How to succeed in small-school headship: a reflection

This thesis is based on a six-year period of my first headship in a small village school. Through my story, I have investigated skills, attributes and knowledge that are required to ‘succeed’ in the endeavour of a small-school headship. I explain my approach to the research through a personal memoir and how this will draw out the learning. Then, Part One of this work positions my time as a headteacher in the wider educational context by examining the history of education from the Education Reform Act 1988 through to the coalition government of 2010. Part Two tells my story from the start of my headship in January 2006 through to March of 2011. Through these reflections, I draw out key skills, attributes and knowledge that have helped me to develop and ‘succeed’ as a small-school headteacher. I then draw upon a focused learning journal from April of 2011 to March 2012 and examine a series of ‘critical incidents’. Each incident uses a key stakeholder group in order to consider their role in the life of the headteacher and examine how the learning from the earlier reflections is applied and developed through interactions with these groups. I conclude with a set of seven ‘motifs’ for successful small-school headship, drawing together the learning from my story, followed by a brief examination of how my claims speak with scholarly leadership research