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Vision: Julie Muncey with pupils from Parkside Community Primary School

School dramas Grange Hill and Waterloo Road share similar sulky, teenage characters with drink, drug and pregnancy problems, but both have also represented women in strong leadership roles.

A report released last week by the National College for School Leadership (NCSL) showed the number of female headteachers in England has grown by seven per cent over the past five years.

But despite there being around 13,800 female heads across the country, the Women in Headship' report indicated women are still under-represented. School governors hope more women will be encouraged to apply for senior positions.

Schools in Borehamwood and the surrounding areas are leading the way, with 14 out of 16 primary schools led by women, and three out of five women in charge at secondary schools.

Julie Muncey became headteacher at Parkside Community Primary School, in Aycliffe Road, Boreham-wood, last September.

She said: "I didn't find it difficult to become a headteacher. The question shouldn't be about gender but about the vision of the person in that position and what they want to achieve.

"My driving force has been to work with children from the area. This job is all about having confidence and it is certainly very challenging.

"As well as confidence, it is also about experience. Women have real-life skills as they multi-task through their day by dealing with their families, running a household and also having a career. This definitely helps with the job."

Jan Palmer Sayer, headteacher at Hertswood School, in Thrift Farm Lane, Borehamwood, has been in her role for three years.

She said: "The job of a headteacher is very time-consuming and I have got through my career with the help of a very supportive husband. As a family we have worked hard to accommodate each other.

"It is a massive job and carries an enormous burden of work. To take it on you have to be a very robust individual.

"I didn't set my sights on becoming one, but as the opportunities for promotion presented themselves I grabbed them."

The NCSL survey carried out telephone interviews with more than 1,000 female teachers and headteachers around the country. Many respondents said they felt they did not have the confidence and self-belief to put themselves forward for leadership roles.

But Mrs Palmer Sayer added: "I have never been in a position where I have lacked confidence with my male counterparts. I also have never felt that I had a personal crusade to be a woman who had to reach a position of high power.

"I love my job here at Hertswood because I work with a tremendous set of students who are from all walks of life.

"It's enormously important to have role models of both men and women in leadership roles.

"We are quite evenly split here with one male and female deputy head and this is the type of equality we encourage.

"Like any other job you have to prepare yourself to be good in that field as it should be about receiving a job on merit, not gender."

A Hertfordshire County Council spokeswoman said: "It is encouraging to see more and more women are in leadership positions in schools.

"The fact they are so successful shows they have the necessary skills and qualities to carry out the job.

"It is also encouraging that there are now many more initiatives to help women to balance family life at the same time as having successful careers."

10:41am Wednesday 19th March 2008

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