Middle leadership is often seen as the logical next step for teachers after they have a few years under their belt.

However, it isn’t for everyone and certainly doesn’t have to be. It can often mean longer hours, extra responsibilities, more pressure and sometimes all this for little extra compensation.

However, there are many positives that can be realised by taking on a middle leadership role too; a stronger sense of belonging to the school, witnessing first-hand the positive change directly due to your implementations, as well as stronger community ties and strengthened relationships with staff.

So how do you know if it is for you and what skills do you need to make a success of it?

As someone who made this transition to phase leader after my Recently Qualified Teacher year six years ago, and since worked in roles including mathematics leader and key stage leader before becoming the head of professional learning and pedagogy, here’s are some key attributes I believe are key.

1. Get comfortable presenting

In any middle leadership role, elements of public speaking are inevitable. This doesn’t mean you will be required to lead large conferences or showcase your school on stage.

However, you should become more comfortable with leading year group, key stage or whole school staff meetings, briefings, contributing to discussions on both internally and externally organised courses and speaking to the senior leadership team and Ofsted inspectors, to give just a few examples.

Of course, this takes practice and doesn’t come naturally for some people. Personally, I am still consciously developing this skill, but one simple tip is simply to say yes to any speaking opportunity that comes along - it may be nerve-wracking, but it will pay dividends in the long run.

Each time, you will feel more comfortable with the experience and the time taken to prepare what you will say will noticeably decrease.

2. Get to grips with budgeting

It is likely you may have to manage a budget, place stock orders, gather quotes for new schemes or pitch a new idea to your leadership team.

Therefore, being aware of the costs involved in various schemes and proposals is vital for any leader in a school. With schools facing tighter budgets than ever before, this is becoming more and more important, as funds must be used wisely and for the greatest impact.

Consider what you use daily in your classroom: physical resources, teaching subscriptions, technology, apps, adult support, to name just a few.

Think about what you would change if you had control over the budget. This is a good starting point to focus on the management of individual school departments.

3. Become a mentor

As a middle leader, you may begin the feel like the “glue” in the school. You will have a vital role that links your senior leaders to all staff within your department, including new or less experienced staff.

Often, you are not only required to lead your staff but also develop less experienced staff as a coach or mentor.

There are many resources available to support you in this process. There are also many reputable, cost-effective coaching CPD courses available that are advisable to engage in when managing a team.

Not only can the skills developed here be beneficial for all, but they can be especially useful when supporting new or less experienced staff. Learning these skills early can give you a head start when you have members of staff who may require support in your team.

4. Know the data

Being held accountable for the performance of your department is to be expected in many middle leadership roles. This may include staff performance, student exam performance, target achievements and progress in any given area.

In order to prepare for scrutiny, get to know the specific details of your class or year group data. What is the boy-girl ratio? What is the difference in progress made by students born in September compared to July? What percentage of the class is pupil premium and how does this affect the outcomes of students?

Knowing your department is extremely important as you may need to explain and justify the progress being made and the impact of your team periodically throughout the year.

Start by practicing with your class, and the same skills can then be applied at a greater scale for other areas of the school.

5. Get used to delivering feedback

Difficult conversations are an inevitable aspect of middle leadership: these are likely to occur at one point or another, either with colleagues, parents or during school inspections.

We expect our students to show a growth mindset towards their learning and therefore, we should do the same.

Of course, giving positive feedback can feel great and is a deeply satisfying part of the job - especially when you have worked with someone to help achieve that success.

Conversely, there may be times that you are required to give feedback that isn’t as positive as you’d like - and you may have to receive some too.

This can be tough, but it’s the reality of being a middle leader so it’s worth thinking about how comfortable you will be in doing this.

You can do it 

Some of the above may sound daunting if you’ve never managed a budget before, for example. Some may use the old “fake it ‘til you make it” idea in this situation - I know I have relied on that idea as I embark on a new role.

However, the reality is you have already “made it” after years of training and finessing to become a teacher. Indeed, teaching is all about the art of learning - so we should have the confidence as teachers to recognise we too are always learning and that a new job role is a chance to learn and grow.

The most important thing in any school is using your enthusiasm, skills and talent to have the greatest impact on the pupils, your colleagues and the wider community.

Jack Benstead is head of professional learning and pedagogy at Harrow Innovation Leadership Academy