Case Studies: Secondary

The Challenge

Wallington High School for Girls is a high performing selective academy, proud of its 14th best state school results and numerous awards including Artsmark Gold Award and the Ofsted recognised Cultural Diversity Quality Standard – Gold Award, to list two in particular.

Replacing the headteacher as the school converted to academy status, opened a new sports hall and sought to raise attainment even further, would be no easy task.

How we helped

• Understanding the cultural fit for the role and the new challenges that Wallington face, were as important as identifying candidates with the basic competencies to be a capable headteacher. For Wallington, capable is not good enough, as the school its sights set much higher and is an important member of the strong Sutton Partnership.
• TES Prime managed a campaign combining both search and advertising sourcing techniques.
• A range of high-quality school marketing materials were created, reflective of the school branding and providing key information for interested candidates.
• The TES Prime network and use of internet tools and overall recruitment effort garnered a significant amount of interest.The recruitment activities attracted a strong longlist of twenty-four candidates including experienced headteachers and deputies from independent, grammar and comprehensive schools and from local schools with an understanding of the partnership.
• A robust assessment process was designed, including psychometric assessment

The Result

Wallington successfully appointed their new headteacher at the first attempt as a candidate emerged through the process who fitted the ‘Heirs of the past, makers of the future’ school motto. With experience in high performing plc businesses and high performing grammar schools, a headteacher for the 21st century answering the new challenges of education.