An Assistant Headteacher's Take on SEND Funding
05 Mar, 20251-2 minutes
In this blog, you will learn:
- What a typical day looks like for an Assistant Headteacher.
- How to ensure a smooth transition for students moving from primary to secondary education.
- How to maintain a healthy work-life balance as an Assistant Headteacher.
- How to stay updated with the latest changes and advancements in education.
- Where the latest Assistant Headteacher jobs are and how to apply for them.
We recently had the opportunity to sit down with an Assistant Headteacher to get her perspectives on this rewarding career choice. With 18 years of experience as an Assistant Headteacher, this individual has seen firsthand how the landscape of education has changed over the years.
Her background in education includes roles such as Head of Faculty, Assistant Head of Sixth Form, Tutor and member of the PSHE team. She has also contributed to teacher training and worked as an Edexcel examiner, providing her with a well-rounded perspective on the profession.
Throughout the interview, this Assistant Headteacher discusses the chronic lack of funding for SEND students and the expectations placed on schools to step in where social services fall short.
What does a typical day look like for you as an Assistant Headteacher?
I start my day off checking my emails before attending my morning meeting with senior leadership, pastoral leads and faculty. After this I head on to duty until 9.15am, however, parental meetings sometimes replace this if they can’t happen before school.
With a two week timetable of three 100 minute lessons daily, I teach 13 to 14 classes while also covering when needed. In addition to teaching, I support students, respond to calls for assistance and manage mobile roving lessons.
Breaks and lunches mean patrolling the playground while grabbing a quick sandwich and coffee.
School then finishes at 3.25pm and I am back on duty until 4pm, followed by meetings, behaviour reviews, parent and staff communication and wellbeing initiatives.
The day ends with another round of emails, ensuring that everything is set for the next day. Planning and marking happens at home.
Beyond daily routines, I organise and support careers fairs, guest speakers, concerts, Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and other events.
My evenings often extend past 7:30pm but despite the demands, I take great pride in contributing to a successful and ambitious school.
How do you support students and staff who are struggling with their mental health?
The impact of conversations with a student or staff member struggling with their mental health cannot be underestimated and in my opinion is always time well spent. Establishing positive relationships with the families of students is essential and part of that is about being available and willing to listen.
The role is also about the small things you do which aren’t on any job description. The small interactions which let the students know that you care about them and what they need, that you want them to do well and achieve their goals and that you are there to walk alongside them in this journey.
Is there anything within the education system that you hope will change in 2025 and if so why?
I would like to see a complete overhaul of education - one size does not fit all. Education should be about learning, not testing, not training and not jumping through hoops.
A curriculum which meets the needs of each student is essential. I’m not talking about bespoke timetables but subjects which encourage engagement and allow success. The content areas in so many subjects would be recognisable to my grandparents and that is ridiculous and embarrassing.
STEM is so much the focus that it undermines other areas. University remains the pinnacle of success and yet fewer students feel able to follow this and so feel disgruntled. Apprenticeships are dependent on locality as in a rural area, transport is a huge factor. Even getting to the local college is impossible for some students, from my village it would entail a 5 mile walk each way as there are no buses.
The increased move towards purely hand written exams excludes many students from showing what they know and understand. This also disengages parents who struggle academically as they feel embarrassed at not being able to help their child.
The result is a raft of families who do not value education or see it as something that is available or relevant to them and so they feel threatened by schools and respond accordingly.
This has consequences not just in the students' school career but also in the opportunities, attitudes and aspirations they take with them into employment.
The increase in SEND and the lack of resources available is criminal. Students are refused specialist places because the provision cannot meet the students needs and yet those students are in a mainstream school which definitely cannot meet their needs.
There is a chronic lack of specialist SEND staff in schools, exacerbated by the cheaper option of Higher Level Teaching Assistants (HLTAs), who do a great job, but are not Teachers. This undermines the value of SEND and also of the child's education as these staff often move on and so the child’s education lacks consistency.
I am delighted that as a society we are beginning to consider the holistic needs of a child however this cannot mean that social care, education, pastoral care, mental health, careers, family support and guidance become the remit of Teachers.
As a school we send out food parcels to families, wash clothes, provide washing facilities for children, feed children in school, make welfare checks on families and provide mental health first aid each day and week.
Social Workers, mental health teams and care authorities visit half-termly but are overworked and have no time. Education is always about ‘Is the child attending school?’, never about engagement or how they can support the child in their education.
Funding is diabolical and so services within a school are being cut, never increased. This means non-specialist staff with no experience of education and too often no training, are taking on roles which can have a negative impact on students.
