The Department for Education and Skills has announced £10m funding to help identify the next generation of school leaders, and promised more emphasis on HR management in schools.
The announcement follows a government-commissioned report by Pricewaterhouse-Coopers, which recommends removing barriers that may prevent a wider range of professionals with the relevant skills from becoming school leaders.
The report also advises the government to develop wider skillsets for future school leaders, with increased expertise in areas such as finance, HR, collaboration and project management.
However, the report says there must always be a head of teaching and learning who is a qualified teacher.
It also recommends that the existing system of pay and reward needs modification but not radical change. The government said it would work closely with unions on implementing the report’s recommendations.
The National College of School Leadership will be given £10m additional funding to support its strategy to work closely with schools and local areas to better identify teachers with high quality management potential, and reduce the time it takes to qualify as a headteacher.
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Minister for schools, Jim Knight, said: “A modern school requires modern leaders. Many schools will go through major rebuilding work in the next decade or so. They will become extended schools open to the community far beyond the school day and throughout the holidays. This requires new ways of working and a new approach to leading a school. The report highlights a number of areas where improvements can be made and positive action can be built on.”
“Of course, while it may be helpful to a school to have an overall leader with a broad range of skills, I am clear that senior staff with real classroom experience should remain in charge of teaching and learning.”
