“Leading a Catholic School: The Best Job in the World”

CES releases DVD and support materials for Catholic schools

The Catholic Education Service (CES) has launched a DVD in collaboration with the National College for School Leadership (NCSL), as part of its strategy to secure future leaders for Catholic schools.  The job of headship is challenging in all schools and most schools find head teacher recruitment a difficult task.  The high expectations of the leader of a Catholic school and the cliché that there are currently too few potential new leaders to fill the gaps when present post-holders retire pose particular challenges for the Catholic sector. As such, the CES is undertaking a wide variety of work to support and promote headship, and the DVD is a key part of this strategy.

The Head teacher of a Welsh Catholic school featuring in the DVD reinforces the key message: ‘It’s the best job in the world; there isn’t a job to touch it for variety, for excitement, for challenge.  Yes it’s tough and there’s a lot of pressure, but I love my job, I love coming to school every day and I still enjoy it as much as when I first started!’

Oona Stannard, Chief Executive and Director of the CES said: ‘There is no shortage of people well-qualified to be head teachers in our Catholic schools; only a shortage of people coming forward.  We have to make sure that they are given the support and encouragement they need in order to present themselves for this exciting and demanding role.  Head teachers help to make society a better place for all and we celebrate what they do, whether they are already in other senior leadership posts in our schools or Catholic staff working in community schools.’

The CES has commissioned Leading a Catholic School: the Best Job in the World to emphasise the joys of the job (while not avoiding the challenges), with the aim of assisting governing bodies and dioceses in their planning to ensure a supply of excellent leaders for the future.  The DVD and associated training materials draw on the experience of successful serving heads and those aspiring to headship in order to challenge the negative view of headship often portrayed in the media.  The title reflects the view of the heads filmed during the making of the DVD, who emphasised the joy of leading a school with a special, distinct Catholic character.

The DVD particularly aims to support Governing Bodies and dioceses in their roles of appointing leaders and nurturing potential leaders, not only for their own schools but for other schools too.  It explores alternative models of leadership, seeking to inform Governors about the national scene and thus equip them to make wise decisions in the context of their local situation.  One section examines how Catholic schools can reach out to and welcome those in the community who might be looking to return to work in the Catholic sector. 

ENDS

Notes:

• Every Catholic school in England and Wales will receive a free copy of the DVD and support materials.  Further copies of the DVD are available from the CES priced at £15 and the supporting material at £10 www.cesew.org.uk.
• The CES works closely with the National College for School Leadership (NCSL) and Oona Stannard, Chief Executive and Director of the CES, is a member of the NCSL Succession Planning Advisory Board. 
• Oona Stannard features in a discussion about succession planning, hosted by Sue McGregor, on the NCSL website: http://www.ncsl.org.uk/tomorrowsleaderstoday/about/about-faith.cfm.
• Professor John Howson recently praised the Catholic sector for its succession planning efforts in the 23^rd Annual Report of Senior Staff Appointments in Schools in England and Wales: in terms of denominational trends in re-advertising rates for leadership vacancies, according to Professor Howson, it was pleasing to note a small improvement in the re-advertisement rate in the Roman Catholic sector (the rate in the Catholic sector overall is 55% compared with 43% for the Church of England).  These are the best results for Church schools since 2002/2003, a fact welcomed by the CES.  See the full report and press release from Education Data Surveys: http://www.educationdatasurveys.org.uk/?q=node/87.

For more information please contact Laura McCann, Policy and Briefing Officer t: 0207 901 4854 e: lmccann@cesew.org.uk w: www.cesew.org.uk.

For further copies of the DVD and support materials please fill out the order form below and return to the CES by post, including a cheque for payment, to CES, 39 Eccleston Square, London SW1V 1BX.