Best Practice

A school leader’s to-do list: September and beyond

School improvement Whole-school issues Senior leadership
As a school leader, what should be on your to-do list for the beginning of the autumn term? Author of The School Leader’s Year, Dr Michael Harpham, offers a checklist of preparations, actions and evaluations that should take priority this September
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In this article, I aim to elaborate and share the key leadership activities that need to take place at the start of the autumn term.

This article complements a more in-depth episode of the SecEd Podcast, entitled Back to school: A leadership checklist, which features a conversation between school leaders Jo Smith, Paul Ainsworth and myself and is due to publish on August 31 (SecEd, 2022).

In this article, the month of September is considered, presenting activities which evaluate previously completed work, support actioning current work, or help prepare future work.

It is offered not so much as a fait-accompli, to be followed religiously, but as an aide-memoire to ensure that the most important work in school is prioritised and completed efficiently and effectively.

 

The SecEd Podcast: This article complements an episode of the SecEd podcast entitled Back to School: A leadership checklist. The episode offers a more in-depth to-do list for senior leaders working in secondary schools to help you prepare for the autumn term and beyond. Our panelists discuss the common ‘new year’ tasks that school leaders need to consider as well as common problems at this time of year and how to respond. Listen here.

 

 

When September comes

 

So here we are. week one, day one. Everything is fresh and new and has the air of optimism as time and space stretch into the distance. September needs to be experienced with clarity.

As September starts, prepare key messages for staff, students, governors, and parents so that as a school community you can set the tone for a positive and constructive year ahead.

In your regular team meetings, create an opportunity to discuss the following standing agenda items:

  • Staffing and safeguarding: As the academic year starts, are there any staffing and/or safeguarding concerns to be urgently addressed this month?
  • Calendar: Are there any pinch points this term which need to be carefully managed beforehand?
  • Trips and school activities: Are there any trips or large group activities this term which need to be carefully managed?
  • Website and communications: Is the website up-to-date and are parents, pupils and staff clear about what is happening this term? Is there robust, challenging and engaging online work available for pupils to complete if needed?
  • Inspection-ready: Which areas need addressing this term to ensure we are on track with our work?

The rationale for the actions listed in the table below include that an action is more important or needs doing more urgently, has a higher priority and therefore comes earlier in the month and vice-versa.

An action may be part of a process and so must happen before one action, but after another. Also, certain actions are fixed to events outside of the school’s control and so these actions are tied to a particular date in the calendar (for example exam appeals), or are actions related to a fixed event.

Thus, an analysis and evaluation of the annual exam results and the subsequent destinations of those pupils, the completion of the repairs and maintenance programme, and the effectiveness of the integrated work of the school (the curriculum, teaching, leadership, and budget), must take place at the start of September after the results have been published and the summer holidays have come to a close.

A calm, orderly return to school are the next imminent activities, with all statutory requirements and what is needed on the school’s website in place, a successful induction of the pupils and staff, with duties, routines, the timetable, and school policies going live help the school community to hit the ground running.

Once school is back in full swing, the communication related to examination appeals between parents, ex-pupils and the exam boards can begin.

Concurrently, the assemblies and assessment programmes commence, alongside the school, faculty and CPD improvement plans being updated, informing the internal and external quality assurance programmes, which in turn informs the budget for the year ahead.

With almost all things retrospective having been completed and all things current underway, the school can start to look forward and prepare for the urgent arrival of the open evening and open week.

In October we see the signing off of the old and setting up of the new performance appraisal process, which requires detailed planning in September.

The end of September and early October also sees the need for admissions arrangements to be reviewed as well as the first round of marking being completed.

This creates an opportunity to see how well pupils are on track with their work, provide feedback and additional support or intervention, requiring leaders to think through and plan in September how this will look. The all-important census also takes place in October for the first time. Sufficient preparation with relevant new staff and key personnel (administrative staff, pastoral leaders, and the SENCO in particular) as to the data required will help deliver a smooth and efficient process.

Finally, as September comes to a close and the whirlwind that was the start of term begins to dissipate, it allows a moment of reflection and celebration as to how well the timetable, the exam appeals process, staff, and pupil induction, including the Summer School, the start of the year and settling into routines all went.

The end of September is the pause for breath, the look around and check – was that the start of the year we wanted to see, and have we made a good start? The answer should be an unequivocal “Yes!”

  • Dr Michael Harpham is an education consultant, author, leadership coach and former headteacher. The School Leader’s Year (Routledge, 2022) is his second book. Electronic resources are available from his website at www.schoolleaderdevelopment.com. His first book, Progress Plain and Simple (2020) is a set text on teacher training courses in universities across the UK. Both books are available from Routledge and all major bookshops.

 

 

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