Model couple's headship job-share

Patrick and Sarah Fielding have shared the headship of Mayflower Primary School on the outskirts of Leicester since January 2000.

Now they say the National College for School Leadership is monitoring the arrangement to see if sharing a head teacher post could work for other heads.

The Fieldings, both in their mid-30s, alternate working three and two days a week.

When one is at work, the other looks after their two daughters, Eleanor, six and Hannah, four.

Mayflower Primary has recently received a positive report from inspectors from the schools' watchdog, Ofsted, who described the school as effective and well-managed.

The inspectors also thought the job-share was working well.

Six years of job-sharing

Being the head teachers of Mayflower is not the first time the Fieldings have paired up in a job-share.

Their arrangement began six years ago when they shared a deputy head position in Nottingham.

"It was a case of thinking 'What do we do next' and we thought we could start applying for headships," said Patrick.

"It seemed quite unusual to people, they weren't sure if it would work," he said.

Staff support

"But Leicester city education authority was very positive about it."

Patrick also believes the staff at the school have played their part in making the system work.

"The staff are incredibly supportive of the job-share and the supportive people around us have helped make it work.

"That makes a big difference - if the staff were against it would make life very difficult," he said.

Same aspirations

Patrick admits that the close nature of his relationship with his job-share partner does help in the running of the school.

"We studied at university together so we've know each other for so long we think in the same way and have the same aspirations.

"Job-shares can be fraught with difficulties - I must say, I can't imagine I'd want to do it with anyone else," he said.

Ultimately the arrangement allows the Fieldings to see more of their daughters and to pursue other interests.

"We get more time to spend with our family - it gives us that time that I know we wouldn't have if we were both head teachers full-time."