Deputy head teacher to secondary school department head
A deputy head teacher already meets 67% of what the secondary school department head role asks for. The move turns on 6 required skills not yet in the profile.
39.9/ 100
1 How much of what a secondary school department head is expected to do is already part of a deputy head teacher’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the secondary school department head role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A secondary school department head role treats 16 of its required skills as things a deputy head teacher already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- advise on teaching methods
- assess the development of youth
- assessment processes
- assist in the organisation of school events
- cooperate with education professionals
- curriculum objectives
What stands in the way is 6 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 27 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A secondary school department head role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a deputy head teacher background worth leading with.
- already held provide education management support management skills
- already held provide feedback to teachers communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held learning technologies education
- already held promote education programmes communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held advise on teaching methods communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held curriculum standards education
All 27 carried skills, including the 16 the secondary school department head role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 17 missing skills fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn manage secondary school department required
- still to learn identify process improvements required
- still to learn assess employees' capability levels required
- still to learn use office systems required
- optional, not held develop course outline optional
- optional, not held develop organisational policies optional
- optional, not held identify education needs optional
- optional, not held plan shifts of employees optional
- optional, not held recruit employees optional
- still to learn liaise with educational staff required
- optional, not held teach secondary education class content optional
- optional, not held arrange parent teacher meeting optional
- still to learn instructional strategies required
- optional, not held learning difficulties optional
- optional, not held maintain contract administration optional
- optional, not held adolescent socialisation behaviour optional
- optional, not held work with virtual learning environments optional
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a secondary school department head role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 manage secondary school department practise this
- 02 identify process improvements practise this
- 03 instructional strategies study this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 27 skills that carry over
- already held advise on teaching methods skill
- already held assess the development of youth skill
- already held assessment processes knowledge
- already held assist in the organisation of school events skill
- already held cooperate with education professionals skill
- already held curriculum objectives knowledge
- already held curriculum standards knowledge
- already held guarantee students' safety skill
- already held lead inspections skill
- already held learning technologies knowledge
- already held present reports skill
- already held project management knowledge
- already held provide education management support skill
- already held provide feedback to teachers skill
- already held secondary school procedures knowledge
- already held write work-related reports skill
- already held advise on lesson plans skill
- already held create a financial report skill
- already held develop professional network skill
- already held escort students on a field trip skill
- already held evaluate education programmes skill
- already held funding methods knowledge
- already held maintain relations with children's parents skill
- already held manage budgets skill
- already held monitor educational developments skill
- already held prepare youths for adulthood skill
- already held promote education programmes skill
11 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held teach secondary education class content optional
- optional, not held adolescent socialisation behaviour optional
- optional, not held arrange parent teacher meeting optional
- optional, not held develop course outline optional
- optional, not held develop organisational policies optional
- optional, not held identify education needs optional
- optional, not held learning difficulties optional
- optional, not held maintain contract administration optional
- optional, not held plan shifts of employees optional
- optional, not held recruit employees optional
- optional, not held work with virtual learning environments optional
17 held skills the secondary school department head role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role analyse staff capacity skill
- not needed by the target role apply for government funding skill
- not needed by the target role communicate with youth skill
- not needed by the target role contract law knowledge
- not needed by the target role education administration knowledge
- not needed by the target role education law knowledge
- not needed by the target role kindergarten school procedures knowledge
- not needed by the target role labour legislation knowledge
- not needed by the target role liaise with board members skill
- not needed by the target role maintain students' discipline skill
- not needed by the target role manage contracts skill
- not needed by the target role manage government-funded programmes skill
- not needed by the target role manage student admissions skill
- not needed by the target role monitor student's behaviour skill
- not needed by the target role pedagogy knowledge
- not needed by the target role primary school procedures knowledge
- not needed by the target role supervise educational staff skill
3 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn instructional strategies required
- optional, not held adolescent socialisation behaviour optional
- optional, not held learning difficulties optional
Common questions about this move
Can a deputy head teacher become a secondary school department head?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. A deputy head teacher already covers 67% of what a secondary school department head is expected to do: 27 skills carry over, 16 of which the secondary school department head role treats as required.
What skills does a deputy head teacher need to become a secondary school department head?
6 required skills are missing, plus 11 optional ones. They fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by management skills. The single most important is manage secondary school department.
How hard is the move from deputy head teacher to secondary school department head?
Its learning distance is 39.9 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.