aspects of their personal development.


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To award the most appropriate grade from the scale set out below to reflect the extent to which the trainee headteacher has used the opportunity of leading the whole school improvement priority to:

o consolidate their learning from the essential and elective Level 3 modules, from research and school evidence, and from knowledge and expertise in national policy priorities, and

o the degree of progress the trainee headteacher has made in developing the aspects of the leadership competencies tested in each part of the task.

The scale:

Very good: trainee headteacher made full use of the opportunities for development and made outstanding progress in leadership development

Good: trainee headteacher made use of many opportunities for development and made significant progress in leadership development

Moderate: trainee headteacher made some use of the opportunities for development and made some progress in leadership development

Poor: trainee headteacher made limited use of the opportunities for development and limited progress.

When the sponsor has completed and signed the form; the form and the supporting documents should be submitted by you, electronically, to meet the deadline (see Registering for final assessment below). The form will need to be scanned to ensure all the signatures are included.


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Figure 5: NPQH School Improvement Task Name of trainee headteacher……………………. Name of sponsor…………………………

Background

Trainee headteacher evidence

Scope of the school improvement priority

Reasons for selection of the school improvement priority

Leaders, teams and stakeholders worked with

Part 1

Trainee headteacher evidence Supporting the school vision through planning for improvement

Document references

Sponsor verification, additional evidence and grade – Very Good / Good / Moderate / Poor

Outline of key actions in Supporting the school vision through planning for improvement

Competency: Personal drive and accountability

Sponsor grade:

Competency: Impact and influence.

Sponsor grade:

Competency: Delivering continuous improvement

Sponsor grade:

Competency: Partnership and collaboration

Sponsor grade:

Part 2 Trainee headteacher evidence Leading the implementation of the whole school improvement priority

Document references


Outline of key actions in Leading the implementation of the whole school priority

Competency: Modelling excellence in teaching

Sponsor grade:


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Competency: Learning focus

Sponsor grade:


Sponsor grade:

Competency: Holding others to account

Sponsor grade:

Part 3 Trainee headteacher evidence Evaluating the impact and accounting to stakeholders

Document references


Outline of key actions in Evaluating the impact and accounting to stakeholders

Competency: Personal drive and accountability

Sponsor grade:

Competency: Resilience and emotional maturity

Sponsor grade:

Competency: Impact and influence

Sponsor grade:


Sponsor grade:

Participant’s signature…………………………. Date…………………………. I confirm this submission (form and supporting documents) is accurate and verify all the evidence it contains Sponsor’s signature………………………… Date…………………………..


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Interim feedback After your school improvement task has been assessed you will receive some developmental feedback on your performance. If you do not reach the required standard you will be advised of this and the reasons why. You will then be given the opportunity to strengthen the evidence within your submission and re-submit the task again or to undertake further work depending on the reasons why your work did not meet the required standard. The advice you receive will enable you to plan for any further development you require in the competencies tested and to prepare for re-submission. School Placement Leadership Task You will be undertaking a placement as part of your NPQH development. This will last at least nine days in total. The nine days will allow time to

undertake a strategic leadership task (minimum of four days) and visits to the

school to observe and participate in key strategic activities undertaken by the

headteacher during the course of a school year.

Through the strategic leadership task the placement is an opportunity for you to demonstrate that you can deliver successful and sustainable school improvement in other school settings and can use the experience to reflect upon and improve your own leadership competencies. The placement also provides other opportunities for your leadership development, for example, the opportunity to collaborate with a school in a different context. You will agree a suitable strategic leadership task with the placement school headteacher and plan how you will spend your time in the placement school undertaking and evaluating the task and gaining further experience to support your leadership development. As part of this you should submit your evaluation of your task to the placement headteacher/SLT or governors or equivalent as agreed with the placement headteacher. In addition you will complete a short report for NPQH final assessment. This report (see figure 7) should be focused upon your placement school leadership task, the nature of and the impact of your leadership and your leadership development in three leadership competencies (see figure 6). In providing evidence of your development in the competencies you can use evidence from all aspects of the placement, in addition to the strategic leadership task, if you wish. Your evidence will be verified by your placement headteacher. The report will be submitted as part of your submission prior to the Presentation/interview and the evidence it contains of your performance will be taken into account in this part of the NPQH final assessment process and will be tested in the interview. The three competencies specifically tested through the school placement leadership task are:


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Figure 6: School placement leadership task - competencies tested



Educational excellence Delivering continuous improvement


The full descriptions of the three leadership competencies tested can be found in Appendix 1. A summary of the key competency indicators you should be able to demonstrate from your placement leadership task is provided below. You should also read the full descriptions of the three leadership competencies in Appendix 1.

