Diary of a headteacher: Planning for re-opening

Since 1995 when I started teaching, I have often contemplated how I might respond in any given situation as headteacher.

I would while away an hour imagining how I might have responded in times of extreme stress or challenge. What would I do in terms of a difficult staffing issue? How might I have dealt with that particularly challenging child? Would I have said something different in that meeting?

I am sure the same applies to most staff in schools. What would you do if you held ultimate responsibility for your school and all the learners and staff in your care?

When I thought about what it would be like to be a headteacher, I never imagined in my wildest dreams the events of the past few months. Who would have envisaged that we would be making educational and national history? The first nationwide shutdown of schools in British history and we are part of it.