ABSTRACT
The experience of the first term will be very different for the substantial percentage of heads who were appointed to the headship from being deputies in the same school. The main effect will be the removal of most of the opportunities afforded by making a first impression, though the first action or decision made in the new role will probably be very important in impressing on everyone that this is now the head. Furthermore, the honeymoon period will only exist whilst the new head makes the journey away from the role (perhaps mediator, buffer, protector) previously played as the link between the head and the staff. A deputy who has been very popular with staff because she listened to them and relayed their concerns to the head without having the responsibility of making decisions relative to these concerns may find the exigencies of the new role difficult to adjust to. In spite of this, most deputies appointed to headships internally will already have a strong mandate from at least one powerful section of the school community and everybody starts off with real knowledge of the situation. Added to this the new head has already a depth of knowledge of the school and its community that should allow her to take up the post with a clear view of the developments she wants, with strategies already in mind for making them happen.