Impact and influence including listening to others views and being able to tailor their communication to suit the audience; holds attention and inspires and engages others; having good negotiation and communication skills and presenting arguments and proposals clearly and logically so that others are persuaded of their efficacy; making a positive impact through the ability to unite others around the school’s vision and through presenting information and proposals in a way that increases understanding.

Delivering continuous improvement including involving and inspiring stakeholders to support the school vision for the school improvement priority, determining and evaluating innovative strategies for action to improve teaching and learning and/or the curriculum in the context of the school’s performance using relevant data and information, setting suitably ambitious targets and success criteria, and working with leaders and other stakeholders on delivery.

Partnership and collaboration including building positive relationships with a wide range of people, being aware of different agendas and perspectives and taking these into account in building consensus, creating opportunities for working collaboratively with a wide range of stakeholders, creating processes for cooperation, collaboration or sharing expertise between institutions so that the stakeholders of institutions benefit.

In planning your school placement leadership task you should consider:

How you can gain leadership experience for a short period in your placement school by undertaking a strategic leadership task relating to an actual school improvement priority, working closely with placement school staff and the school leadership (SLT and governing body or equivalent).

How to ensure your work is sufficiently self-contained and achievable within the placement timescale but is also sufficiently challenging to facilitate your leadership development and to demonstrate the three competencies tested

How to:


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o Negotiate the placement leadership task with the placement school headteacher, including the expected outcomes, the timescale needed to undertake and evaluate it and the support needed from the placement school

o Review the context of the placement school and how the chosen leadership task relates to the school’s overall plans for school improvement

o Lead and involve others to secure agreement on objectives, the approach to delivering the placement school leadership task, and in the actual delivery of the task

o Engage effectively and work in partnership with pupils/students, staff, school leaders, governors or equivalent and other relevant stakeholders in delivering the placement leadership task

o Report on the task outcomes and gain support for the arrangements and accountabilities you create for ensuring sustainable improvement to headteacher/SLT or governors or equivalent; using the reporting experiences as opportunities to develop leadership competencies in the placement school context

How to demonstrate sustainable improvement – you will need to evaluate the outcomes from your leadership and provide quantified evidence (where possible) of your personal impact including the positive difference your work has had in the school and on meeting its goals and of arrangements and accountabilities in place to sustain the change and to be taken forward by placement school staff

How to make use of:

research and school evidence

learning from the essential and elective modules

knowledge and expertise in key national policy priorities

to inform your leadership decision making

How to, over the whole period of the placement:

o evaluate your leadership of the placement school leadership task (including taking account of feedback from the placement school headteacher)

o extend your knowledge of school leadership in a different context through developing an on-going relationship with the placement school

o improve your leadership in your own school or context.

o evaluate your development as a school leader in relation to the three leadership competencies described below.

Submission of evidence The submission will comprise a short report form (figure 7) containing:


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Your submission

Your placement school headteacher’s submission – based on both observation of your leadership of the school improvement priority and your submission.

Your submission In your submission you should provide evidence of your leadership of the strategic task in the placement school and assess your personal impact and the positive difference you have made with reference to the three leadership competencies being tested. Wherever possible you should include some quantified evidence of impact. The format for your submission for assessment will be an electronic form in two sections to provide background details of the placement task and evidence for each of the three competencies. The electronic form: The background section of the form enables you to provide details of the time spent on the placement, the scope of the strategic leadership task, why you chose it and details of the leaders, teams, individuals, including stakeholders, you worked with.

