Headteacher Forums

The collegiate spirit engendered by these forums is highly valued by Headteachers.  Leadership can be lonely.  The forums offer an opportunity to discuss issues openly, freely and in confidence with other leaders and to establish a support network of trusted colleagues.

 

Each forum has 8 headteachers from a wide variety of primary schools.  They meet 8 times in the year, with the heads taking it in turns to lead the forum on a topic of their choice which they think will be interesting to the other heads. Alongside the headteachers we invite a variety of other people to attend one of the meetings to help facilitate the discussion; these participants could include an MP, a senior member of the Armed Forces, a representative of an educational charity, or someone from a Higher Education Institute.  We try to meet in interesting places such as the House of Lords, the Tower of London, or an Oxford or Cambridge College.

 

The format for the meeting is a discussion by dinner together, always finishing by 9pm.  The discussion is private under “Chatham House rules” but periodically Temple Grove will publish on its website the topics discussed, any special insights and further reading.  Some of these topics may be suitable for further research, sometimes as part of the Temple Grove Farmington Teacher Scholarship programme.

 

Temple Grove meets all the costs of the forums, including travel and the cost of the meals.  We also provide a small amount of money for the Headteachers to spend on their schools, and a book allowance to encourage reading.  Membership at the forums is usually by invitation but expressions of interest from headteachers who would like to join the forum are always welcome.

 

Applications and enquiries

 

If you are interested in finding out more about the Temple Grove Farmington Headteacher Forums, please contact us.

 

We welcome candidates from Heads of primary schools in England.  Note that places are limited and we try to select Heads who will create a group with a wide range of experience.