Tim Matthews is Deputy Headteacher at Oriel High School. As well as creating this helpful blog, he has also built a useful group in the IRIS Connect platform,‘Leading A Self Improving Department'. It's a great starting point if you are taking your first steps as a Subject Leader or are looking to review how you are doing things. It's FREE to our customers. Click here to login and join today >
If you are either an established Subject Leader or are taking your first steps into subject leadership - good luck!
On my first day as a new Subject Leader I remember walking into school nursing an emotional cocktail of pride, excitement, nervousness and an inescapable feeling that I would be "found out" probably by the end of the day and certainly by the end of the first week.
As it happens things were not as bad as I anticipated because the people I worked with were incredibly supportive and not afraid of telling me when things could be done better! Over time I came to realize how important the role of Subject Leader is and the opportunities that you have to influence the learning of students and improve the day-to-day teaching experience for colleagues.
Here are 10 tips you might find useful if you are about to take up post as a new Subject Leader or are an established Leader reflecting on the performance of an existing team...