Every school an academy?

Every school

an academy?

Implications for their

leadership and management

an ILM White Paper

in association with

Every school an academy?

An ILM White Paper

2011

1:42 20141:44

Summary

The quality of school leadership in the UK is an ever-growing concern amongst policy makers, practitioners and parents, as are the pressures with which leaders are faced. Key challenges include funding restrictions and declining workforce morale. Senior leaders must also deal with a constantly evolving and ever-more complex policy landscape. This white paper from the Institute of Leadership and Management provides a summary of school leadership in England, which includes issues such as leadership structures, school effectiveness, recruitment of school leaders, current challenges and skills needs.

Figure 1: Ratio of Headteachers to Other School Staff

Source: DfE, 2015a

Headteachers are managing more staff than previously, although they are supported by increasing numbers of assistant headteachers. Leadership and management effectiveness is a particular issue for sponsored academies, with a third classified by Ofsted as ‘satisfactory’ or ‘inadequate’.

Skills needs amongst senior school leaders primarily relate to closing attainment gaps, leading curriculum change, and innovation.

Leaders of successful MATs tend to possess broader management skills and quality assurance expertise; including the ability to distribute resources effectively amongst constituent academies. Experience in leadership positions outside the education sector is also important. Schools converting to academy status require bespoke training focusing on skills development specific to the needs of academies.

The prominence afforded to academies and MATS in the current government’s policies and plans signals an increased need for training developed for, and targeted at, this specific type of school to ensure delivery of improved outcomes, especially in challenging environments. Such training differs from traditional school leadership training with its focus on management approaches rather than specialised skills and knowledge needed for the successful leadership of MATs. These include financial management, risk assessment, governance and legal responsibilities. Academy leaders have highlighted the need for such training to be delivered by professionals with knowledge of academies and their specific requirements, which differ from those of schools. .

It is recommended therefore that specialist professional training is developed for school leaders of academies and MATs: further, that

qualifications are level-based to encourage progressive development of skills and qualifications amongst future leaders. Comparable professional qualifications in leadership and management from other sectors may also serve to encourage successful leaders to make the transition to a career in education.

Other areas of priority may include the provision of coaching and mentoring schemes within academies to address the specific skills gaps that exist within schools and to encourage the progression of middle managers

Source: Early et al, 2012

Senior leadership teams in secondary schools tend to reflect a classic management pyramid, consisting of more assistant heads than deputies and more deputies than headteachers. Many primaries, however, have no senior leadership roles below that of headteacher (Early et al, 2012).

The average headteacher is managing a larger body of staff than previously. Full-time headteachers managed an average of 42 other staff (FTEs) in 2011; by 2014, this had risen to 44. This has been offset slightly by a rise in the number of other senior managers in schools; the ratio of senior leaders to other staff members has therefore remained similar (1:13) over the same time period. The biggest growth has been seen in full-time, qualified assistant heads, who have increased by 22% between 2011 and 2014. Full-time qualified deputy heads, in contrast, have increased by just 2% (DfE, 2015a).

even if these are outsourced, schools and chains need an internal manager to oversee contracts with private providers. This area of responsibility is a relatively new one for schools in the public sector.

Academies are more likely than other types of

schools to have more than one headteacher and more assistant headteachers (DfE, 2015a). Leadership within academies tends to fall under two broad models of governance: single academy trust and academy chains comprising three or more schools. Academies are less likely than other schools to move away from traditionally hierarchical structures to flatter models of leadership (Hill et al, 2012).

MATs employ a variety of leadership structures: some have a cross-cutting chief executive or

director of education, while others devolve educational leadership to the individual academy level. Within larger chains, 33% of senior leaders are contractually allowed to be deployed or assigned to another academy within the chain; at smaller chains, the figure is 42% (Hill et al, 2012).

Governing Body (14 Members) Headteacher

Senior

Leader Senior Leader Senior Leader Senior Leader

Types of academy chain

Multi-academy trusts (MATs): academy chains with a single funding agreement with the Secretary of State and supplementary agreements for individual academies within the trust. Academies in MATs are run by a single board of directors.

Umbrella trusts: academy chains formed of individual schools which have converted separately to academy status, with separate funding

agreements, and later joined together to share governance and services.

Every school an academy?

