Unit 3 Organisational Charts

Introduction
Leadership in schools is not simply about the headteacher but operates at all levels of the school. The classroom teacher is a leader in that he / she is responsible for the education, care and well-being of the children in his / her class. At each level in schools, there is someone appointed who will take control of a particular area of the school and who will be accountable to all for what goes on in that area. In secondary schools, there are Heads of Departments who are usually responsible for particular academic subjects such as English or Mathematics. In primary schools, teachers will be appointed to be responsible for an area of the school or division, such as the preparatory, lower, middle or upper division according to the ages of the children. Nursery schools will also have divisional heads for Years One and Two.

These responsibilities are given to teachers whose experience and performance merits them. The organisation of a school is predetermined by the size of that school, the number of teachers available to carry out these roles and the level and experience of those teachers. The organisational charts displayed in these guidelines assist the headteacher in creating an appropriate leadership structure for his / her school which covers all areas of the school.

In addition, we are provided with supervisory charts for all three levels of school. These show who is responsible for the supervision of individual teachers in the school. For example, in a large secondary school, a senior teacher may be on the same organisational level as a Head of Department but may be subject to supervision from a HOD if he / she teaches that subject. As head you would display these charts so that all teachers in your school were included in them. The guidelines assist you in doing this.

Now read thoroughly pages 13 – 19 of the guidelines “School Records and Documents”.

Now complete the following activities in your portfolio. You should try to do so with as little reference to the guidelines as possible, only referring to them at the end when you should check your answers and correct them where necessary.

Activities Unit Three

3.1 Reflect for a moment on why the Supervisory Chart will assist the headteacher in carrying out his / her role in relation to Module 6 Monitoring School Effectiveness.

3.2 What is the difference between a Supervisory Chart and an Organisational Chart?

3.3 Why do you think such charts are important in schools?

3.4 Check out the Organisational and Supervisory Charts for your own school and note the differences.

3.5 Name the four divisions in a primary school and state which year groups are associated with those divisions.