As the overall assessment process is competency-based you should ensure you include your key evidence in the relevant boxes for each competency. The guidance given above, including the summaries of the competency indicators will help you to decide what evidence to include for each of the competencies. You should demonstrate your competence using examples where possible: good competency-based evidence should cover not only what you did but also how you did it and the impact of your actions: with specific examples of your leadership and interactions with leaders, teams and individuals, including stakeholders.

An outline of the form is provided in figure 7 below.

Length of submission

When submitting your form you must not exceed 3 sides of A4.

The form will be provided in a pre-set format and you should not reduce the font size.

In the event of a submission exceeding the page limit the additional page(s) will not be taken into account.

Verification by placement school headteacher You need to liaise with your placement school headteacher after you have completed the placement, and in good time prior to the submission date, so he/she is aware that you are ready to submit. When your form is complete you should email this to the placement school headteacher, together with a copy of this guidance, to enable her/him to complete her/his sections of the form. You should ensure that your placement school headteacher is aware of this process and that she/he is expecting the email from you. You should also make sure that your placement school headteacher has a


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generous amount of time to complete these sections of the form before the deadline for submission. Placement school headteacher’s submission The placement school headteacher is asked to verify the evidence you submit and give his or her assessment of your leadership of the school placement leadership task, the positive outcomes for the school, and of your leadership development. They will be asked to give an evaluation of your leadership of the task based upon both their observation of your leadership in school and their reading of your submission. Placement school headteachers should read:

The guidance given above on the three leadership competencies being tested in the task

The guidance given above on undertaking the task and submitting evidence.

Placement school headteachers should complete the boxes as indicated on the form. In completing the form placement school headteachers are asked:

As placement school headteacher, to verify the evidence provided by the trainee headteacher and to give an assessment of the trainee headteacher’s leadership of the task, commenting upon the evidence provided by the trainee headteacher on her/his impact and the outcomes for the school.

As placement school headteacher, to verify the evidence provided by the trainee headteacher and to comment on relevant aspects of their personal development.

In relation to the three leadership competencies: to award the most appropriate grade from the scale set out below to reflect the extent to which the trainee headteacher has used the placement to:

o consolidate their learning from the essential and elective Level 3 modules, from research and school evidence, and from knowledge and expertise in relevant national policy priorities, and

o the degree of progress the trainee headteacher has made in developing the specified aspects of the leadership competencies.

The scale:

Very good: trainee headteacher made full use of the opportunities for development and made outstanding progress in leadership development

Good: trainee headteacher made use of many opportunities for development and made significant progress in leadership development

Moderate: trainee headteacher made some use of the opportunities for development and made some progress in leadership development

Poor: trainee headteacher made limited use of the opportunities for development and limited progress.


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When the placement school headteacher has completed and signed the form it should be submitted by you, electronically, to meet the deadline for the Presentation/interview task of NPQH final assessment (see Registering for final assessment below).


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Figure 7: NPQH School Placement Leadership Task Name of trainee headeacher……………………. Name of placement school headteacher…………………………School ……………

Background

Trainee headteacher evidence Placement school headteacher verification and additional evidence

Dates of the placement (at least 9 days)

Agreed strategic leadership task

Leaders, teams, individuals, including stakeholders, worked with

Key aspects of delivery of leadership task

Accountability to placement school leadership and stakeholders

Impact from leadership task

Next steps planned to sustain outcomes from leadership task

Competency

Trainee headteacher evidence

Placement school headteacher verification, additional evidence and grade – Very Good/Good/Moderate/ Poor

Competency: Impact and influence


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Placement headteacher grade:





Trainee headteacher’s signature…………………………. Date…………………………. I confirm this submission is accurate and verify all the evidence it contains Placement Headteacher’s signature……………………………… Date…………………………..


