What is the role of a subject leader?
As we have already established, the main role of the subject leader is to manage the teaching and learning of a particular subject in the school. The role can be summarised in four main points:
1. To ensure that all pupils in the school make progress in the subject area across all year groups. The subject leader should be confident that this is happening and that age-expected standards are being met.
2. To make sure that the teaching of the subject area is of a high quality across the whole school.
3. To ensure that there is a clear curriculum in place that has been well thought through and matched to the needs of the children. It should satisfy the requirements of the National Curriculum. The subject leader needs to be confident that this curriculum is being taught and that planning is in line with it.
4. To make sure that resources required to teach this curriculum are available to be used.
What questions do subject leaders need to have in mind?
The role of a subject leader can be further broken down into Intent, Implementation and Impact. These terms, coined by Ofsted, will never be graded seperately in an inspection. However, they are really useful terms for subject leaders to have in mind when thinking about their subject leadership role:
Intent
- Does our curriculum meet the requirements of the National Curriculum?
- Does our curriculum ensure adequate coverage?
- Are all teachers in the school aware of the expectations of the curriculum?
- What action planning needs to take place to ensure improvement within the subject?
- Are resources available and easily accessible for teachers to use?
Implementation
- Is teaching of a high quality?
- Is teaching in this subject progressive and allow children to build on previously acquired skills, knowledge and understanding?
- What assessment needs to take place in the subject?
- How can I best use financial and human resources to impact on standards?
- How can I promote my subject and be a champion of it for both teachers and pupils?
Impact
- How effective is teaching of this subject?
- What is working well in the subject and what needs to improve?