School councils have been an integral part of primary school life for the last decade and, despite not being mandatory in England, they are now to be found in the vast majority of primary schools. This research article aims to examine the current position of school councils in terms of their organization, the issues they address and the views held…

This article reports on doctoral research into the leadership practice of members of senior leadership teams in primary schools in England. We present the research findings as a visual construct representing school leadership as an integrated, holistic and dynamic process, named the PIVOT framework of leadership. This original structure connects…

In 2002 the New Labour government launched the Academies programme (known initially as City Academies) with the target of 400, of which 200 are to opened by 2010. The espoused aim has been to tackle underachievement and encourage diversity of provision. However, it continues to be a controversial policy that is being driven by the Specialist…

We examine the position and positioning of children in leadership studies through describing a project where we have worked with children as researchers and policymakers. The research group that we are a part of is located in a successful secondary school, and we have worked together over the past two years to find out more about student and staff…

In this article, the authors focus on what is called "middle leadership" in schools in England and "middle management" in New Zealand. Their concern is that despite almost two decades since the introduction of site based management in both countries that devolved significant responsibility for the leadership of learning to those teachers in the…

This article draws upon a case study of a special school (Park Vale) participating in the Department for Education and Science (DfES) Transforming School Workforce (TSW) Pathfinder Pilot Project (2002-2003). The Project was developed as a response by the DfES: firstly, to growing difficulties in the recruitment and retention of teachers in the…

load has been highlighted by recent studies, including work for the DfES by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC 2001) and by the Office for Manpower Economics (OME) for the School Teachers' Review Body (DfES 2000). The PwC report concluded that teachers and headteachers work more intensive weeks than other comparable managers and professionals. This heavy…