Career Overlap Transition record
RecordMove

Nursery school head teacher to secondary school head teacher

A nursery school head teacher already meets 74% of what the secondary school head teacher role asks for. The move turns on 6 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional
From nursery school head teacher
74 % overlap
Strong match
To secondary school head teacher
38 You already bring
6 Still to learn
53 Skills in the target role2
Learning distance Real move, short list to learn

34/ 100

1 How much of what a secondary school head teacher is expected to do is already part of a nursery school 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 head teacher role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.

Why

Why this move works

A secondary school head teacher role treats 19 of its required skills as things a nursery school head teacher already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

  • analyse staff capacity
  • apply for government funding
  • assess students
  • 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

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 38 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A secondary school head teacher role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a nursery school head teacher background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • already held manage enrolment management skills
  • already held trade union regulations services
  • already held provide feedback to teachers communication, collaboration and creativity
  • already held learning technologies education
  • already held apply for government funding information skills
  • already held promote education programmes communication, collaboration and creativity

All 38 carried skills, including the 19 the secondary school head teacher role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 15 missing skills fall into 5 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.

Skill to pick up Tier
01 communication, collaboration and creativity 3 required, 3 supplementary
  • still to learn liaise with board members required
  • still to learn liaise with educational staff required
  • still to learn represent the organisation required
  • optional, not held administer exams optional
  • optional, not held arrange parent teacher meeting optional
  • optional, not held prepare youths for adulthood optional
02 management skills 2 required, 4 supplementary
  • still to learn manage school budget required
  • still to learn maintain students' discipline required
  • optional, not held lead board meetings optional
  • optional, not held manage space utilisation optional
  • optional, not held manage government-funded programmes optional
  • optional, not held manage maintenance operations optional
03 business, administration and law 1 required
  • still to learn secondary school procedures required
04 education 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held learning difficulties optional
05 social sciences, journalism and information 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held adolescent socialisation behaviour optional
Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries a secondary school head teacher role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 38 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • already held analyse staff capacity skill
  • already held apply for government funding skill
  • already held assess students skill
  • 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 develop organisational policies skill
  • already held education law knowledge
  • already held guarantee students' safety skill
  • already held instructional strategies knowledge
  • already held manage enrolment skill
  • already held manage staff skill
  • already held monitor educational developments skill
  • already held pedagogy knowledge
  • already held present reports skill
  • already held project management knowledge
  • already held supervise educational staff skill
  • already held write work-related reports skill
  • already held advise on teaching methods skill
  • already held assess employees' capability levels skill
  • already held assessment processes knowledge
  • already held contract law knowledge
  • 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 identify education needs skill
  • already held labour legislation knowledge
  • already held lead inspections skill
  • already held learning technologies knowledge
  • already held maintain relations with children's parents skill
  • already held manage contracts skill
  • already held promote education programmes skill
  • already held provide feedback to teachers skill
  • already held recruit employees skill
  • already held trade union regulations knowledge
9 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to pick up Tier
  • optional, not held administer exams optional
  • optional, not held lead board meetings optional
  • optional, not held manage space utilisation optional
  • optional, not held adolescent socialisation behaviour optional
  • optional, not held arrange parent teacher meeting optional
  • optional, not held learning difficulties optional
  • optional, not held manage government-funded programmes optional
  • optional, not held manage maintenance operations optional
  • optional, not held prepare youths for adulthood optional
13 held skills the secondary school head teacher role does not ask for
Skill Type
  • not needed by the target role advise on lesson plans skill
  • not needed by the target role assess the development of youth skill
  • not needed by the target role build trust skill
  • not needed by the target role identify process improvements skill
  • not needed by the target role implement care programmes for children skill
  • not needed by the target role kindergarten school procedures knowledge
  • not needed by the target role maintain contract administration skill
  • not needed by the target role manage budgets skill
  • not needed by the target role manage resources for educational purposes skill
  • not needed by the target role provide after school care skill
  • not needed by the target role support children's wellbeing skill
  • not needed by the target role teach kindergarten class content skill
  • not needed by the target role work with virtual learning environments 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.

Skill to pick up Tier
  • still to learn secondary school procedures required
  • optional, not held adolescent socialisation behaviour optional
  • optional, not held learning difficulties optional
Index
FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can a nursery school head teacher become a secondary school head teacher?

Yes, and it is a moderate move. A nursery school head teacher already covers 74% of what a secondary school head teacher is expected to do: 38 skills carry over, 19 of which the secondary school head teacher role treats as required.

What skills does a nursery school head teacher need to become a secondary school head teacher?

6 required skills are missing, plus 9 optional ones. They fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is liaise with board members.

How hard is the move from nursery school head teacher to secondary school head teacher?

Its learning distance is 34 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.

Note

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.