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Presentation/interview For the last stage of NPQH final assessment you will attend a presentation/interview. This process will assess your progress towards successful headship. The process will begin with you undertaking an evaluation of your progress in the development of the nine leadership competencies that have been identified as key to successful headship and which you have been developing through completing NPQH Modules, working as a leader in own school, your school improvement task, strategic leadership task in placement school, and research/learning on Government policy. It is expected that you will have considerable evidence of your progress, including quantified evidence of personal impact and the positive difference your leadership has had in the schools where you have worked. You will also have evidence of your progress in the competency of Efficient and effective from the activities you have planned as part of your NPQH leadership development. In addition you will have your submission for and the feedback from your School Improvement Task on the other eight competencies and it is suggested that you review these and any further evidence you have on your progress in these competencies. You will complete a short form covering the competency tested in the presentation and your progress towards successful headship (the full details are set out below). Your evidence will be verified and added to by your sponsor. Once completed, you will submit the form in advance of your presentation/interview. You will then attend for your presentation/interview. You will make a short presentation to a panel and answer questions put by the panel on the content of your presentation. The presentation will be followed by interview questions on your progress towards successful headship through NPQH. In responding you should be prepared to demonstrate how you have used your NPQH experiences to reflect upon and improve your own leadership competencies to a level that shows your readiness to take up your first headship. In assessing your readiness for NPQH the panel will take account of your performance at presentation/interview, your submission for presentation/interview, your School Placement Leadership Task report and the result/feedback from your School Improvement Task. The key requirements of the task are:

The presentation/interview will last an hour and five minutes, before a panel (with at least one serving head)

The process will begin with you delivering a ten minute oral presentation on ‘Resourcing improvement: How I used resources efficiently and effectively to improve progress and attainment’. You should cover:

o evidence of improvement in your leadership and the progress you have made towards becoming a successful headteacher with regard to the Efficient and effective leadership competency; giving both specific examples of how you used the financial, human and accommodation/environmental resources aspects of the competency when leading in schools and quantified evidence of personal impact and the positive difference your leadership has had in the schools you have worked in


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o the key development experiences for you in becoming a successful headteacher who can lead efficiently and effectively (for example, through completing NPQH Modules, working as a leader in own school, your school improvement task, strategic leadership task in placement school, and research/learning on Government policy).

You will need to use evidence of your progress in the competency of Efficient and effective from the activities you have planned as part of your NPQH leadership development in order to do this.

To help in your preparation for the presentation and to provide additional evidence for the panel you are asked to complete a submission form in advance and include Efficient and effective competency-related evidence (see figure 8). The evidence you cite will also be verified and added to by your sponsor.

You may use PowerPoint or other presentation suites that you would use in a school setting (the number of slides etc. must be compatible with a 10 minute presentation to a panel) and/or a handout (the length and format of this must be compatible with a 10 minute presentation to a panel). If you choose to provide a PowerPoint presentation or similar you will be responsible for providing and managing all the equipment needed.

The panel will time the presentation and you will be asked to stop after ten minutes if you have not finished.

Following your presentation there will be fifteen minutes of questioning on your presentation and the competency Efficient and effective by members of the panel. The panel will time the questioning and you will be asked to stop after fifteen minutes if you have not finished.

In the remainder of the interview the panel could question you on any of the leadership competencies tested in the NPQH Final Assessment process. In practice the panel will ask questions on:

o Holding others to account o Any competencies where you have not reached the highest

possible standard in the School Improvement Task. Following this task you will receive feedback which makes it clear if there are any competencies where you have not reached the highest possible standard and will therefore be able to take account of this in preparing for the interview. The panel will include questions on these competencies to give you the opportunity to demonstrate you have reached the required standard by providing stronger evidence of your leadership experience and practice

o Any competencies where the evidence submitted for the presentation/interview from you, your placement school headteacher and your sponsor suggests you may not have made sufficient progress towards successful headship

o Impact and influence: the impact of your leadership and your leadership development from your placement

Overall, in responding to competency-based interview questions you should give examples of your leadership that demonstrate your competence. You should also demonstrate how you have used your NPQH experiences to


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reflect upon and improve your leadership to a level that shows your readiness to take up your first headship.

To help in your preparation for the interview and to provide additional evidence for the panel you are asked to complete a submission form. You should include any evidence in addition to that provided for the school improvement task for the key leadership competencies (these are listed in figure 8).

The competency-based evidence should be grouped in relation to:


Educational excellence

Operational management

The evidence you cite will also be verified and added to by your sponsor. When providing this additional evidence of your progress towards successful headship you should address any competencies where you know you have not reached the highest possible standard based on the feedback you have received from the School Improvement Task.

