Teaching is a rewarding profession in more ways than one, offering fantastic career prospects and development opportunities.
Management and leadership responsibilities
There are a number of ways in which teachers can progress in their careers, either within the classroom or in a leadership role.
In secondary schools you could move up and across the management structure to gain responsibility for:
- a particular subject as head of department, faculty or curriculum
- a particular age group as head of year or key stage coordinator, or
- a particular area such as special educational needs or pastoral care (ie personal guidance)
Ultimately, you could progress to a senior management position such as deputy or assistant head and, of course, headteacher - at which point you will have overall responsibility for the management of a school and the education its pupils receive.
In primary schools you can take on responsibility for coordinating key areas such as literacy, numeracy or special educational needs; and you can move into senior management by becoming a deputy head or headteacher.
Progressing towards leadership
There are also several schemes that are targeted at leaders in education. The Fast Track teaching programme, for instance, is a scheme designed for talented teachers with the ability and ambition to make rapid progress into their careers and achieve leadership positions sooner rather than later.
Middle leaders in primary and secondary schools (established subject or special educational needs coordinators) can take advantage of the 'Leaders from the Middle' programme, which provides professional development in the form of face-to-face and online training and works towards developing school, team and individual priorities.
The National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) is suitable for those wanting to become a headteacher. For more information about headship programmes, visit the National College for School Leadership website or, in Wales, the Learning Wales website.