What are your thoughts on the new Labour government and do you believe they will radicalise the education system?
I hope the new Labour government will look carefully at education however I doubt they will ‘radically’ change anything. In part, this is because there is so much to do but also because cynically, there are no evident wins here.
How do you ensure a smooth transition for students moving from primary to secondary education?
We begin the process actively when students are in year four, offering visits and events on site for example shows, lunches and specialist activities. These visits increase as the pupils move through year five into year six.
In year six we run a number of days for the students, where they work with staff and get a taste of what high school is like. As a large rural high school, many of our feeder schools are tiny with year groups of perhaps six which means the transition is vital.
These pupils will often need to get a school bus, mix with a large year group as well as cope with the changes that new year seven students have to deal with.
We run open mornings and evenings throughout the year where families can visit and see what life in the school is like.
The transition continues during the first term of high school. A year area is put aside for September, first sitting for lunches, an assembly on ‘late to lesson’ and PSHE focusing on managing the change. Peer mentors are trained and allocated too.
Assemblies and fun events are timetabled to facilitate friendships being made and that groups bond.
We are fortunate to work with a local youth charity who offer mentoring to the school. They begin supporting the year six students in the September before they join us and are there when they arrive in year seven.
Carers are involved in evening programmes which allow any concerns to be picked up quickly and responded to appropriately.
How has the role of an Assistant Headteacher changed since you began your career and where do you see it heading in the next 5-10 years?
My role has definitely evolved since I first became an Assistant Headteacher. I would say the biggest change has been in the expectations of families. Carers make demands now rather than asking what we can do together, as services in the county have become more stretched or disappeared.
Carers look to schools to solve all their problems. I have been asked about benefits, housing, childcare and major mental health concerns.
I used the word ‘solve’ as I see more helplessness now. People, including students, are looking for simple answers but often don’t want to make any change themself and so blame people when things don’t improve. This has become increasingly evident since COVID-19.
I suspect the role of an Assistant Headteacher will continue to change and think the teaching will continue to move down the list of priorities.
This is sad as I love teaching and it’s at the core of what all education professionals do.
How do you maintain a healthy work-life balance?
I enjoy being stretched and busy - and thrive on the variety of work that my role offers. This doesn’t mean that I haven’t been frustrated or stressed though.
When my children were younger I had to schedule my day accordingly. Now I make sure that I say yes to social activities and schedule work around these.
Weekends have always been sacrosanct and I do not work as these are for family time. I have hobbies such as running, reading and cooking which fit around my day too.
Communication at home is essential to ensure expectations are realistic and being married to a Teacher, I’m fortunate that he understands the pressures.
How do you stay updated with the latest changes and advancements in education?
CPD is offered weekly within my school however the availability of external CPD is limited by costs. I find that reading journals and the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) updates all help to stay informed with the latest changes and advancements in education, as do informal forums.
What unique strengths and qualities do you bring to your role as an Assistant Headteacher?
The Headteacher who appointed me needed someone to counterbalance the authoritarian leadership which had evolved. I brought the soft skills required and the experience of applying these effectively.
I’m also enthusiastic, energetic, calm and patient which are all essential qualities of an Assistant Headteacher.
I’m willing to be flexible and use my initiative to do things that need doing. For example, I've washed the school windows when Ofsted were coming, taught lessons when staff became upset and talked down furious and aggressive parents.
This ability to deal with the situation with good grace and care underpins all I do and was what that Headteacher saw in me.
Assistant Headteacher jobs
If you’re searching for your next Assistant Headteacher position, why not take a look at the latest Assistant Headteacher jobs, or simply upload your CV to be notified when a relevant position becomes available.
Struggling to recruit an Assistant Headteacher?
As a specialist Headteacher recruitment agency, we support mainstream and SEND schools, Multi Academy Trusts, Alternative Provisions and Pupil Referral Units (PRU) with their recruitment needs.
If you’re struggling to fill a Headteacher vacancy, why not get in touch with one of our team to see how we can help?
- North of the UK - Jamie Heath
- South of the UK - Dane Matthews
Share your experience
Every individual brings a unique set of experiences, thoughts, and insights to the table. We believe in giving a voice to a community of professionals to inspire positive change and champion reform in the education sector.
If you work in the education sector and would like to share your own personal and professional experiences, we’d love to hear from you. Perhaps you have a different perspective, could offer a fresh angle, or want to challenge assumptions.
Simply reach out to our Head of Content, Nicole Sherwood, to discuss a collaboration which makes your voice count.
Meet Jamie Heath
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