An ILM White Paper

Percentage 0 20 40 60 80 21 63 14 2 19 47 25 8 37 53 9 2 Academy sponsor-led Local authority maintained Academy converter

Leadership and

Management Effectiveness

Figure 3: Schools rated good or outstanding in leadership and management effectiveness by level, England

Source: Ofsted, 2015

Leadership tends to be better in primary schools than in secondary schools. Ofsted rates 84% of primary schools in England as ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ in their leadership and management effectiveness, compared with 77% of secondary schools. Primary schools’ performance in leadership and management effectiveness has been increasing in recent years. Regional differences are also significant, with schools in the North East and London rated as having the most effective leadership and management. Ofsted notes that good school leaders are most needed in Norfolk, Suffolk and parts of the south coast (Ofsted, 2014).

Figure 4: Leadership and management effectiveness by school type, England

Sponsored academies are the lowest performing schools in terms of their leadership and management effectiveness: Ofsted deems 33% to be less than ‘good’, compared to 16% of local authority maintained schools (Ofsted, 2015) Sponsored academies present significant challenges for leadership and management, in part because of their history. The majority have a background of poor performance: 93% have been formed from under-performing maintained schools and they are often concentrated in disadvantaged areas. Converted academies, which are the highest performers in terms of leadership and management, are more likely previously to have been high attaining schools (HCEC, 2015).

Governance structure and the level of autonomy afforded to headteachers is another significant issue. In large chains, headteacher autonomy can be reduced as a result of a centrally driven model (Academies Commission, 2013) in which academy CEOs play a key role; opportunities for school leaders to move between schools and get broader experience are also limited (Hill et al, 2012). Limitations linked to recruitment and progression within chains may therefore deter experienced headteachers from applying.

Recruitment of School Leaders

Recruiting and retaining candidates for senior leadership roles can be challenging for schools. According to the National Association for Head

Teachers, there is a growing issue with the recruitment of teachers at all levels, although recruitment is

particularly difficult for the most senior teachers: nearly 62% of school leaders surveyed at the beginning of the 2014/15 academic year said they were struggling to recruit teachers on the upper pay scale (NAHT, 2015).

Figure 5: Headteacher vacancies by school type, England 75 71 78 79 81 84 77 75 79 74 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 85 80 75 Primary schools

Key Secondary schools

specific skills set needed in academies and academy chains (DfE, 2015a).

Leadership Challenges

Academies, in general, and MATs in particular, have specific leadership challenges and needs. The nature of these challenges also varies between MATs and where support is provided it needs to be contextualised to the challenges the particular MAT faces fewer potential challenges for school leaders.

Realigning Structures

Sponsored academies are, according to the National College for Teaching & Leadership, under ‘enormous pressure to achieve rapid improvement’ as a result of the new freedoms and additional resources that accompany academy status (NCLSCS, 2015:5). This can be especially challenging for school leaders, as they may have to realign leadership structures and redefine the vision of the school in an attempt to implement organisational change and improve outcomes for students (Early et al, 2012). While principals currently hold most of the burden of accountability, chain CEOs may find themselves under increasing scrutiny by Ofsted. Additionally, the skills developed by leaders with experience in less challenging schools is unlikely to prepare them effectively to take on schools with lower results, pupils from poorer backgrounds and/or those in which previous leadership and management has been poor.

that have emerged as a result of the conversion to academy status, particularly in terms of their legal responsibilities. As academies are charitable companies, academy leaders are expected to fulfil the duties and obligations as governor, charity trustee and company director. Failure to understand these new roles can raise specific risks related to accountability and potential conflicts of interest, such as contracting services to another company owned by the sponsorship organisation (Academies Commission, 2013).

Level of Centralisation

For governing bodies in MATs, oversight and accountability can be particularly difficult to achieve because of the size of the chain and the centralised governing structure. The Academies Commission notes that over-centralisation may be a danger for MATs if ‘the control is concentrated in too few hands’. Having schools close to each other may also be a useful ambition for academy chains, as oversight can otherwise be challenging. The Managing Director of Prospects, for example, which is divesting itself of its academies, accepted that the geographical spread of their schools had created ‘difficulties and vulnerabilities’ (HCEC, 2015:42).

