Like any organisation, a school is only as good as the people who lead it, which is why getting your Senior Leadership Team recruitment right at the first time of asking is so important.
The impact of poor recruitment and poor recruitment planning can have a significant effect on the progress of a school, reflecting in results, inspection outcomes and future student numbers that can take months or even years to rectify.
At HFL we are passionate about helping schools, settings and trusts to attract, engage and retain the very best senior leadership talent available, working with you to attract and appoint headteachers, executive heads, deputy heads, school business managers, finance directors and more.
Why work with us for your next school leadership or headteacher appointment?
At HFL Education, we bring a wealth of expertise in education recruitment to the table. Our team of seasoned professionals understand the intricacies of the education sector, enabling us to tailor our approach to suit the unique requirements of each school, setting, or trust. From primary schools to multi-academy trusts, we guide school leaders through a bespoke recruitment process that aligns with their vision and values.
Using this specialist knowledge and expertise as the bedrock of the advice and practical support we offer; we are able to design bespoke recruitment services all tailored to meet your unique needs.
Who do we work with?
Over many years we have gained experience of working with a wide range of schools, settings and trusts to appoint the very best school leadership and headteacher talent.
This includes close partnerships with:
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Governing Boards
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Academy trusts
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Local authorities
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School Effectiveness Advisers (SEAs)
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Church dioceses
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Independent school boards
As part of our highly regarded service, we have an exceptional success rate in delivering efficient, cost-effective recruitment solutions that result in an average of 50 senior appointments each year.
Working in partnership with you from start to finish
Our expert guidance and support is designed to offer you practical help and advice, as well as specialist knowledge and opinion, at every stage of the process – from the moment you identify your vacancy to the moment the successful candidate enters the organisation.
A dedicated Recruitment Advisor will work collaboratively with school leaders, governors, and trustees to help you find the perfect match. Your advisor facilitates our full headteacher and senior leader recruitment service which typically includes:
Initial meeting
Understanding your needs and context, and required key competencies.
Job description
We’ll draw up a detailed job description, person specification and candidate pack to be advertised on relevant platforms.
Ensuring safer recruitment
Our process is focussed on ensuring safeguarding and safer recruitment measures are in place to mitigate risk.
Shortlisting
We’ll facilitate all your shortlisting needs, following up with both those who are successful and those who are not.
References
We’ll handle the reference requests, and initial safer recruitment checks ensuring all the candidates you see have the correct certifications and right to work clearances.
Selection tools
Our specialist assessment and selection resources are specifically designed to assess candidates against agreed competencies.
Interview and assessment resources
Interview timetables, panel packs and candidate packs to support through the assessment, interview, offer and appointment stages.
Interview feedback
Both the successful candidate and those who were unsuccessful receive structured, constructive feedback for their continued professional development.
Beyond the interview
The support we offer during recruitment is extensive, but we also go beyond the pure logistics of recruiting and engaging the best possible candidate.
During your headteacher and senior leader recruitment process you’ll have ongoing access to our extensive expert support to ensure the process is fair, robust and inclusive.
We also offer additional training, if required, for your recruitment panel and the successful candidate, to ensure that the recruitment process is a success and that your appointee has the very best chance of being successful in their new role.
We can also provide tailored support in the event you’re looking to make an interim appointment.
Can I run the recruitment process myself?
For those who feel able to or want to run the recruitment processes themselves we can tailor our senior leader or headteacher recruitment service to your specific needs, whether that’s helping you to build your own process using our resources, assisting with candidate management and admin support, or on-the-day help and guidance from our team.
We were very pleased with the responsiveness, guidance, advice and support received throughout the whole process – with an excellent appointment as the successful outcome!
David Callaghan - Chair of Governors, St Anthony’s School, Watford
It was the wraparound support that took most of the administration from the school onto the recruitment team (so we could focus on the candidates). Having an Advisor on site on the recruitment day was also invaluable and helped ensure the day went very smoothly.
Mark Smith – Chair of Governors, Bengeo Primary School
Find out more
If you would like to know more about how HFL can help you to successfully recruit your next school leader or head teacher, please contact us.