ABSTRACT
Let's begin this chapter by focusing on poor leadership in school. To do this we must go to Chris Woodhead who, as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools, made some important comments in his 1997 annual report. He concluded that the following were characteristics of poor headteachers and ineffective leaders in school:
rarely seen in classrooms;
does not monitor teaching enough to know staff's strengths and weaknesses;
fails to bring about improvements in teaching;
unable to delegate and spends far too much time on routine paperwork;
fails to assess whether the school is getting good value for money;
creates a lack of a sense of purpose through weak leadership;
fails to give clear objectives and targets thereby causing staff to waste time and energy;
adds to discipline problems by not laying down clear rules for pupils and to support staff when they try to discipline children.
