The Optimus blog

The blog that inspires leaders in the UK education sector

The Optimus blog

The blog that inspires leaders in the UK education sector

Sara Boomsma

Middle leaders: beat the stress and lead your team to outstanding

Battling time constraints, managing staff, engaging in the day-to-day running of the school and teaching high-quality, differentiated lessons... is it any wonder that today’s middle leaders are stressed?

Now that the Government and Ofsted have upped their focus on accountability and a wider range of responsibilities, the challenges can seem overwhelming.

Often described as the ‘leaders closest to the classroom’, middle leaders’ roles are increasingly diverse.

As Charlie Taylor, chief executive of the National College for Teaching and Leadership, recently explained, they play a crucial role in schools: not only do they ensure a continuous focus on high-quality teaching and learning, but they are also expected to provide evidence of each department’s development to Ofsted.

On top of this, they influence at team and whole-school level to ‘transform learning’ and make ‘a real difference to children’s achievement’.

No mean feat.

 

Developing middle leadership

How can middle leaders juggle these ever-growing responsibilities and cope with the various pressures to ensure outstanding leadership? If you’re looking to upskill your middle leaders, our new conference, From Teacher to Leader: Middle Leadership Essentials, will help you to:

  • learn how to develop a collaborative team vision, share ownership of your goals and empower your colleagues,
  • maintain a healthy work-life balance with effective prioritisation and delegation to reduce workloads and increase productivity,
  • successfully demonstrate impact to your senior leadership team and explore methods to measure the effectiveness of changes.

This is a great chance to network, air your concerns and share best practice with your peers. The conference will take place in London on Tuesday 22nd Nov 2016. 

Register your place here

Further reading

You will need to log in to access the pieces below but if your school or setting does not have a membership then simply take out a free trial to read for free (use the code: EML1)

 

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