A sustainable future for school leadership?
FORUM - Print ISSN 1474-7685 - Online ISSN 2047-7171
Volume 68 Number 2 (2026)
A sustainable future for school leadership?
Kenny Frederick pages 58‑63
DOI: 10.3898/forum.2026.68.2.08
Abstract
Currently head teachers/principals in England are leaving their posts after only five years and there are few waiting to take their place. Headrest UK was set up by a small group of retired head teachers who noticed worrying posts on social media from those who were going under during the Covid pandemic. We stepped in to support with an anonymous, dedicated helpline, and the demand for our voluntary service continues to grow. Our experience supporting colleagues has been sobering and confirmed the need to be the voice of those who are doing the job in an increasingly difficult context. The calls we take vary in content but include Ofsted pressures, parental complaints, inability to meet the needs of SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) pupils and even more frequently the inhuman treatment of leaders who are considered ‘surplus to requirements’. Leaders who are regarded as dispensable are offloaded with ease – or so it seems. As a small voluntary group, the information we collect is in the form of informal feedback from callers and we have no way of verifying what they tell us. However, this does not diminish the substance or importance of the individual stories.
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To cite this article
Kenny Frederick (2026) A sustainable future for school leadership?, FORUM, 68(2), 58-63 . https://doi.org/10.3898/forum.2026.68.2.08