Analyse The Importance Of Leadership In Schools

Leadership in schools:
In a school context, Dame Sally Coates (2015) tweets that, “leaders must always have one eye on the long term and one eye on the present; they must grapple with the minutiae of school life.” She sees schools at intensely human organisations who are engaged in the fundamental exchange of knowledge and skills from adults to children, creating a positive learning environment. Dame Coates stated that one thing that we learn in teaching, is that people want to be lead. People want to know where they stand and they crave the stability provided by a confident leader (Coates, 2015). So, what do school leaders actually do to bring about success? Schleicher (2012) sees school leaders as helping to define the school’s educational
Bush e all (2009), state that the separation between leadership and learning is damaging to student outcomes. It is this impact of leadership on the learning outcomes of students that has lead to the wider recognition of the importance of leadership and leadership development (Middlewood, Bush, and Bell, 2010). According to the Joining the Dots report, intense reform has taken place in the education system over the last five years. In response to this, many examples of high-quality provision has emerged. These are often driven by strong leadership. As schools gain greater autonomy and freedom to introduce new ideas, the role of the school leader becomes increasingly important (Joining the dots,
However, Hallett states that the role of the SENCO is clearly varied, and very much dependent on context within which the SENCOs work (Hallett and Hallett, 2010).Therefore, there is a need to consider the unique and individual contexts within which SENCOs work. (This will include the size and location of the school, and the number of pupils identified as having SEND within the school context.) This positioning and status of the role and overall approach to meeting the needs of pupils with SEND will also impact on how the role is perceived and developed; whether the SENCO is seen as a senior leader, or not. Also, it will depend whether there is shared responsibility for meeting the needs of all pupils, including those with SEND or whether the responsibility rests solely with the SENCO. Etkins (2010) queried the effectiveness of removing the weight of responsibilities and statutory duties away from residing with just one person, into the development of a more effective and inclusive whole school approach. Within this approach the role of the SENCO remains central, however they become a ‘facilitator enabler supporter’, rather than someone who is charged with doing it all themselves (Ekins, 2010). This approach is reiterated by Norwich (2010),