I'm not a Deputy Head (yet/now). Am I eligible?
What about me? My rural primary school is *tiny*!
This one’s really easy to answer: yes, absolutely.
But the conversation rarely ends there because people want to know:
How come? And,
What is the selection criteria, then?
There is no ideal candidate
This is a team sport. If we want to eradicate educational inequality in the South West, we need to work across phases and between places. Nobody is as smart as everybody.
‘Seniority’ or ‘scope’ of role just aren’t selection criteria of ours. There are some practical reasons for this and some philosophical ones, too.
Philosophically, we're not looking for ‘the (very nearly) complete article’ because we don’t believe that person exists.
We're more interested in ensuring that every SW100 participant can demonstrate:
✅ A strong commitment to supporting children experiencing disadvantage,
✅ A strong track record of improving student outcomes,
✅ Humility,
✅ Openness, and
✅ A desire to work in partnership with others to make things better.
And we believe that each SW100 cohort is enhanced, significantly, by the diversity of experiences, expertise, and personalities within it.
So, while we don't believe there's an ideal candidate, per se, we're open to there being an ideal cohort.
Great minds don’t think alike; great minds like to think. We’re not looking for 100 people who see the world the same way; we’re looking for 100 people with slightly different world views approaching the same challenge, together.
That means for every ‘turbulent campaigner’ in the group, we're going to need an ‘assertive logistician’. We know that small, rural, primary school leaders can learn lots from large, urban, secondary leaders—and vice versa.
On this, listen to current SW100er, Krisha 👇
School leaders with a wide range of leadership experiences from a variety of contexts built over a number of years can learn from those deeply rooted in their communities or domain, and/or those earlier in their respective leadership journeys.
We believe in the power of relationships and partnerships. We're intentional about creating psychologically secure spaces to encourage cultures of critical reflection, productive partnerships, inclusion, and ambition.
We believe these are distinctive features of the SW100 programme, and we’ll actively test applicants’ commitments to them during the selection day in June.
Plus, more pragmatically, we recognise the profound variation in school leadership opportunities across the region and between phases.
Within rural communities, for instance, there are simply fewer leadership opportunities available (feasibly, at least) for aspiring school leaders to take on. Secondary schools are larger and, as such, maintain larger leadership teams.
We do not want these structural barriers to prejudice primary colleagues from joining the programme and, in so doing, prohibiting everybody else from gaining value from their insights, experiences, and expertise.
To this end, here’s a personal reflection from (now) SW100 Alum and ‘small school champion’, Jo Luxford 👇
TL;DR
Associate Heads, Deputy Heads, Assistant Heads, Subject Leaders, and Classroom Teachers are all actively encouraged to apply. The role you currently hold is not the most important thing.
We’re looking for aspiring school leaders who:
1️⃣ Can provide evidence of leading improved progress at their school/s—especially for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
2️⃣ Possess the humility to learn from others by sharing their own learning honestly and fully.
3️⃣ Are committed to developing strong relationships and playing an active role in a purpose-driven network of school leaders across the region.
4️⃣ Believe that closing the disadvantage gap in the South West is achievable; and,
5️⃣ Are up for the challenge!
We appreciate it’s not the most straightforward answer but hope it’s helpful all the same!
If you’d like to discuss more, please email us at SW100@reachfoundation.org.uk or arrange a call here.
Ready to apply? Great! Head here.
🙏
 | A guest post by
|