In delivering your presentation and responding to questions you will also need to be able to show you have developed the competence to present in a credible way as a headteacher. Therefore the manner in which you present and answer questions will be assessed by the panel having regard to the leadership competency Impact and influence.

Submission of evidence Your submission for presentation/interview A submission form (figure 8) relating to your presentation (‘Resourcing improvement: How I used resources efficiently and effectively to improve progress and attainment’) and other key aspects of your development should be completed in advance and verified by your sponsor. In relation to the presentation which focuses on the competency Efficient and effective, you should provide sufficient detail against the key competency indicators outlined on the form to enable the panel to develop some of the questions they would like to ask you in advance. For the other competencies, as stated above, you only need to provide key evidence in addition to that submitted for the school improvement task.

As for the School Improvement task good competency-based evidence should include details of how you did things as well as what you did and the impact of your actions. Therefore provide evidence of how you worked with leaders, teams, individuals, including governors and other stakeholders and evidence of impact: your personal impact and the positive difference your leadership had in the school and on meeting its goals, including quantified evidence. You should also demonstrate improvement in your leadership and evaluate your progress towards meeting your personal development priorities/targets. Specific examples will strengthen your evidence.


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Length of submission The submission should not exceed 3 sides of A4. You must keep within the specified page limit, and evidence that exceeds this will be disregarded. Sponsor’s submission Sponsors are asked to verify and add to the evidence you provide on the form and in doing so to assess your evidence for your presentation (‘Resourcing improvement: How I used resources efficiently and effectively to improve progress and attainment’) your progress towards successful headship, based upon their observation of your leadership development. In addition sponsors should add to quantified evidence (where possible) of your personal impact, including the positive difference your leadership has had in the school and on meeting its goals. Sponsors are provided with descriptions of the leadership competencies being tested and the guidance you have been given on undertaking the final assessment tasks. Submitting the documentation When the sponsor has completed and signed the Presentation/interview form; the Presentation/interview form and the School Placement Leadership Task form should be submitted by you, electronically, to meet the deadline (see Registering for final assessment below). The forms will need to be scanned to ensure all the signatures are included.


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Figure 8: NPQH Presentation/Interview Evidence for the presentation ‘Resourcing improvement: How I used resources efficiently and effectively to improve progress and attainment’ and of your progress towards successful headship Name of trainee headteacher………………………………………….

Presentation competency Efficient and effective

Trainee headteacher evidence Sponsor verification, additional evidence and evaluation of personal impact and leadership development towards successful headship

Leadership of financial resource management

Understands how to manage financial resources, including how to deploy resources to secure value for money and maximum performance

Deploys financial resources soundly and creatively to achieve the school’s goals, monitors regularly and employs robust audit processes to ensure outcomes are achieved

Understands setting the budget; manages within the parameters of the budget and accounts to governors or equivalent for expenditure

Leadership of human resource management

Understands how to manage human resources, including how to deploy resources to secure value for money and maximum performance

Deploys human resources soundly and creatively to achieve the school’s goals, monitors regularly and employs robust audit processes to ensure outcomes are achieved

Understands human resource and performance management and related legislation and distributes leadership and decision taking to the most appropriate level

Leadership of accommodation and environmental resource management

Understands how to manage accommodation and environmental resources, including how to deploy resources to secure value for money and maximum performance

Deploys accommodation and


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environmental resources soundly and creatively to achieve the school’s goals, monitors regularly and employs robust audit processes to ensure outcomes are achieved Understands legislation relating to accommodation and environmental resources and takes responsibility for Health and Safety

Leadership competencies: Trainee headteacher evidence: key evidence in addition to that submitted for school improvement task

Sponsor verification, additional evidence and evaluation of personal impact and leadership development towards successful headship

Strategic leadership: Personal drive and accountability Resilience and emotional maturity Impact and influence

Educational excellence: Delivering continuous improvement Modelling excellence in teaching Learning focus Partnership and collaboration

Operational management: Holding others to account

Trainee headteacher’s signature………………. Date……………………………. Sponsor’s signature……………………………... Date ……………………………


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Registering for final assessment You will be able to select when you book your final assessment window with the final assessment provider EMLC. The assessment windows will typically be within 6, 9, 12 and 18 months of your commencement on the programme. You should book your assessment window as early as possible and in good time to allow for the timeline set out below. The process for registering for your final assessment is as follows:

• STEP 1: provide details of your preferred assessment window – to do this please visit www.emlc.co.uk and click on the link ‘Booking your assessment window’ and complete the ‘Provisional Booking’ Form. Please ensure you notify EMLC of any changes to your details such as email address. Please ensure that you notify your licensee of your provisional assessment window.

