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Inspirational Headteachers build foundations for success
Impactful primary headteachers create schools where children grow, love to learn, and feel proud of what they achieve: where they thrive. Through their value-driven leadership, they build strong foundations for every child’s future success. Their vision and commitment bring energy and confidence. The whole school community trusts their direction and are proud of what the school achieves together
Who can enter?
Open to all primary phase headteachers working in state or independent schools who have been headteacher in their current school for a minimum of 3 years, and who hold qualified teacher status.
Nominator Guidance
Headteacher of the Year in a Primary School – Nominator Guidance.
What makes a good entry?
Thank you for taking the time to nominate your colleague for Headteacher of the Year in a Primary School. Your nomination plays an important role in helping judges understand not just what the headteacher does, but the difference it has made.
Awards criteria
A well-structured entry is key. Start with a brief summary that highlights the main reasons for the nomination. Use clear, jargon-free language, and ensure each criterion is addressed thoroughly. Organise the content with headings and sub-headings.
Include details about how the nominee overcomes the most challenging aspects of their role. It’s important that the entry is written by someone who truly knows the nominee, or that the nominator has consulted with those who do.
Evidence and impact
Evidence of impact is the most important aspect of your entry. Our judges look for clear, concise examples that demonstrate the nominee’s impact on students, colleagues, and the broader education community—whether on a regional or national scale. If, for instance, a Headteacher is credited with turning a school around, it’s important to show exactly how this was achieved.
Impact on Learners: Provide specific examples of their direct influence on learners. Highlight practical evidence of high-quality, inspirational teaching that encourages a love of learning and demonstrates excellent classroom skills. For teaching assistants and school leaders, include evidence of inspirational support, leadership, and creative approaches that engage and motivate both children and staff.
Impact on Colleagues: Describe how the nominee has positively influenced their colleagues. Have they supported others or helped them improve? Consider their role within the staff community beyond the classroom or staffroom. Have they boosted morale or consistently uplifted those around them in some way? Our judges love hearing about these contributions, no matter how big or small.
Impact on the Wider School Community: Highlight the nominee’s overall contribution to the life of the school and the community.
Wider Impact: Where a nominee has shown impact further afield, locally or nationally, please detail this and the impact of that work.
Personalised details are what make your nominee truly stand out.
Bring the entry to life
Written statements and quotes provide a much more compelling narrative than data – especially comments from parents or pupils whose lives have been positively impacted by the nominee. These are most effective when they reference something specific, for example, ‘Ms X made a huge difference to me when she… the effect this had was …’
Where relevant, you could include supportive quotes from a broad range of sources, such as senior leaders, businesses, health or social care agencies, and local community voices. These perspectives highlight the nominee’s impact beyond the classroom.
It’s essential that someone who knows the nominee well writes the entire entry, not just detailing what they do but also providing specific examples and the impact of their work. Personalisation is key.
That special something
Put simply, if your nominee isn’t shortlisted, what would our judges be missing out on? Share the values and truly unique examples of practice that set your nominee apart—something related to their role that has made a real difference to children’s lives. Our judges are particularly keen to see initiatives or approaches that are unprecedented in the school or unlikely to be found elsewhere, especially when they demonstrate innovation and determination, rather than just long working hours. What makes this nominee a National Award winner, and how could showcasing their exceptional practice inspire and benefit other educators across the UK?
Wider contribution
Highlight how your colleague has made a significant contribution beyond their core responsibilities. Consider areas such as their involvement in extra-curricular activities, community engagement, or initiatives that enhance the wider school
environment.
You could examples such as:
- Leading or supporting clubs or events
- Organising or participating in fundraising activities or community outreach programmes or any achievements they have contributed to that reflect their broader impact within the educational community
- Championing eco-friendly initiatives, such as Eco-Schools or sustainability projects or contributing to the development of children through other enrichment activities
Provide clear examples to demonstrate how their efforts have gone above and beyond, enriching the school experience and making a positive impact.
Personal journey and inspiration
To help our judges understand the nominee as a whole, beyond their role, please share what has shaped their personal and professional journey. Were there key influences from their own education, a significant person, or a defining event in their life? What inspired them to pursue a career in education? Your insight into their motivations and background will help our judges appreciate the individuals behind the educators.
