If we want first class leaders, we’ve got to put first class money into it

Following recent cuts to national professional development budgets and schools facing further spending squeezes, headteachers across Wales are wondering what the future holds for their own career development and that of their staff. In the second article on CPD, former TES Cymru reporter Felicity Waters speaks to an experienced head, a new head and an aspiring one about how they see the future of professional training.

The Experienced Head

“If we want first class leaders, we’ve got to put first class money into it,” according to Susan O’Halloran, headteacher at Nottage Primary School in Porthcawl and before that, at Garth Primary in Maesteg.

Mrs O’Halloran is among many heads in Wales waiting anxiously for an announcement from the Assembly Government on how much money will be available for continuous professional development for heads and their staff.

“There has to be money for leadership training – leaders make the difference,” she says. If we don’t get it, it will have an impact on school improvement and it will be de-motivating if heads don’t feel recognized.

“I think heads want to feel valued and over the last few years they haven’t been valued.”

Mrs O’Halloran says that she was lucky enough to have completed the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH); the Professional Headship Induction Programme as well as the Leadership Programme for Serving Heads.

As part of the PHIP programme, she was also given a laptop to access an online mentoring and support programme – Pen-i-Ben - which was piloted by the Assembly Government in January 2002. The forum allowed newly qualified heads to share experiences and problem-solving strategies, and though it was considered a valuable support, the forum is no longer running.

Funding for LPSH was also withdrawn last year and PHIP itself is currently under review, giving today’s heads much less certainty about their future training.

“It’s a bit of a wasteland out there” says Mrs O’Halloran, who says that once initial headship training is completed there is nothing more on offer.

Leadership is at the core of the school effectiveness framework she says and CPD needs to be seen as an integral part of school improvement.

Support and mentoring from fellow heads continue to be a valued form of CPD and should be a part of future training, according to Mrs O’Halloran. “The best CPD by far is visiting other schools and seeing how they do things, but there needs to be funding for us to be able to do that and also to bring back and implement what we’ve learned.”

This year her school is using five of the year’s seven training days to work in a cluster alongside Porthcawl Comprehensive and the other feeder primaries.

The idea is that everyone can learn from each other and share good practice. To make it happen, the schools have pooled Inset money and had some funding from the LEA.

But Mrs O’Halloran says there needs to be easier access to funding and is hopeful that the Assembly Government will simplify the many grants available.

“We have been scrabbling around, trying to cobble together money for training. Funding needs to be centralized but we also want to be able to follow our own priorities and have some say in what we spend the money on. I understand that there will be national priorities but we need more autonomy based on our own needs.”

She says at the heart of any change to CPD has to be proper funding.

“There are so few applications now for headship roles and there are lots of inexperienced heads who need training and guidance. If we don’t get the money we could have failing schools in the future.

“We have got to equip our school leaders for the future.”

The New Head

Lesley Perry has been the headteacher at Newbridge School, in Caerphilly for three years. The school has 850 pupils was awarded six grade 1s and a grade 2 in its last Estyn inspection in 2008. Mrs Perry has a Masters degree in science in education and completed her NPQH in 2001 after five years as a deputy head in England.

Lesley Perry is a firm believer in developing leadership skills. Ultimately she would like to see a national body to oversee and implement CPD for all leaders in Wales, similar to the National College of School Leadership in England. Having one body that specialises in CPD she says would mean that teachers, as well as headteachers, would have easier access to courses and it would ensure a continuum of professional development for all career stages.

“Being able to dip in and out of the right training at the right time is very important especially for heads,” she said. Training needs to be clear and easy to access and I don’t see that at the moment.”

Mrs Perry said she found the NPQH very useful as it provided a broad overview of Headship but said there is a gap in professional development after the initial training.

“ Rather than ‘training’ as such,  I think forums or opportunities to network with other heads would be useful where you can discuss ideas, share good practice and keep that buoyancy of ideas going.”

As well as ongoing forums to reinvigorate methods and ideas, Mrs Perry believes that more conferences and events on sharing current practice would also benefit serving heads.

“Educational transformation is happening in Wales, with the 14-19 agenda, Foundation Phase, School Effectiveness Framework and Skills agenda and schools respond in different ways. It’s good to look at how people do things differently and be able to cascade that down to teachers too. As heads we don’t stand still and with the rapid pace of educational change, there is a lot coming at us. This makes it more important that we feel we can have discussions about what we are doing in our schools so we can gain from each other.”

Mrs Perry believes the continuous professional development philosophy needs to be seamless for all career stages and that Wales should be moving towards the principle of developing leaders through their whole career,  rather than offering  a random selection of training.

“CPD is not only about accessing courses but enabling us to understand and reflect on leadership in its broadest sense, encompassing all spectrums of middle and senior leadership”

The Aspiring Head

Dylan Williams teaches Year Five and is an aspiring headteacher. He has been a teacher at St Mary’s CIW school in Wrexham for 9 years and, as School Improvement Manager, is part of the senior management team. He recently signed up for a pre-NPQH course with the local authority and hopes to apply for the course later this year.

Mr Williams believes that his experience as part of the senior team dealing with school improvement and standards, as well as the mentoring he has benefited from, will prepare him well for future headship.

But despite his experience and clear potential as a future school leader, there is uncertainty about the future of training for aspiring heads.

Places on the course for those with potential (National Professional Qualification for Headship - NPQH) are limited with only around half of applicants successful each year. As a result he fears there could be a shortfall of heads in the future. Due to ongoing funding reviews, there is also uncertainty whether the course will be available in its existing form next year.

 “There is a lot of competition for the course but it’s also partly due to funding,” said Mr Williams who says he is fortunate to have been able to gain leadership experience at his school. Though it is an important aspect of his school, he fears that CPD will be one of the first things to be cut at schools with other competing priorities.

“I am lucky in that I have a very supportive head who gives me lots of responsibilities. Our school prides itself on CPD. Everyone gets opportunities to develop. There are professional development interviews for all staff including learning assistants and dinner time staff. It’s important to make people feel valued.”

To read the previous article on paying for training, visit the attached link 

Felicity Waters is an award-winning investigative
journalist who has worked for the BBC, ITV and the Western Mail.