• STEP 2: Approximately 10 weeks before the beginning of the assessment window EMLC will e-mail you to confirm your intention to submit your written task in the window. You must respond to this email to ensure your school improvement task will be assessed in this window.

• STEP 3: A minimum of 7 weeks before your assessment date EMLC will confirm the date your documentation will be required. You will be asked to confirm that you still intend to submit your school improvement task and you will be required to confirm this with your licensee, so that they can verify you have completed all the Essential and Elective modules for the qualification.

• STEP 4: You will need to submit your completed documentation electronically to [email protected] by the specified date.

If you have any further queries regarding final assessment please visit www.emlc.co.uk or contact Liz Pearson at [email protected] or phone us at EMLC on 01234 880130. You should note that your submissions will not be considered without the forms being complete including the sponsor’s sections and the sponsor’s signature. In addition, late submissions cannot be accepted. You are therefore advised to talk to your sponsor as early as possible and ensure that she/he is fully aware of these requirements.

http://www.emlc.co.uk/

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.emlc.co.uk/

mailto:[email protected]


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Appendix 1 NPQH Final Assessment Competencies Strategic Leadership Personal drive and accountability Someone who is ready for headship is driven and focused on improvement. They are results orientated and seek to achieve the highest standards within their role through setting and striving to achieve their goals. They are self motivated, energetic and willing to take on new challenges to improve their performance. They are decisive, work for the best interests of pupils and account for their performance to the governing body and other stakeholders. Why it matters Headteachers need to be motivated to reach the highest possible professional standards, to deliver tough objectives and take on challenges in order to achieve and be accountable for high performance throughout the school. Positive indicators

Sets challenging personal goals, strives to be effective and to achieve goals

Adopts a high personal profile; is clearly visible as a leader both internally and externally

Takes a disciplined approach to work and demonstrates effective time management

Uses a range of strategies/techniques to enhance own and others’ effectiveness and motivates others to achieve results

Takes responsibility for personal/school performance, regularly measuring own/school performance against targets

Accounts for own/school performance to governing body and other stakeholders

Makes significant improvements in school performance across a broad range of measures.

Resilience and emotional maturity Someone who is ready for headship is resilient, focused and tenacious when faced with the demands of the job and continually challenging circumstances. They are able to respond positively when managing uncertainty and adversity. They remain focussed on personal and organisational values, and adhere to these, even in difficult, long-term situations. Why it matters Headteachers work in a challenging, highly autonomous and pressurised environment. They will be faced with adversity and will have to manage and recover from set backs. They also need to be honest and transparent in their interactions and communications with all key stakeholders to reflect a high trust culture. Positive indicators

Is optimistic, motivated and determined over the short and longer term

Is reliable in a crisis, remains calm and thinks clearly when under pressure

Speaks and acts in accordance with school values, and challenges others to do so

Implements appropriate decisions that lead to school improvement even if difficult or controversial


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Resolves conflict in a calm restrained way, with empathy and non possessive warmth; seeking support appropriately

Responds positively when faced with personal criticism or setbacks, maintaining a sense of perspective.

