Last week, I was lucky enough to spend two days at a regional headteacher conference. It was fantastic and although it meant having two days out of school, it was important for me to get some headspace, reflect on the start of term, and treat myself to some high-quality CPD.
Starting his session, one speaker said that everyone should immediately do two things: “Stop feeling guilty about not being in school and stop checking your emails; you all have great deputy heads who are employed to be in charge when you’re not there.”
Everyone laughed, because we were all at it and you could hear the collective sound of devices of various sorts being placed back on tables.
It made me think: headteachers often don’t think about their own CPD as they are more concerned with that of their staff. And when we do go out, we constantly fret about what is going on back at school.
I remember my mentor telling me in my first year of headship that such behaviour is not healthy, either for the head or the rest of the leadership team. Your deputy will think you don’t trust them and that will permeate throughout the other leaders too.
Since then, I have made a conscious effort to leave my deputy to it when I’m not in school and try and build a culture where leaders feel they are trusted.
Another speaker gave us a great phrase to take back to school: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”
This was an attempt to help us realise that strategies don’t make great schools, inspirational cultures do. It was one of the gems I have taken away, because establishing the right culture for learning in my school, in terms of both students and staff, has been something I have worked really hard at.
However, changing the culture of a school can’t happen overnight and there are no quick fixes; it takes time, effort, communication, persistence and resilience.
When I started my headship in 2014 I found a team of staff who didn’t trust the senior leadership team as there had been a revolving door of leaders throughout the past 10 years. I know that many people felt I would just be using the school as a stepping stone.
It took me a while to realise this – probably the entire first term – but I decided to meet this head-on by talking openly with staff about my long-term commitment to the school and that at the very least I wanted to see our year 7 students all the way through to the completion of their A levels.
I also decided that my school was not a happy enough place to be. You will always get a certain number of BMWs (bitchers, moaners and whingers) at any school, but there were far too many for my liking and I quickly needed to address this.
I set my stall out quite openly and spent an entire staff meeting talking about the importance of being positive when we come to school each day. My message was simple, cheer up or clear off. Some cheered up and some cleared off.
I have also worked hard at changing the culture of the school by doing a huge amount of role-modelling, with the intention of influencing both students and staff. I pick up litter, I teach the best lessons I am capable of, I engage in learning, talk openly about my mistakes, and make sure everyone knows how much I love leading my school.
I do simple things that don’t actually feel like “work”, but which have considerable impact on the culture of the school. I stand at the gate from 8am until 8:30 am every day and say “good morning, how are you? Have a nice day” to everyone who comes in, with a great big smile on my face, regardless of how I may actually be feeling inside.
For me, this is one of the most important aspects of headship. Inside your head the world might be falling apart, you might be crippled with self-doubt; depressed, anxious, frustrated or even angry, but to the rest of the world and to the people in the school you are leading you need to be positivity personified.
It is maybe one of the most challenging aspects of the job, but there is no question for me, if successful teachers are optimists, successful heads must be supreme optimists!
- SecEd’s headteacher diarist is in his third year of headship at a comprehensive school in the Midlands.