Harrogate headteacher releases book on school leadership

The headteacher of Harrogate’s largest school has released a book about leadership.

Neil Renton, who became head of Harrogate Grammar School in 2019, said New School Leader: What Now? aims to help school leaders daunted by their role.

It examines the challenges new leaders face and how they can be overcome.

Mr Renton, who was previously the school’s deputy head, said “this was the one book I looked for when I became a headteacher that I couldn’t find”.

Based on his own experience, it covers issues such as the weight of responsibility he felt on his appointment, leading through a pandemic and coping with an Ofsted inspection.

Mr Renton said:

“Something happens when you step from being a senior leader to being appointed as headteacher. Everyone tells you it will feel different, but no one can quite explain how.

“I found it helpful to write about my experience and what I was learning as a leader. I then tried to set that learning out in a way that could help other new leaders.

“I wanted to tell a simple, honest and positive story about school leadership.”

He said he wrote 500 words a day in every school holiday for the last three years “until I felt that I had answered the question in the title of the book New School Leader: What Now?”

Critical Publishing, which published the 210-page book, described it as “an uplifting and honest story about how school leaders develop and hone their practice over time to navigate doubt, overcome challenge, and lead well every day”.

The book, which costs £19.99, can be bought here.

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