Loders School first in Dorset to seek co-head

FOR years parents whose children go to Loders School have found it hard to resist raising an awful question.

Generally discussed in playground-style huddles, this question has long given a delicious frisson of dread.

It is: What will happen when headmaster Mike Kite finally decides to retire?

Loders School

Last year when Loders was inspected by Ofsted, this small village school near Bridport was found to be outstanding in every respect.

“Many [parents] commented on the inspirational leadership of the headteacher and it is this that provides the key to the school’s success. The headteacher has a positive ‘can do’ attitude and this permeates through the whole school from the headteacher himself to staff, governors, parents and children. No problem is too big to be surmounted.”

The problem now is that the time has finally come when Mr Kite, aged 62, has decided that he wishes to work rather less intensively than he has for the last 25 years.

His first plan – as explained in a letter – was to retire altogether in July.

But as everyone concerned with the school is reluctant to let him go – as some of what makes Loders special would inevitably go with him – another course of action is first being explored.

Loders has become the first school in Dorset to advertise for a Co-Head, that is, effectively, a job-sharing arrangement. It is, as Mr Kite says, unusual but by no means unique. About 40 other schools nationwide have co-heads.

The aim of Loders’ governors is to set up a mechanism for succession, an extended handover. It will be fascinating to see whether they succeed, at a time when a survey just last week found “a dire shortage of applicants” for headteachers’ jobs. More than a third of primary schools (35%) have to re-advertise.

If no co-head of sufficient calibre can be found for Loders, then Mr Kite will retire in July, and the school’s headship will be re-advertised on a conventional basis.

“Whichever route is taken,” says Mr Kite, “you can be sure that the governors will do an extremely thorough job – second-best is not an acceptable option for Loders School.”

More details of what’s proposed can be found on the dorsetforyou website.

Editor’s Note: I should say that when I qualified as a teacher, Mr Kite was one of my mentors, and I looked up to him as a flicker of light does to a star…