All maintained schools must notify Oxfordshire County Council of the headteacher’s resignation as soon as possible.
Contact Governor Services at governorservices@oxfordshire.gov.uk and School Improvement at schoolimprovementteam@oxfordshire.gov.uk.
Support for recruiting a new headteacher
The School Improvement Team supports maintained schools and academies when recruiting a new headteacher.
It is essential to make the most of the short time between receiving notice from your current head and the desired start date for your new appointment. We strongly recommend that governing boards notify us as soon as they know of the impending vacancy.
Interviews and appointment panels
The council will provide or commission attendance at headteacher interviews in maintained schools free of charge. This may be an attendee from a partner organisation. All maintained schools must have LA representation to advise the appointment panel.
In addition, schools can buy professional support and advice for the governing boards’ appointment panel during shortlisting and interviewing.
Recruitment training
The Governor Services training programme offers regular training sessions on headteacher recruitment.
Bespoke governor training can be bought to ensure a shared understanding of governors’ statutory duties and provide advice about the recruitment process. As well as all appointment panel members, we strongly recommend that other governors attend this session so that governors understand what they are delegating to the panel. Please contact Governor Services for further information.
DfE guidance and headteacher recruitment toolkit
The DfE guidance gives information to help governors and trustees make effective decisions when recruiting and selecting headteachers and other school leaders. We recommend using the DfE guidance and the tool kit throughout the recruitment process. These were produced in conjunction with the NGA (National Governance Association).