At Benhurst Primary School in Essex, there has recently been something of a baby boom. In the space of just a few months, the school’s Year 5 group leader, early years group leader, Year 2 group leader and deputy head have all knocked on headteacher David Denchfield’s office door to tell him that they are pregnant.

News of an impending birth is always a cause for celebration but, in this case, the reason to celebrate was twofold: as well as being fantastic news for the teachers involved, Denchfield knew that it would also provide opportunities for him to temporarily promote other members of staff to cover the maternity leave.

“We had capable staff who were keen to step into these leadership roles and so it’s given them the chance to gain those experiences,” he says.

Temporary promotions can often be seen as “stand-in” jobs in which it is difficult to have impact. But managed well, they can be beneficial to schools and the individual concerned. So, how do you get it right?

Ensure the role is meaningful

The first job is to ensure that the role is meaningful, that all the powers and responsibilities of the position remain and that the individual is empowered to make decisions - this should not be a reduced position with everything left pending until the original occupier returns.

Katherine Hart is currently acting deputy headteacher at Benhurst. She believes that, with these things in place, the step up is good for her and the school.

“While I’m aware I only have temporary ownership, I’ve still been able to have a positive impact,” she says.

Julian Dutnall, headteacher at the Frances Bardsley Academy for girls, agrees that the promotion should be “real”, however small or large that step up might be, albeit with a few tweaks, where necessary.

“Recently, we filled a science TLR [teaching and learning responsibility] position with two members of staff who have each done a fantastic job and almost doubled the amount of work done in a certain area,” he says. “Another creative solution that came out of a maternity leave was splitting a head of year role into pastoral and progress leaders, which was so successful that we have introduced that in another year group permanently now.”

Changes such as these can be unsettling, however, so while empowering the individuals in temporary roles, headteachers also need to be aware that other staff may find such promotions unsettling.

Their buy-in will be crucial, so reassurance about - and full explanations of - changes, along with visible support for all, are important, says Stephanie Keenan, a curriculum leader at Ruislip High School, Surrey.

This will be particularly important, she says, where unexpected outcomes occur.

“We may come to realise that we can cope without one key member of staff, no matter how tough it might be, and that we can work more flexibly in the department with part-time teachers in role, even in roles of responsibility,” she says.

Denchfield suggests that headteachers must also have plans in place to cope with the gaps that are left when one teacher is asked to step up: “acting up” should not just mean more work for everyone else.

To make sure that you are prepared to fill these roles, even at short notice, he recommends building relationships with nearby educational consortiums or initial teacher training providers.

“We regularly train and support student teachers, so when we have vacancies we are able to invite them to join the family. Having reciprocal networks like this in place really helps,” he says.

External appointments

Denchfield also advises taking the “calculated risk” of offering one-year contracts to temporary external appointments, even when they will be covering a shorter period of maternity leave.

“There is always the possibility we may be overstaffed, but it makes it much easier to persuade the right people to join us - above all else, we want fantastic, high-quality staff to fill in the gaps.”

Even if you get all this right, of course, the biggest issue can often come at the end of a temporary appointment: that teacher who has enjoyed the increased responsibility has to then go back to their old job. It is very likely that they will start looking for senior permanent roles elsewhere.

It’s an issue that Denchfield is all too aware of and yet is philosophical about managing.

“I believe it’s good for teaching in general for staff to develop and I’m trying to engineer new opportunities in their old roles, so currently none are planning on leaving,” he says.

Even if that does not work, most headteachers will tell you that it is their job to develop leadership talent and if that results in a teacher leaving for promotion, then they should be happy to see them progress.

As Denchfield puts it, being a good leader ultimately means being “aware of the possibilities and the chances for people to evolve”.

Kate Townshend is a teacher and freelance writer. She tweets @_KateTownshend