EMBEDDING STANDARDS

Dr Rebecca Gater became principal of Solihull College and University Centre in September 2022, having worked in FE for 23 years. She is delighted that Solihull is one of the early-adopter institutions trialling the new leadership standards, as her doctorate in education focuses on leadership in FE, and how colleges and other settings might address a potential crisis in leadership due to not having a pipeline of talent.

She says the standards “will provide a baseline for our performance on which we can build, making tangible and consistent the expectations and aspirations of leadership and management roles”. She argues that one of the factors behind an absence of a leadership pipeline is the lack of standard expectations that school settings have for aspiring leaders.

Gater will also use the framework to inform her own professional development, as she is currently completing the ETF’s ‘Preparing for CEO’ programme: “They’ll be a starting point for me to ect on what is required and establish a baseline for myself and my senior team.” as she is for “They’ll be a point for me to reflect on what is and senior team.”