Making the break into IS Leadership From DS Leadership

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researchhelp
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2016 6:34 am

Making the break into IS Leadership From DS Leadership

Post by researchhelp »

Hi everyone, I'm new to ISR and we are just starting out on the IS circuit. We have a bit of an unusual profile so would like any and all advice for our circumstances especially how to promote our pluses, diminish our minuses and find school wanting families and long term commitment. So here's our profile:

UK Married couple with three children (15mths, 5yrs & 7yrs)

Husband: aged 49, 6 years as a depute in 2 mainstream secondary schools with outstanding refs from last 3 employers and very wide experience of remits, taught before management for 6 years. He is a very dynamic, enthused and highly committed senior leader. He has Ed Management Postgrad Cert. but not a full Masters and PGCE. Before teaching he served 13 years in British Army and travelled widely across the Middle East and Africa during his service - so knows how tough things can get! He has experience of UK system and a little IB from introducing the History IB Diploma as a department head. He is also very keen on extra curricular programmes - able to coach, but very good at debating, history, politics, school trips etc. Also speaks German.

Me: aged 37, 10 years of run my own businesses and business creation for other clients in tourism, vocational training and retail. Currently Executive Director of a world class Voice Training Centre. This post is portable as I am not required on site but would be willing to give this up to work with the school. I am very keen to contribute to the life of the school both with my strong set of professional transferable skills and with my domestic caring skills as a mother of 3. I have also always sought to support my husband in his role - the job comes first!

What we really want is a great school experience for our children and to show them a bit of the world to develop their sense of global citizenship, but would seek to stay for 5 years at least for their stability. We hope for a good benefits package, but actually, salary is lowest on our list of needs if the package covers accom, medical, dental, annual flights etc for the whole family. We would look at almost anywhere in the world if the school and package is strong.

Also, do we go for Deputy posts, because we have no IS experience, or is it realistic to apply for Head of Secondary.

Do our hopes seem realistic or are we unlikely to find a match...?

Any help and advice would be very, very welcome. We live in a very remote part of the UK so attending fairs etc is not really possible so forum/internet research is all we have. Many thanks everyone!
wrldtrvlr123
Posts: 1173
Joined: Sat Feb 06, 2010 10:59 am
Location: Japan

Re: Making the break into IS Leadership From DS Leadership

Post by wrldtrvlr123 »

Hello and welcome. I would say that your husband sounds as though he would be a reasonably attractive candidate for many int'l schools. Having 4 dependents is going to turn some schools off, although many schools are a bit more flexible with that when it comes to leadership candidates (as opposed to teaching candidates).

I would apply for whatever leadership positions interest you and are in schools/locations that would seem to be a good fit for your family. Int'l schools (and the attitudes of their leadership/recruitment teams) vary so wildly that no on can really tell whether you are over-reaching or selling yourself short by applying only to selected leadership positions. When in doubt, throw your hat into the ring.

You should definitely look into Search Associates which has an excellent database of schools and hosts leadership recruitment drives/fairs. You should also look into ESF schools in Hong Kong. They run 20+ schools in HK and were originally a NC system before switching over to the IB 7 years back or so. They do go to fairs but do most of their recruiting via Skype, etc..HK is expensive but the package for leadership would likely be enough for your needs and the schools would offer a good education for your children and many opportunities for your husband. And of course HK would be a very dynamic place to use as a home base for exploring while likely offering you opportunities for work if nothing at the school materializes.

Also, if you are very open to location, you will likely find a range of lower tier to good schools willing to talk to your husband about leadership positions. Do your research on schools and locations and odds are something will work out for you and your family.
researchhelp
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2016 6:34 am

Re: Making the break into IS Leadership From DS Leadership

Post by researchhelp »

Hi wrldtrvlr123, and thank you so much for taking the time to offer a well considered reply. I have registered with Search and TIE and watching TES Jobs like a hawk. So here's hoping!
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