ABSTRACT
Headteachers, as creators and leaders of their SMTs, were the first port of call in exploring the emergence and practice of SMTs in primary sector schools. Their account is ‘headocentric’ yet, of all the players involved, they are perhaps the ones whose perspective counts most as a starting point. They can decide whether to create an SMT and, if they do so, to establish the SMT’s membership, its links with other elements of the management structure and its procedures. Where seeking to set a new course for the school and to respond to central government directives, they may choose how restrictive or extensive an approach to transformational leadership to adopt.
