Heads call for more support as recruitment dries up

CATHOLIC HEAD teachers must be offered better support if faith schools are to combat a dramatic fall in the number of people applying for senior roles, new findings reveal, writes Joanna Moorhead.

Researcher Janet Goodall, who is leading a survey on educational leadership for the University of Bath, said that Catholic head teachers to whom she had spoken said they needed better mentoring.

“There are additional expectations from a head teacher at a faith school – they need to be a faith leader themselves,” she said.

Some 40 per cent of primary and 25 per cent of secondary headships needed to be re-advertised in 2011. The problem is worse in faith schools: in 2009/10 there was a re-advertisement rate of 61 per cent of Catholic schools.

Ms Goodall said she would be inviting middle managers – deputy heads and department heads – at faith schools to complete an online survey, and would also be interviewing existing heads.