In many international schools, a generous CPD budget is rightly devoted to building the capability of teaching staff: after all, teachers are central to educational excellence. But all too often, colleagues in non-teaching roles - HR Directors, Directors of People, Talent Development Leads, COOs, Business Managers, Operations Directors and others - are overlooked when it comes to structured, high-quality CPD, training and career-development opportunities. This is a missed opportunity of strategic significance.
Research into school-based CPD highlights a concerning pattern: “problematically, continuous professional development (CPD) for support staff can lag behind CPD for teachers.” (Clay, 2017). This reflects the findings of the Teacher Development Trust, who have conducted hundreds of CPD reviews and audits in schools, and regularly find that the CPD offer for non-teaching staff lags behind the offer for teachers. Furthermore, Goldsmith (2018) comments ‘CPD for support staff can sometimes feel like something of an add-on to a process developed and deployed for teaching colleagues.’
What this means in practice is that many of the non-teaching professionals who keep the school operationally agile, sustain HR and talent pipelines, lead organisational development and ensure compliance and risk mitigation, are not benefitting from the same level of investment in their growth.
The case for investing CPD and leadership development in non-teaching roles is compelling:
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Recruitment & retention - recruiting and retaining colleagues in international schools is challenging: schools that offer exciting development opportunities are more likely to attract and retain top non-teaching talent. If HR Directors, COOs or Business Managers feel they’re on a treadmill without growth, this undermines the employer‐brand of the school.
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Operational excellence frees up educational leaders - when non-teaching leaders are equipped, confident and strategic, they enable Principals, Heads of School and teaching-leaders to focus fully on educational vision, teaching practice and student achievement, rather than getting pulled into operational or administrative issues.
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Whole-organisation impact - schools are learning organisations. When every professional role is framed as part of that learning journey, the culture shifts from ‘teachers teach, others support’ to ‘all colleagues grow and collaborate.’
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Diverse leadership pipelines - non-teaching professionals often bring different perspectives (from finance, operations, human resources, strategy, talent development) into school leadership.
Michelle Duval is one example of a non-teacher who has thrived in school leadership. She has progressed from School Business Manager to Trust Finance Director, to Chief Finance and Operations Office and into her current role as CEO of a Multi Academy Trust. She credits access to ongoing professional development opportunities as a key part of her success.
“I believe strongly in the importance of developing non-teaching professionals into leadership roles. Schools thrive when people from diverse backgrounds bring their expertise and perspectives to the table. My own journey, from Accountant to CEO, has shown me that effective leadership in education isn’t defined by where you start, but by your shared commitment to making a difference for children and their communities.”
This is not just about equity, but also about unlocking leadership potential, strengthening the overall school leadership team and building operational and educational excellence in tandem.
At the International Centre for Coaching in Education, we welcome school leaders from all roles onto our qualifications. One of our core values is inclusion: we believe leadership development should be accessible to all.
Lorraine Pegden, Executive Director of People and Culture at Kellett School, The British International School in Hong Kong, joined our September 2025 cohort of the ILM L7 Certificate in Executive Coaching. She said,
“At Kellett School in Hong Kong we take a strategic approach to professional development for all staff, ensuring an equitable approach and sharing of best practice wherever possible. In addition to mandatory requirements, training and professional learning needs are identified through annual performance review processes, succession planning and recommendations from middle and senior leaders.
By investing in CPD across all staffing groups we aim to foster professional growth, role specific mastery and collective impact that contributes to empowered staff and enhanced student outcomes. This in turn aids a wider resourcing impact through both recruitment and retention. One of the most frequent questions I am asked by candidates when recruiting, is how much the school invests in CPD and how important it is to the organisation.
Nonetheless, there is always room for improvement, particularly for our professional support staff. As the Executive Director of People and Culture, the opportunity offered to me through ICCE to undertake a Level 7 Certificate in Executive Coaching is a fantastic example of a qualification accessible to a broader range of professionals than just teaching staff. Given the school's desire to adopt a coaching approach across all its functions, the chance to undertake this level of coaching enables me to support other senior leaders to transform their leadership presence and impact, enhance their own performance, build resilience, and achieve strategic goals in line with the school's vision, mission and values.
This qualification is highly portable and is something that I can certainly use in many different settings so I believe it will therefore appeal to a wide range of professionals who are passionate about enhancing organisational culture, performance, individual and collective growth.”
When professionals such as HR Directors, COOs and Talent Leads engage in CPD on leadership, coaching, strategic thinking and change management, the benefits cascade across the whole organisation: better talent pipelines, higher morale, reduced attrition and greater strategic focus.
Practical steps: How schools can act now:
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Audit the CPD offer - Does the school’s CPD budget and time currently cover non-teaching staff roles equitably?
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Set strategic CPD objectives for non-teaching leaders - For example: leadership capability, change management, coaching skills, operational excellence, strategic HR/people development.
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Embed non-teaching CPD in the annual plan - Make CPD for non-teaching leaders a part of your core offer, not an after-thought.
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Pair teacher & non-teaching development- Complement CPD for teachers with CPD for the non-teaching leaders, enabling a more cohesive offer.
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Measure impact – Monitor metrics such as staff turnover in non-teaching roles, promotion rates and operational KPIs and link them to CPD investment.
Together we can ensure that the people who underpin our schools - across teaching and non-teaching roles - are empowered, developed and ready to lead.