What to avoid when writing your entry?
Data
Unless the criteria specifically request this, although we expect to see some pupil progress or attainment data, or recognition by external agencies to show your nominee’s impact on pupils, our judges prefer this to be kept to a minimum. They carry out due diligence if your entry reaches shortlisting stage. At this point they can obtain data / Ofsted reports.
We want to emphasise the importance of submitting unique, personalised nominations that reflect the individual / team you’re celebrating.
Entries that are not unique
Recently, we’ve noticed that AI-generated or AI-assisted entries often contain repetitive or generic statements that simply echo the criteria without offering real insight. These entries lack the personal touch and specific details that make a
= nomination truly stand out. If you choose to use AI for support, please ensure your entry still reflects your own voice, includes specific examples, and offers personalised evidence or testimonials that highlight the nominee’s unique impact. Remember—it’s the details and authentic stories that truly bring your nominee to life!
Links
You can submit up to 3 additional evidence files along with your written entry. Hyperlinks to other documents, videos, social media etc should be classed as additional evidence and not part of the entry.
Specific guidance for this category
1 Vision
In this section, provide evidence of how the headteacher’s vision has been translated into action and measurable change. Rather than restating the vision itself, show:
How their vision has influenced behaviour, expectations or practice across the school. Provide examples of improvements linked to this vision (e.g. pupil outcomes, engagement, attendance, staff confidence, school culture) an explain what the impact of this is and how it’s shown.
Judges are looking for evidence that the vision has led to sustained, positive impact, not simply that it exists.
2 Leadership
Use this section to demonstrate the effect of the headteacher’s leadership on others.
Consider including evidence of how their leadership has strengthened teams, improved staff retention, wellbeing or professional growth. Give us examples of where leadership decisions have directly improved experiences or outcomes for pupils or families. Looking at the Headteacher as a staff team leader, explain how they support and challenge their team to perform at their best.
A good entry will detail how their leadership has resulted in clear improvements, and will be supported by specific examples and will evidence the impact of this.
3 Learning environment
This section should focus on impact on teaching, learning and inclusion.
Include evidence of improvements in curriculum quality, teaching practice or pupil progress. Shre examples of how inclusive strategies have removed barriers and improved outcomes for specific groups of pupils and explain the impact of these.
Judges want to understand how leadership actions have led to tangible improvements for learners, particularly over time.
4 Collaboration
In this section, demonstrate how collaboration has delivered meaningful outcomes.
Rather than listing partnerships, focus on why collaborations were developed and what they set out to achieve. Share evidence of the difference these partnerships have made for pupils, staff or the wider community, and explain how working with others has strengthened provision or created new opportunities. Judges want to see that collaboration has resulted in real, evidenced impact, not just descriptions of the activities.
General tips for a strong Headteacher of the Year in a Primary School entry
Show impact, not intent. Judges want to see what has changed as a result of the headteacher’s actions.
Use evidence. This might include outcomes, feedback, parental/stakeholder quotes. Some data. Be aware that if the data is available online, judges will do due diligence as part of the short lisintg process.
Avoid repeating the criteria. Use it as a framework, but focus on evidence and results.
Be specific. Clear, concrete examples are far more useful than broad claims.
Judges will ask themselves
What evidence shows this headteacher has made a measurable difference?
How do we know their leadership has improved outcomes for pupils and staff?
What makes their impact distinctive and sustained over time?
You can download this information here
Award Criteria
Please address each of these points in your entry, under the following headings.
Vision
How does the head inspire an ambitious shared vision and sense of purpose across the school? Tell us how their vision creates a school culture where staff and pupils both share a love of learning, and a belief that everyone can achieve.
Leadership
How does the head’s leadership strengthen relationships and bring out the best in others? Share examples of how they build professional, supportive teams and go above and beyond for pupils, parents, staff, governors, and other schools.
Learning environment
How does the head’s leadership shape a positive and engaging learning environment with a strong curriculum, first-class teaching and real progress for all pupils? What steps have they put in place to ensure an inclusive school where every child feels they belong and can succeed?
Collaboration
Give examples of how the headteacher shows they value and encourage collaboration. Share examples and provide evidence of the impact of successful partnerships within the school and with the wider community (locally and/or nationally) that have made a difference and had a positive impact on pupils and staff.
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