Becoming a headteacher is daunting. 

You will become the one person who has ultimate responsibility for the safety and education of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of children. 

You will be accountable for a budget of millions of pounds of public money.

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You will manage a large and varied workforce and need to ensure the sound maintenance of buildings. 

How can a teacher with experience only in a classroom and perhaps a few years serving on the senior leadership team ever have the knowledge and skills for such an important job?

The solution? The National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH). This is offered by providers across the land to prepare aspiring heads for the role, transforming people from having knowledge only of classrooms to be able to deal with complex financial, legal and management issues.

I was delighted to have been accepted on to an NPQH programme by one of the country’s most popular providers.

I eagerly awaited to be given the knowledge that I was lacking in order to run a school. Imagine my surprise when 18 months later, nearing the completion of my course, I am none the wiser.

The NPQH has failed to teach me:

1.   How to ensure the safety of all pupils and staff

Like many senior leaders, I have been promoted through being a successful teacher and head of department. I have had few opportunities to take on pastoral and safeguarding responsibilities. I need to know what would be my key legal safeguarding duties as a headteacher and what would be the most effective way to fulfil them. 

I was hoping that I would be given this knowledge, as the key role of a successful head is to keep members of the school community safe.

To my surprise, the majority of the relayed session was taken up with debating the differences between a vision, a mission statement and our core values.

2.   What carrots and sticks I can use to motivate staff

Unless you have had a history of poor performance as a teacher then there is no reason why you should have had experience of the competency procedures.

To effectively manage such a diverse and well-educated workforce, a headteacher needs a clear understanding of the motivational levers they can use to ensure the pupils get very best education. 

I was hoping that during the face-to-face day about leading teaching and learning I would be given this knowledge or at least an understanding of union agreements and the legal framework behind performance-related pay.

Instead, I spent the day imagining what my perfect school would look like before giving other delegates an imaginary tour around my imaginary school.

3.   What successful schools do

All teachers know the value of using a model to teach any complex subject. On the NPQH, I was enthusiastic to learn what the best heads do and be given specific examples of exemplary schools and the strategies that those heads had used to achieve great outcomes.

The programme is facilitated by current and former headteachers who must know of many examples.

Instead of exploring these, we spent a day analysing and comparing outdated and unsupported change management models. One colleague walked out halfway through the day in frustration. I wish I had done the same.

4.   The role of the governors

The headteacher is accountable to the governors. In a few schools, the governing board is effective, rigorous and professional but in others, the governance is disorganised and ineffective. Senior leaders may sit in on some of the governors’ committees but they have little meaningful contact with them. 

Headteachers, on the other hand, have a very complex relationship with them. Not only are the headteachers accountable to the governors but they also seem responsible for the effective recruitment and training of governors while reporting to a variety of working groups and committees.

I was hoping to be clearly told the legal framework behind the governance of schools and have the role of a headteacher clearly defined.

During one session, we did touch on how to work with governors but also how to work with other partners including: parents, teachers, other senior leaders, other schools, the canteen staff, suppliers of educational materials, suppliers of educational services, teaching schools, agencies involved in the welfare of children, the local authority, the multi-academy trust and of course, the pupils. So much for a deep understanding of anything. 

5.   How to manage a large budget

The largest budget that I have managed to date is £20,000. An average secondary school budget would be around 200 times that figure. I have had no financial training at all. I believed that I’d get at least a modicum of financial training so I could effectively manage a multi-million pound budget when I became a headteacher. 

We did look at how other schools managed their resources but no specific guidance or tools were given. We spent as much time during the day arguing whether to throw a librarian or a dance teacher out of the imaginary hot air balloon.

There seems to be a saying, oft repeated by my NPQH facilitators, that nothing can really prepare you for being a headteacher. This might well be true but having a national training programme that focused on clear legal and financial guidance rather than focusing on generalised and outdated management theory would help. 

It is ironic that the Department for Education would endorse such a knowledge-poor curriculum.

John Stanier is assistant headteacher at Great Torrington School and assistant director of the Dartmoor Teaching School Alliance