In recent times, governmental legislation has substantially changed the nature of the role of headteachers and in doing so has underlined the centrality of their contribution to school improvement. As a consequence the training of headteachers has become a major government priority. Against this backdrop, this paper presents a preliminary evaluation of the HEADLAMP scheme for newly appointed headteachers. It is based upon a series of interviews and group discussions with a small sample of headteachers which focused upon their experience of the scheme in general, and, in particular, their opinions of the needs analysis, the training and the impact of the training in their own schools.
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