"Superheads" are 'doing a great job'

TdaNews Direct
Published: 18 November, 2008

A new report has revealed that "superheads" - specially assigned headteachers who are sent in to improve schools - are doing an effective job for performance.

New figures reported by the Independent reveal that in the scheme's first year, nearly every school in the programme showed a major improvement in both GCSE results and other national curriculum tests.

Furthermore, the programme, which identifies national leaders in education that are capable of turning around failing schools, resulted in 19 schools being dropped from Ofsted's list of causes for concern.

The report by the National College for School Leadership continued: "Increasingly, the evidence from both this country and overseas shows that pairing high-performing schools and their leaders with weaker ones can be a significant and positive force for improvement."

On top of the superheads scheme, the National Challenge was also launched on June 10th by the Government and aims to ensure that 30 per cent of students in all schools will gain five or more GCSEs at A*-C, including maths and English.