Headmaster/Headmistress flashcards
Headmaster/Headmistress · Build recall with a focused review session.
32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- Vision statement
- A vision statement describes the aspirational future state a school wants to achieve. It is long-term and forward-looking, guiding strategy and major decisions rather than day-to-day activity.
- SMART objectives
- An acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. It is used to write strategic objectives that can be tracked and evaluated against clear success criteria.
- SWOT analysis
- A planning tool mapping internal Strengths and Weaknesses against external Opportunities and Threats, used to inform school self-evaluation and to prioritise strategic action.
- Distributed leadership
- A model in which leadership responsibility is shared across many staff roles rather than concentrated in the headteacher, increasing capacity, sustainability and staff engagement with improvement.
- School improvement plan
- An annual document setting out a small number of priorities with actions, success criteria, timelines and named leads for raising standards, derived from self-evaluation evidence.
- Formative assessment
- Ongoing assessment used to identify what pupils have and have not yet learned so that teaching can be adjusted in real time. It is low-stakes and feeds forward.
- Cognitive load theory
- A theory holding that working memory is very limited, so instruction should chunk new material, reduce extraneous load and build durable schemas in long-term memory.
- Retrieval practice
- Deliberately recalling information from memory rather than re-reading it. It strengthens retention and reveals gaps, and is often used as low-stakes quizzes or lesson starters.
- Rosenshine's principles
- Ten research-based instructional strategies including daily review, small steps, modelling, guided practice, checking understanding and securing independent practice, drawn from cognitive science.
- Curriculum intent
- The stated aims, knowledge and sequencing a school intends pupils to learn, distinguished from implementation, meaning how it is taught, and impact, the resulting outcomes.
- Performance management cycle
- The recurring process of setting objectives at the start of the year, monitoring progress at mid-year and reviewing achievement at the end, linked to professional development.
- Lesson study
- A collaborative professional development cycle in which teachers plan a lesson together, one teaches while others observe, and the group reflects, refines and re-teaches.
- Instructional coaching
- A sustained, goal-focused form of CPD in which a coach observes a teacher, provides feedback and models techniques across several cycles rather than in a one-off session.
- Capability procedure
- A formal process addressing sustained underperformance or health-related inability to perform the role, distinct from disciplinary procedures that deal with misconduct.
- Reasonable adjustment
- A change to a task, environment or working pattern required by equality law to remove a disadvantage experienced by a disabled employee, unless it is unreasonable to make it.
- Delegated budget
- Funding allocated to a school through the national funding formula, which its headteacher and governing body plan, monitor and are accountable for spending within financial regulations.
- Best value
- The four Es of economy, efficiency, effectiveness and equity, used to judge whether school spending achieves the best possible outcomes for pupils with the resources available.
- Separation of duties
- A financial control requiring different people to authorise, order and record transactions so that no single person can both commit and process spending.
- Zero-based budgeting
- A budgeting method in which every expenditure line must be justified from scratch in each cycle, rather than adjusting the previous year's figures incrementally.
- Risk assessment
- A recorded evaluation identifying hazards, who might be harmed, existing controls and the likelihood and severity of harm, leading to actions that reduce risk to an acceptable level.
- Core functions of governance
- In England: ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction; holding executive leaders to account; and overseeing the financial performance of the organisation.
- Quorum
- The minimum number of governors or trustees who must be present for a meeting to be constitutionally able to make valid decisions.
- Declaration of interest
- A formal record of governors' business, financial or personal interests, with withdrawal from discussion and voting where a conflict of interest arises.
- Complaints procedure stages
- A staged route: informal discussion with staff, formal written complaint to the headteacher, then a governors' panel, then escalation to the ESFA for academies.
- Designated safeguarding lead
- The named senior person who takes lead responsibility for safeguarding and child protection, supports staff, liaises with agencies and ensures concerns are recorded and referred.
- Assess, plan, do, review
- The graduated approach in the SEND Code of Practice: identify needs, plan provision with the pupil and parents, deliver it, then review impact and repeat the cycle.
- Protected characteristics
- The nine grounds protected by the Equality Act 2010, including age, disability, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation; discrimination on these is unlawful.
- Persistent absence
- An attendance statistic where a pupil misses 10 per cent or more of possible sessions; schools must track it and respond through their attendance strategy.
- Duty to report concerns
- The rule that all school staff must pass any safeguarding concern to the designated safeguarding lead without delay and must never investigate allegations themselves.
- Seven principles of public life
- The Nolan principles of selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership, forming the ethical standard expected of public office-holders including school leaders.
- Public sector equality duty
- A legal duty on public bodies to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations, considered when setting policy and making decisions.
- Protected disclosure
- A whistleblowing report of wrongdoing made in the public interest, giving the worker legal protection from detriment or dismissal under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998.