Impact and Influence Someone who is ready for headship has a positive impact on pupils, colleagues and the wider community through inspiration and persuasion to their perspective. They know when they need to negotiate to a solution. They communicate effectively, understand others’ perspectives and priorities and tailor their communication to suit their audience. They lead others and bring their governing body and communities on board by articulating a compelling vision and uniting them around shared goals and objectives. Why it matters Headteachers must be able to inspire and influence pupils, colleagues, governors and the community in an appropriate and considered manner, articulating a compelling vision in order to create an energising learning environment for all. To do this they must understand the needs and motivations of others, adapting their leadership approach to create the desired impact and outcomes. Positive indicators

Articulates a compelling vision and unites others around school priorities

Presents information and proposals well to enhance impact and to increase the understanding of governors, stakeholders and the community

Generates energy and enthusiasm and comes across with confidence and credibility when engaging with others

Prepares and calculates impact of actions and words and tailors approach to hold the attention of and to influence others

Uses evidence based, logical arguments and focuses on important elements of complicated issues when seeking to persuade or influence others, or negotiate a solution

Listens to others and responds appropriately to secure engagement

Understands and employs others’ preferred approaches when agreeing solutions

Uses direct and indirect influence to gain support, builds alliances and secures support before presenting proposals or taking decisions.

Educational Excellence Delivering continuous improvement Someone who is ready for headship will have a clear vision of the central importance of leading teaching and learning in terms of driving and sustaining school improvement and creating improved life chances for pupils, their families and their community. They use their skills to quickly gain a full understanding of the overall performance of the school and make a judgment about what requires improvement. They work with the governing body and other stakeholders to successfully identify, strategically plan for and lead delivery of the necessary and appropriate improvement strategies.


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Why it matters Headteachers need to be able to develop vision and to identify the priorities which lead to improvements in teaching and learning and to implement these to achieve a high quality education to improve outcomes for all pupils. Positive Indicators

Develops shared vision and positive culture of high expectations, and establishes them within and beyond the school

Involves and inspires governors and stakeholders to support the school vision

Determines priorities for sustained improvement based upon vision and analysis of data on overall performance of the school

Encourages creativity and innovation

Takes calculated risks, but anticipates potentially adverse impact and identifies contingencies when planning

Produces and implements effective strategic plans for school improvement with ambitious targets and criteria for success

Ability to design and implement an appropriately broad, balanced and relevant curriculum that reflects the needs, abilities and interests of pupils

Makes effective use of new technologies to enhance teaching and learning. Modelling excellence in teaching Someone who is ready for headship will have a deep understanding of the characteristics of excellent/outstanding teaching, informed by current research and be able to articulate this effectively to others. They will have a systematic approach to monitoring, make sound judgements about the quality of the teaching and learning across the school, and develop and deliver a wide range of improvement strategies. Why it matters Headteachers need to be able to recognise excellence in teaching and be able to demonstrate how teaching can be improved and improvement sustained so that the learning and achievement of all pupils is maximised. Positive indicators

Demonstrates strong understanding of current theories and research on effective practice of teaching and learning

Effectively articulates both the broad vision and the fine detail of high expectations about standards of teaching and learning

Focuses on the aspects of teaching that make the most difference to pupils’ learning and progress

Ensures excellent/outstanding teaching is demonstrated and there is modelling of high expectations

Can recognise good/outstanding leadership in teaching and learning

Can effectively judge the quality of teaching; provide appropriate advice and support to secure improvement in the quality of teaching and its impact upon learning

Has a systematic approach to leading the improvement of teaching and learning, rigorously monitoring and evaluating practice within the classroom and extended learning environment

Initiates and supports sharing of expertise, good practice and research and evaluation about effective teaching and learning, ensuring they are effectively adapted for the school.


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Learning focus Someone who is ready for headship will be passionate about learning and will embed a culture of learning for all members of the school community and foster equality of access. They have an unswerving belief that schools have a crucial role to play in changing lives and improving life chances and will monitor learning systematically to ensure progress. Why it matters Headteachers must have the desire and passion to want to help others to improve themselves and those around them. They must be committed to improving the life chances of all pupils and work with others to ensure that every pupil has the opportunity to succeed. Positive indicators

Strongly commits to improving school learning experience for all pupils and staff

Leads and participates in professional development focused on improving quality of teaching

Creates an ethos and culture of high expectations for all pupils’ aspirations and achievements; removing barriers to learning and consistently challenging low expectations in the school and community

Shows a deep understanding of the issues pupils and parents face both in and outside school, including safeguarding, and takes action to ameliorate these

Builds relationships with pupils and parents/carers to engage them and others in the community in supporting pupils’ learning

Fosters equality of access and takes account of diversity within the school and the wider community

Ensures that the needs, expectations and performance of pupils are monitored effectively using effective systems for assessment and progress

Ensures pre-conditions for learning are met by ensuring high standards of attendance, punctuality and behaviour.