Financial Control and Oversight

MATs tend to have both large budgets and a high degree of independence; this increases the level of risk around financial management. Effective audit is therefore critical for academy chains (Academies Commission, 2013). Between January 2012 and July 2015 ninety nine official letters were sent to academies concerning poor performance. Eleven academy chains received multiple warnings. (TES, 2015)

Skills Needs, Gaps and Training

Heads across all publicly funded schools are guided by the national standards of excellence for headteachers; these standards are guidelines, not prescriptions, and cover four key domains. These are qualities and knowledge, pupils and staff, systems and process, and the ‘self-improving school system’ (DfE, 2015b:4). The most significant challenges experienced by

headteachers, chairs of governors and middle/senior leadership in schools are:

▶Funding constraints or budgetary problems ▶Changes to the Ofsted inspection framework ▶Conversion to academy status

▶Sustaining or improving student outcomes ▶Staff recruitment and retention

Every school an academy?

An ILM White Paper

The three most needed leadership skills for headteachers and senior/middle managers are strategies for closing attainment gaps, leading curriculum change and innovation, and modelling excellence in the leadership of teaching and learning (Early et al, 2012). Experience can also be a key gap: only 30% of headteachers in England have leadership experience outside of schools. In high performing education systems such as Singapore, the figure is 50% (CBI, 2013).

Academy leaders highlight the need for bespoke training by professionals with experience and knowledge of academies that takes into account the particular context of the school. Training is needed in leadership development; leadership of teaching and learning; networking and collaboration; management of staff performance; and identification and development of talent. There is also a need for training that can enable schools to make the most of the opportunities arising from conversion to academy status. (Early et al, 2012)

Multi-Academy Trusts

As structures vary as to the extent of

devolved leadership, so too will the leadership skills requirements.

Emerging leaders of MATs have greater access to diverse leadership development opportunities than their stand-alone counterparts (NCLSCS, 2011).

Academies have a higher proportion of male head teachers than the corresponding local authority maintained sector. This is the case both at secondary level where men make up 37% of the workforce and also in primary schools where men represent only 15% of staff. (DfE, 2015a)

Recommendations

This paper focuses on the priority areas of capacity development for school leaders. It is clear that the skills and knowledge needs of school leaders in academies and MATs are specialised and immediate, evidenced by the high number of senior vacancies and the Prime Minister’s stated intention that “every school should be an academy”.

Key actions for capacity development and to secure continuous improvement in outcomes achieved by leadership with probity and adherence to the Nolan principles in public life may include:

▶The development of an accessible, relevant and effective suite of professional leadership development qualifications to address the particular MAT executive leadership issues, specific skills and knowledge.

▶The development of a talent pipeline to fill the anticipated increased demand for such roles and so potentially reducing salary inflation at senior levels ▶Developing specialist training interventions

for governing bodies that focus on legal

responsibilities, governance and the similarities with corporate experience.

▶Developing training interventions for schools converting to academy status focusing on the transition from school leadership to MAT leadership, and including the requisite augmented skill set, capabilities and knowledge.

▶Encouraging leaders from other sectors to bring their experience to the management of MATs.

Offering mentoring and coaching schemes within The National College for Teaching & Leadership has

outlined a number of key skills for chief executives and executive principals; these are strategy, communication, entrepreneurial judgement, performance, analysis, teamwork, accountability, motivation, discernment, being a strong influencer and champion, personal resilience and tenacity.

References

Academies Commission (2013), Unleashing greatness: getting the best from an academised system

CBI (2013), Leading the way: improving school governance and leadership Chhatwal, K. (2014), The invisible prejudice that’s holding female teachers back,

The New Statesman, 280214

DfE (2015a), School Workforce in England, November 2014, SFR21/2015 DfE (2015b), National standards of excellence for headteachers

Early, P., Higham, R., Allen, R., Allen, T., Howson, J., Nelson, R., Rawar, S., Lynch, S., Morton, P. and Sims, D. (2012) Review of the School Leadership Landscape HCEC (2015) Academies and Free Schools, Fourth Report HC258, House of

Commons Education Committee

Hill, R., Dunford, J., Parish, N., Rea, S. and Sandals, L. (2012) The growth of academy chains; implications for leaders and leadership, NCSL Ofsted (2014), Annual Report on Schools: 140178

Ofsted (2015), Dataview - HYPERLINK “http://www.dataview.ofsted.gov.uk” www.dataview.ofsted.gov.uk accessed 08/2015

NAHT (2015), Where will the next generation of school leavers come from? National Association of Headteachers Press Release

NCLSCS (2011) Academies: research into the leadership of sponsored and converting academies, National College for Leadership in Schools and Children’s Services

TES (2015) Revealed: complete list of academy sponsors facing DfE warnings over ‘poor’ performance, Times Educational Supplement 210715

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