Best Practice

Protecting your wellbeing as a new senior leader

Senior leadership Aiming for headship Staff wellbeing Mental health
New to senior leadership? It’s a high pressure role which can threaten your wellbeing if you’re not careful. Headteacher Josephine Smith considers how understanding yourself and your school context are key to maintaining mental health as a new school leader
Image: Adobe Stock

I don’t know about you, I’m fascinated by articles, blogs and podcasts where experts and celebrities discuss the advice they would offer to their 18-year-old selves.

In an era of increased candour about mental health and wellbeing the interviewees featured offer personal, often relatable, insights into their busy and demanding worlds.

If you were interviewed (we are all minor celebrities in our own school contexts after all!), I wonder what advice you would offer to someone starting out?

Having been a headteacher for nine years, and before that a deputy head in two schools for seven years, I can distil my best advice on proactively managing your mental health and wellbeing as a senior leader into two key themes:

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