Partnership and collaboration Someone who is ready for headship is able to work collaboratively with a range of people in schools, governing bodies and the wider community, to build a culture of cooperation and raise achievement through partnership working. They are open to different perspectives and viewpoints as well as being able to achieve agreement on common goals and objectives and the contribution to be made across the education system. Why it matters Headteachers need to build partnerships, collaborate with others and share expertise in a powerful and effective way to achieve common goals and objectives and improve outcomes for all pupils and the education system. Positive indicators

Values input and expertise from a range of people; articulates and uses others’ perspectives and builds these into plans/actions

Is mindful of different agendas, builds consensus and creates purpose, clarity and focus on shared goals and ways of working


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Empowers colleagues and governors to network with others both internally and externally, recognising strengths in others to enable effective matching with networking areas

Selectively initiates and develops structures and processes for keeping stakeholders informed, for collaborative working and working in partnerships; including with the wider community, parents/carers, other professionals, other schools and educational organisations

Identifies, implements and evaluates priorities for partnerships.

Operational Management Efficient and effective Someone who is ready for headship will ensure that all systems and resources, including financial, human and environmental resources, are used efficiently and effectively to achieve the school’s goals and in a way that maximises performance and secures value for money. They are attuned to opportunities that increase the resources available to the school and improve the way the school functions. They monitor the implementation of plans and the effectiveness of organisational structures. They take corrective action where necessary to secure required outcomes and account to the governing body and others for the school’s performance. They have a broad understanding of the legal, political and technical knowledge that affect the running of a school and keep up to date with major changes. Why it matters Headteachers need to ensure that the school’s goals are achieved through deploying resources in the best way and within the planned timeline. They also need to ensure that the school is a ‘fit for purpose’ organisation with the best systems and processes to achieve the school’s goals and that these are kept under review and up-to-date. Headteachers have to take responsibility for the performance of the school and be able to account for this to the governing body and others. Positive indicators

Understands how to manage financial, human or environmental resources, including how to deploy resources to secure value for money and maximum performance

Monitors the impact of resource decisions and takes action to keep on track and to ensure outcomes are achieved

Takes action to improve systems and deployment of resources

Accounts to governors or others for use of resources and evaluates efficiency and effectiveness in contributing to the achievement of the organisation’s goals

Deploys all resources (financial, human and environmental) soundly and creatively to achieve the school’s goals; monitors regularly and employs robust audit processes to ensure outcomes are achieved

Understands financial resource management, leads and manages the school within the parameters of the budget and works with the governing body to set school budgets

Understands human resource and performance management and related legislation and distributes leadership and decision taking to the most appropriate level


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Understands environmental resource management and related legislation and ensures that the responsibility for all aspects of Health and Safety are appropriately managed and monitored

Understands principles, models and statutory framework for quality assurance; monitors and evaluates school performance against planned goals, outcomes and appropriate benchmarks, accounting to governors and others.

Holding others to account Someone who is ready for headship holds others to account by clearly communicating expectations, and gives constructive and specific feedback. They ensure goals or objectives are achieved by getting others to do what is asked of them even if it involves tough or unpopular decisions. These choices or actions will always be instigated with the best interests of pupils/students and the school in mind. Why it matters Headteachers need to ensure educational standards are raised. They will have to make interventions where required in managing the organisation. This is critical in order that schools and the education sector deliver what is expected in sustained school improvement. Positive indicators

Creates levels of accountability within the school ensuring all understand their roles and responsibilities, standards required and accountabilities

Can break down the strategy into logical components to set objectives and targets for others, using the performance management system effectively to achieve school priorities

Distributes leadership and delegates tasks/activities to who is best placed to deliver them and monitors implementation

Demands high performance and spells out the consequences of non-compliance; monitors progress of others against objectives and targets and holds others to account

Recognises and praises success

Challenges and confronts underperformance, intervening swiftly to enforce consequences when performance levels drop

Provides constructive feedback to enable learning from mistakes.

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