New School Leader: What Now?

Neil Renton is the headteacher of a large comprehensive secondary school of over 2100 students in North Yorkshire. An experienced senior leader, he was appointed to headship just before the pandemic.

Leadership is in my opinion a much-overused term in our education system and more often than not conflated with management. But the role of headteacher is not the one portrayed by the fictional figures found in James Hilton’s Goodbye Mr Chips, Whack-O’s Professor James Edwards or Roald Dahl’s monstrous Miss Trunchbull but one of a highly visible and accountable position in our society. In modern times it is a position holding expectations of a complex array of knowledge and skills ranging from social worker, site manager to educational visionary. Yet at its heart is the day-to-day need to work for and with pupils, teaching and support staff and the wider community. And despite the centrality of the role, the way we prepare our teachers to take on the role is open to question. Overnight, a teacher becomes a headteacher. Neil Renton’s humble and honest insight into the transition is not one that relies on an academic or philosophical take on leadership, but one that speaks from the heart about the challenges and privileges of starting out in headship. This highly accessible and compelling book walks the reader through the mind of a reflective, pragmatic professional stated in refreshingly plain English. This is not only something for aspiring headteachers to read, but for every person engaged in our schools and colleges to help us all to see inside the soul of a dedicated professional starting out in the role of the head of an educational institution. Dr Mick Walker Former Exec Director of QCDA; President CIEA; Chair EBEIn New School Leader: What Now? Neil Renton offers a refreshingly honest and open account of his initial steps as a new headteacher in one of the United Kingdom’s largest comprehensive schools. In doing so he goes a long way to demystify the role of the headteacher. This is not to play down or make this hugely significant position seem somehow easier than it might appear but rather to offer invaluable insight and advice about how to navigate the complex terrain of school leadership. That the book is underpinned by such first-hand professional knowledge and experience make it all the more powerful and purposeful. For anyone with an interest in education and, in particular, those embarking on their first leadership position within a modern day educational organisation, this is essential reading. Dr Paul Wilfred Armstrong Senior Lecturer in Education, University of Manchester

• Foreword Part 1 Navigating doubt 1. Learning to carry the weight 2. The importance of allies 3. Working without praise 4. Plain speaking 5. Speaking from the heart 6. Decisions 7. U-turns 8. Kopfkino 9. Forgetting and remembering 10. Visibility Part 1 summary Part 2 Navigating challenge 11. Facing significant underperformance head-on 12. Covering off in a crisis 13. Assertion 14. Keeping perspective 15. Echo 16. Breathing through my feet 17. Real courage 18. Inspection 19. Work and rest Part 2 summary Part 3 Leading every day: the basics 20. Curiosity 21. Process, not place 22. Smiling 23. Saying thank you 24. Questions 25. Visits 26. Feedback 27. Next steps 28. The gift of helping to cross steppingstones 29. The importance of preparation 30. Meetings 31. Reading 32. Carrying on 33. Restart 34. Moments that give perspective Part 3 summary Part 4 Leading every day: mindset and culture 35. The importance of goals 36. Little things that mean a lot 37. Slowly building trust 38. Positive narratives 39. Quiet ambition 40. The misconception of strong leadership 41. Benches 42. The self-employed mindset 43. The pitfall of the self-employed mindset 44. Threads 45. Tuning forks 46. Pipelines 47. Working sideways across schools Part 4 summary