Aspirant guide
Getting ready for senior leadership
Middle leader to senior leader (assistant or deputy head)
Who it’s for
This guide is for middle leaders who want to join a senior leadership team as an assistant or deputy head. In secondary schools that usually means a head of department or head of year stepping up. In primary schools it is often a phase leader becoming an assistant head, sometimes while still teaching a class. It also suits SENCOs, school business managers and other leaders moving onto the senior team.
What changes when you join the senior team
Most middle leaders know what senior leaders do. Fewer are ready for how different the role feels. Five things change.
- You lead across the whole school, not one team
- You lead through other leaders
- You share responsibility for every decision
- You know more than you can say
- The urgent fills your day
The three focus behaviours
Senior leaders need commitment from people who don't report to them. Involving middle leaders and staff early in shaping a change is how a whole-school priority becomes theirs, not just yours.
Leading a whole-school priority means knowing whether it is working long before the results arrive. Choosing the few things you can track week by week is the difference between hoping and knowing.
A senior leader can't do it all. Matching responsibility to each person's readiness, with clear expectations and support, is how you grow the middle leaders your priority depends on.
The one that got you here, but won’t be enough
Many middle leaders are promoted because they get things done in their own team through sheer drive and follow-through. That still matters. But the same drive spread across a whole school leads to exhaustion, and leaves others waiting for you. The behaviour shifts from making it happen yourself to making sure it happens through others.
The full guide, with practice ideas, experiences, worked examples and interview questions, comes with membership.