“Lack of vision, increasing debt, inconsistent approaches”

When Ricky Massey CMgr FCMI accepted his first headship in 2018, it should have been a joyous and personally momentous occasion. He had been a teacher for the previous 14 years, during which time he had been accredited as a Chartered Manager, completed a masters in educational leadership and had become the first post-primary leader in Northern Ireland to be made a fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching.

But, as he recalls, even though Glengormley High School “was bursting with hard-working and highly skilled professionals”, it had lost its way. Enrolment levels were declining and academic standards were low. The school, he says, was “crippled with a lack of vision, increasing debt and inconsistent approaches”. There was grave discontent both within and outside the school walls.

Between April to September that year, Ricky and his team set about a huge programme of organisational change, introducing new procedures and processes across every facet of the school. Throughout the past four years, Ricky has poured himself into the school in every way – as he puts it, “my time, my money, my energy, my thoughts and in truth, my life!”