What makes a great headteacher?

Washik

It's wonderful to feel inspired. I've just finished reading a short book which I found really fantastic - it even made me brush away a tear or two.

When I tell you the title of the book, you may find it strange that it left me so affected. It's not got the most catchy of titles, and its subject is education. But that's the point: education can be truly inspiring.

The book is called Turning Heads: Reflections on Leadership, and has been released under the auspices of the National College for School Leadership. It's a simple volume, short, with profiles of ten very different headteachers, all Teaching Award winners. Each has a great - and unique - tale to tell.

Some teach in cities, some in the country and one at a special school (where she integrated a small group of pupils with profound learning difficulties into the rest of the school; before that, they had been in an isolated classroom). Some have been teaching for decades, others haven't. Some are male, and some are female. But they are all inspiring, and they have all made such a huge, positive, difference to children, and whole communities.

One head, Sarah Dignasse, has changed the curriculum at Key Stage 4, by offering some pupils the chance to spend two days a week in school, and the other three at college or with an employer. She wanted to make her local school, Plume, in Maldon, Essex, one where children and parents were happy. They are. University applications are now up from 40 to 90 percent, while GCSE results are up from 37 percent (from when she arrived) to 60 percent who got five A* to C last year. It's very impressive.

Meanwhile Jasminder Grewal, headteacher of North Primary School in Southall runs what Ofsted describes as an "outstanding" school, while the dynamic Kevin Harcombe, of Redlands Primary in Hampshire seems to be full of passion and ideas. David Kirk (pictured above) headteacher of Ash Green Primary in Halifax, has turned his school around, working with the entire community and introducing new traditions (an annual musical in the town centre, for example) which children adore. He hated school as a child, but when you read his profile, you think how lucky the children at his school now are.

But while all of the teachers are different, they also have some things in common. They all have huge influence on children (and parents). And they are also all good leaders.

The book got me wondering just what does make a great headteacher. I think it's the ability to lead, but also to manage. It's being able to remain positive, to know what you want, but also be open to ideas. And it's being open to change too.

The NCSL - who say that successful heads need to build a "vision" and also understand and develop people - recently carried out a survey of over 300 heads judged by Ofsted as "outstanding" for their leadership. These teachers were asked to rank the factors which had contributed the most to their success. They put "a strong personal faith/philosophy and vocation" at the top, and other inspiring role models second. In other words, to get good headteachers, you need good headteachers.

What do you think? Did you have a particularly inspiring headteacher? Or quite the opposite? I think that headteachers set the tone of the school and make a huge impression on children and parents alike. My secondary school head was a very formidable character, hugely impressive and intelligent, but also able to be approached if need be. I think that's a good mix. What about you?

Landlords return to the property market

Francesca Steele

For the first time in two years, landlords are buying more homes than they are selling. Developers are also opting to let rather than sell properties. Are landlords foolhardy and developers desperate? Or does the data suggest that demand for rentals is set to rise as a result of the mortgage famine and an increasing realisation among twentysomethings of the benefits of being a tenant? Below we answer your questions:

I thought that there were too many properties to let...

That is certainly the case in many areas, but there are signs of change: studies indicate that there could be insufficient properties to meet demand, with long waiting lists for social housing - the result of rising repossessions - and home ownership remaining out of reach for many young people. First-time buyers may find it even more difficult to secure a mortgage if the Financial Services Authority bans 100percent mortgages and caps home loans at three times a borrower's income, as has been hinted.

A report last year by Centre for Cities, the think-tank, found that by 2021 one in five homes will need to be a rental property to meet demand. Richard Donnell, Hometrack's head of research, says: “There is certainly a role for a larger rental sector. Over the past few months rents have begun to climb again in some areas as many would-be buyers turn to renting. This is only going to increase as fewer and fewer people can actually afford to buy.Is the downturn to blame?

Home ownership was in decline even before the housing crash. The proportion of households in England owning their own home fell from 70.9 per cent in 2003 to 68.3 per cent in 2008. Donnell adds: “People's expectations have changed. They still aspire to buying eventually but they no longer expect to do so in their twenties. They, and the lenders, have also now realised that when there are 67,000 repossessions predicted this year alone it just isn't responsible to get on the housing ladder at any cost.”

How do we compare with the rest of Europe?

The UK has the second-highest percentage of owner-occupation in Europe at 68.8 per cent (Spain has 82 per cent). In Germany just 43 per cent of residents own their own home. Professor Michael Ball, author of the RICS European Housing Review 2009, says: “Germany hasn't developed the same sentimental attitude towards home ownership as the British, partly because the relative cost of owning a house is much higher there. People tend to save for a deposit and buy in their forties.”

Germany allows tenants to negotiate lower rents the longer they stay in the same property. Most landlords are individuals with small property portfolios who are given an incentive to buy-to-let via income tax breaks.

What about America?

In the US, where 33 per cent of the population rent, according to the American Housing Survey 2007, more than 50 per cent of landlords are large companies or institutions such as MetLife, an insurance company, and Equity Residential, a real estate investment trust. Nick Jopling, head of residential at CB Richard Ellis, says: “These are purpose-built apartment blocks where the quality of living is much better and landlords treat their tenants as an asset. Rents aren't significantly cheaper than they are here but you get more bang for your buck.”

Do these systems work?

The German Government would like to increase home ownership. Professor Ball says: “The kind of long-term tenancy that Germany has can have a negative socio-economic impact, encouraging a lack of mobility as people choose to stay where they are for cheaper rents. This suffocates the birth rate, because people stay in their high-rise flats throughout their thirties and don't have room for big families.”

So what happens next?

Sir Bob Kerslake, chief executive of the Homes and Communities Agency, is keen to help institutions to invest in build-to-let stock. Some firms have begun already: the UK's largest residential landlord, Grainger, will let one third of its new flats, above, on Hornsey Road, North London, adding to its portfolio of 14,000 tenanted properties; rents will start at £220 a week. Andrew Pratt, managing director of residential at Grainger, says: “Build-to-let is a growing idea and may become an attractive option for developers.”

Richard Donnell says: “I do not think we are going to see the rental share of the housing market jump up to 40 per cent, particularly as home ownership is still the best way to make tax-free capital gains on an asset. And, usually, as we get older and need larger homes, renting is more expensive in the long run. But it is quite likely that it will climb from 10 per cent to something like 17 per cent.”