This lively, practical account explores the vital aspects of the assistant or deputy headteacher’s role, which often means playing piggy-in-the-middle to a variety of school stakeholders, including the headteacher, other senior managers, the teaching staff, parents and local authority advisors, governors and pupils. The author gives practical tips on how to organise yourself well when the pressure to perform multiple tasks simultaneously is high, such as how to lead and manage major strategic changes, do a good presentation to staff on a training day, and give a rogue pupil an effective telling-off. The book also covers how to apply for a senior management job and successfully get through the stringent written selection criteria and complex interview process.

This is a highly informative text for any aspiring subject leader or middle manager in the primary or secondary sector. It will also be of interest to existing senior managers who want to reflect on the way they are doing their job already.