So why is he our best-paid teacher?

When the new term began, Alastair Falk became the highest-paid state-school headteacher in the country, on a salary of 120,000. For that money he must turn the failing Compton comprehensive, one of London's worst sink schools, into the bright, gleaming West London Academy. So is he worth the money? Karin Mochan investigates New and expensive broom: Alastair Falk has given himself a 12-month deadline to improve results at the West London Academy

THERE is a great deal of activity in the grounds of the West London Academy in Northolt. Next to the shabby existing buildings, a 30 million Norman Foster-designed complex is under construction. But it will be two years before the new buildings are complete and students can use the state-of-the-art facilities.

In the meantime, the academy's inaugural head, 49-year-old Alastair Falk, is overseeing lessons in the old buildings, what used to be Compton School.

Cambridge-educated Falk hit the headlines when he accepted a 120,000 salary to run one of the Government's 12 new city academies. Funded by taxpayers, but set up with cash injections from private sponsors, the academies are to replace failing inner-city comprehensives with "cradle-tocampus" institutions.

The West London site will include nursery, primary and high schools, as well as an LEA-run special school and an adult education centre. Some even go so far as to call it "cradle-to-grave" education.

Falk insists it was the project itself that grabbed him rather than the high salary. He is determined to make the West London Academy succeed where Compton failed. "My ambition is to do the best possible job here. One central issue is to make the school more real and more like the world around us. What are the skills you need in life and how do we start building on them?"

Surprisingly Falk does not have a track record in reversing the fortunes of underachieving schools. He was previously head of King Solomon High School in Redbridge, east London, a voluntary-aided Jewish comprehensive regularly rated as one of the 100 bestperforming secondaries.

So what makes him the man for the job? "I was the founding head teacher of King Solomon High, which opened in September 1993. By the time I left it had one of the highest 'value added' ratings in the country, which means I have a track record in raising achievement. I have been employed here as an agent of change.

"It's a huge responsibility, but the publicity which the salary has generated has given me the chance to get the message across about what we're doing here, and hopefully attract people and good teachers to the school."

Although things improved significantly this summer, three- quarters of students are still not passing basic subjects. Essentially Compton was performing poorly, and two years ago only 13 per cent of pupils achieved five GCSEs at grades A to C.

Falk is faced with challenges besides poor academic performance. Almost half of the pupils are on "free lunches" and there are a significant number of children who do not speak English as their first language.

"I'm not interested in classifications. As far as I'm concerned, it's a school of 800 young people. Context is important but it's never an excuse for poor results.

Academically the school was in a depressed state.

Morale was low, staff turnover was high and the number of students was declining.

Investment in general was low; investment in staff was non- existent."

Clearly, drastic changes are called for, and Falk has a bold new programme.

"The basic message is innovation - be prepared to do things differently. A change of name makes no difference at all, it's about a change of approach."

While the school has been given five years to improve its exam results dramatically, Falk has set himself a personal 12-month deadline. "Five years is far too long for any child to wait. I feel by this time next year people need to see that this school is going somewhere.

I think it's already happening.

"Our young people are talented, thoughtful and creative, but they've been let down by the system. The big question today is, how do you educate people to be a part of a democratic society? We've started talking to the pupils themselves to get them involved in the process."

The new head has set up a teaching and learning department, whereby two senior members of staff monitor progress in the classroom, and a student-progress department. However, rather than taking all the credit for these innovations, he claims many were inspired by success stories at other new schools.

In order to retain staff, West London Academy will be offering teachers increased support and weekly training sessions. Flexitime and relocation incentives will be available, where appropriate, and there is also a Southern Hemisphere package, whereby teachers from Australia and New Zealand get a free trip home after an agreed period.

Falk's family home is in Hendon, so he will have a 20-minute drive to work.

While he does not come from an educational background - his father was a doctor in Sheffield - Falk describes himself as marrying into one. His wife, Judy, is an assistant head in Ilford, while his father- in-law was a headteacher for 35 years.

He still teaches four hours a week but has turned his back on his specialist subjects of English and history for the time being. "At the moment I am teaching employability skills to a group of year 11s, and giving an enterprise-course to year seven. I'm always looking at new areas."

Falk shuns the traditional image of the unapproachable headmaster.

"Compton had an 85 per cent attendance record: you don't come to school if you think people don't care about you. Talking is the key. I'm a strong believer in conversation rather than confrontation." As a man quoted as "living and breathing education", did this not affect his own three children, growing up? "We didn't play educational games with them, if that's what you mean. We had friends who were educational psychologists and I remember their children had this game at 3pm and that activity at 4pm - but we're fairly normal people."

But is he really worth 120,000? "My job is not merely a matter of raising percentages of exam passes. It's about realising the 'vision' for the school," he says. "My salary is performance-related, so how well we do will dictate whether I'm worth it. I'll have to prove myself."

Yes, a good head is worth 120,000

COMMENTARY

A SALARY of 120,000 sounds like a lot to pay a headteacher. But when you see what is demanded of today's best heads, it is not a bad deal.

Typically, secondary heads manage multimillion-pound budgets with more than 100 full- and part-time staff. They are responsible for 1,000 young people.

And when things go wrong, they must answer to parents and governors, to local and central government, Ofsted inspectors - and the media.

But that's all in a day's work.

Good heads must also be strong leaders with a real vision for their school: they must be men and women who can cut through staffroom cynicism to make a poor school good, or turn a middling school into an excellent one.

When a head takes over a challenging school, the first task is to restore order and discipline. That means developing a clear ethos, with rules and sanctions that are fairly enforced. It can often mean removing disruptive pupils or ineffective teachers, without causing further problems in the process.

But where a head is effective, the need to discipline pupils gradually reduces. The good head also sets realistic goals or targets, which are monitored regularly. This is about more than exam results: it could involve making better use of the school day, developing better sports facilities or getting parents more involved.

Anyone can set targets, but achieving them requires everybody in the school to see such challenges as their own, rather than something imposed from outside. And that is where good leadership skills are seen to best effect.

The good head must also be able to work with local businesses and community leaders, and to promote a school to parents and the local media. But if the job is not to become bogged down with minute detail, he or she must build a strong team of senior teachers to whom responsibility can be delegated.

Unsurprisingly, such people are in great demand, not least to turn around failing schools or lead innovative new ones such as the West London Academy.

So it is no great surprise that they can command a good salary in the process.

Why I believe in this school

PROFESSOR Alec Reed, CBE, the founder and chairman of Reed Executive Recruitment, has ploughed 2 million of his own money into West London Academy. One of nine city academies opening this year, it is benefiting from private sponsorship as well as 10 million from the Department for Education and Skills.

"This is a very important project for me," says Reed, explaining his personal motivation. "I went to school myself in Ealing and know the district, and I'm very pleased to help establish something unique: a world-class academy, providing education from the cradle to the grave."

As chairman of the governors, Reed has worked with the trustees and headteacher on the school's blueprint. "We are determined that this wonderful resource should be for local people as far as possible because we want to be of service to the community. It's a unique chance to establish a model example of inclusive education from three to 93.

"We want parents and students to play a central role and they have been consulted all the way along.

The two specialisms in the school will be enterprise, which is something very close to my heart, and sport.

It's not that we want to turn out lots of Richard Bransons, but we want students to imbibe the spirit of enterprise in everything they do."

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