More than 1,500 of England’s school leaders will gather in Birmingham this week as a new poll reveals that parents’ confidence in headteachers is higher today than a decade ago.
The Ipsos Mori survey results, commissioned by NCSL and unveiled on the eve of Seizing Success 2008: NCSL´s Annual Leadership Conference, show half of parents are confident that headteachers are doing a better job now compared to 10 years ago.
The news augurs well for the government’s drive to tackle the 1 in 5 schools achieving below 30 per cent 5 good GCSEs where NCSL’s National Leaders in Education will be playing a key role.
Over the same 10 years, the number of schools achieving below this level has fallen from 1,610 to 638 thanks in part to strong leadership.
NCSL Chief Executive Steve Munby will tell the conference that higher standards of school leadership are key to this rise in the headteacher’s standing with the nation’s parents.
"Today we have higher standards of school leadership than ever and this survey of parents shows that they are very confident about what headteachers do, as well as showing us the respect in which they are held. Over the past year I have visited 45 schools and spoken to more than 6,000 school leaders.
"Being a headteacher is a privileged role, which requires some special qualities. Running a complex environment like a school requires a wide range of skills. They need to show passion, purpose and professionalism.
"How many roles are there today where an individual can help give so many young people the best possible preparation for life?
"Great headteachers are doing all this in an extremely demanding environment, but their role is hugely stimulating, personally challenging and intellectually fulfilling."
The same poll also revealed 1 in 7 parents believe business people could be a headteacher, while 1 in 10 consider police officers right for the role – however, more than a quarter think no one apart from teachers has what it takes to fill the top post in a school.
Twenty eight per cent of parents think teachers have the right skills to move into headship. Military officers, university lecturers, school governors, lawyers, doctors and politicians also fared worse than their school-based counterparts.
Seizing Success 2008 runs from 18-20 June at Birmingham’s International Convention Centre (ICC) and is a unique global event with school leaders from over the world taking part.
It features keynote speeches from the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families Ed Balls, allows delegates to hear leading edge thinking from world class speakers, take part in best practice workshops and also network with their peers. Feedback tells us that school leaders who have attended previous NCSL annual conferences are so inspired that they brought along their whole leadership team the following year.
Ipsos Mori questioned a nationally representative sample of 645 parents. Results (based upon multiple choice questions) are broken down below.
How confident are you that headteachers are doing a better job now than ten years ago?
| Very confident | 8% |
| Fairly confident | 41% |
| Not very confident | 23% |
| Not at all confident | 10% |
| Don’t know | 17% |
| Confident | 49% |
| Not confident | 33% |
Who apart from teachers do you think could be a headteacher?
| No one else/only teachers | 28% |
| Business leaders/people in business | 14% |
| Police officers | 11% |
| Officers in the military | 8% |
| University lecturers/professors | 7% |
| School governors | 6% |
| Lawyers/solicitors | 4% |
| Doctors | 4% |
| Politicians | 3% |
| Other | 8% |
| Don’t know | 28% |