Career Overlap Transition record
RecordMove

Special educational needs head teacher to secondary school department head

A special educational needs head teacher already meets 78% of what the secondary school department head role asks for. The move turns on 4 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional
From special educational needs head teacher
78 % overlap
Very strong match
To secondary school department head
33 You already bring
4 Still to learn
44 Skills in the target role2
Learning distance Short step

28.6/ 100

1 How much of what a secondary school department head is expected to do is already part of a special educational needs 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

Why this move works

A secondary school department head role treats 18 of its required skills as things a special educational needs head teacher already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

  • advise on teaching methods
  • assess employees' capability levels
  • assess the development of youth
  • assessment processes
  • assist in the organisation of school events
  • cooperate with education professionals

What stands in the way is 4 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 33 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 special educational needs head teacher background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • 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 assess employees' capability levels management skills
  • already held maintain contract administration information skills

All 33 carried skills, including the 18 the secondary school department head role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 11 missing skills fall into 3 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 management skills 3 required, 2 supplementary
  • still to learn manage secondary school department required
  • still to learn identify process improvements required
  • still to learn provide education management support required
  • optional, not held develop course outline optional
  • optional, not held recruit employees optional
02 communication, collaboration and creativity 1 required, 4 supplementary
  • 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
  • optional, not held develop professional network optional
  • optional, not held prepare youths for adulthood optional
03 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 department head 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 33 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • already held advise on teaching methods skill
  • already held assess employees' capability levels 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 instructional strategies knowledge
  • already held lead inspections skill
  • already held learning technologies knowledge
  • already held present reports skill
  • already held project management knowledge
  • already held provide feedback to teachers skill
  • already held secondary school procedures knowledge
  • already held use office systems skill
  • already held write work-related reports skill
  • already held advise on lesson plans skill
  • already held create a financial report skill
  • already held develop organisational policies 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 learning difficulties knowledge
  • already held maintain contract administration skill
  • already held maintain relations with children's parents skill
  • already held manage budgets skill
  • already held monitor educational developments skill
  • already held plan shifts of employees skill
  • already held promote education programmes skill
  • already held work with virtual learning environments skill
7 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to pick up Tier
  • 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 professional network optional
  • optional, not held prepare youths for adulthood optional
  • optional, not held recruit employees optional
23 held skills the secondary school department head role does not ask for
Skill Type
  • 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 assess financial viability skill
  • not needed by the target role behavioural disorders knowledge
  • not needed by the target role communication disorders knowledge
  • not needed by the target role contract law knowledge
  • not needed by the target role development delays knowledge
  • not needed by the target role disability care knowledge
  • not needed by the target role disability types 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 learning needs analysis knowledge
  • 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 staff skill
  • not needed by the target role manage student admissions 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 provide specialised instruction for special needs students skill
  • not needed by the target role special needs education knowledge
  • not needed by the target role supervise educational staff skill
  • not needed by the target role trade union regulations knowledge
1 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
  • optional, not held adolescent socialisation behaviour optional
Index
FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can a special educational needs head teacher become a secondary school department head?

Yes, and it is an adjacent move. A special educational needs head teacher already covers 78% of what a secondary school department head is expected to do: 33 skills carry over, 18 of which the secondary school department head role treats as required.

What skills does a special educational needs head teacher need to become a secondary school department head?

4 required skills are missing, plus 7 optional ones. They fall into 3 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 special educational needs head teacher to secondary school department head?

Its learning distance is 28.6 out of 100, which is the adjacent 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.