Case Studies: Academies

The challenge

Waterhead Academy opened in September 2010.  The Academy formed by the merger of two local secondary schools, Breeze Hill School and Counthill, moved to a new state-of-the-art building offering an exciting and engaging learning experience for students aged between 11 and 16 years.

Waterhead Academy is sponsored by Oldham College one of the largest employers in Oldham.  The College is a well-respected teaching and training organisation, being both a ‘Beacon College’ and graded Outstanding by Ofsted.  Respected by the community for creating a diverse and vibrant multicultural environment, Oldham College is making a major contribution to the regeneration of the town. The College has wide experience of working with students aged 14-16 years old.

The College approached TES Prime to help them find an Interim Principal for the Academy to take up post for 12 months.  One of the key objectives was to bring some stability after a period of recent and unexpected change in the leadership of the Academy.  They were looking for a talented leader with the ability to work with an academy that still had the culture of two diverse schools.  S/he would be able to continue the journey of bringing the communities together to create one focused, cohesive and inspiring learning community.

How we helped

• The College requested that 3 agencies put names forward of potential candidates that they could speak with.  Holding one of the largest senior leadership databases in education of active candidates, we were able to search and speak with some very strong candidates and eventually recommended the most appropriate to the Academy’s current needs. 
• The process of searching for the candidate is not just about speaking to the candidate about the opportunity but to ascertain where they are in their own career.  It’s this process of building a close relationship with our candidates that we can quickly ascertain not just the fit, but any other motivations to get a near perfect match.

The result

Waterhead Academy appointed a TES Prime candidate after viewing several candidates from the recruitment companies on their list.  The academy is now in a period of stability and moving from strength to strength.