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Deputy vs assistant headteacher: role comparison
Understand the similarities and key differences between deputy and assistant headteachers and get to grips with which might work best in your school.
Contents
Duties of each role
Maintained schools
The professional duties of deputy and assistant headteachers are mostly the same.
As well as carrying out the professional duties of a teacher, deputy and assistant headteachers play a major role in:
- Formulating the aims and objectives of the school
- Establishing the policies through which they are to be achieved
- Managing staff and resources to that end
- Monitoring progress towards their achievement
They must also "undertake any professional duties of the headteacher reasonably delegated by the headteacher".
The only difference is that a deputy headteacher must deputise for the headteacher when they're absent from school.
This is explained in paragraphs 48.1 to 48.2 (page 46) of the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD).
Academies
Check if your deputy and/or assistant headteachers are contractually entitled to the conditions set out in the STPCD.
If they are, their duties will be the same as for maintained schools (see above).
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