It is no secret that headteachers face many dilemmas throughout their time leading schools. I would say that on most days in school there are tough decisions that need making and I feel that a significant part of my job is to get these calls right.
Landing on the right side of a borderline decision can be the difference between success and failure, and when the outcome is balanced on a knife-edge, the margins for error in judgement are very fine indeed.
Occasionally, it can feel a little like Hobson’s Choice and I can recall several instances where I’ve had to select the lesser of two evils; it can leave you feeling vulnerable, compromised and as much as I back myself to make good decisions based on a strong moral foundation, that voice in the back of your mind is often there nagging away at your conscience, causing you to question yourself.
Over the past few weeks we have experienced weather conditions that have been pretty horrendous. The volume of snow falling, combined with extremely low temperatures, has meant that headteachers across the country have been making difficult decisions about whether or not to remain open.
One aspect of headship I accepted long ago was that you are never going to please everyone. No matter how sound and logical your decision is, there will always been plenty of people who disagree or who are unhappy with you. Snow closures are a perfect example.
You don’t have to look too hard online to find snow closure posts from schools that are then followed by a swarm of negative comments from keyboard warriors who feel compelled to take shots from distance at schools, heads, teachers and our profession in general.
Recently I waded through a range of derogatory remarks that branded teachers “lazy”, all from people who seemed to take great joy in insulting the education sector, questioning why schools have to close but the rest of the world have to make it into work. Such is the vitriolic nature of some posts that I fear for the teachers and leaders reading them who haven’t acquired the thickness of skin headship has afforded me over the years!
Schools are extremely complex organisations on the best of days and when you add extreme weather conditions into the mix, it is very difficult to ensure the safety of 1,000 teenagers and more than 100 members of staff. Most heads are reflective individuals and I know I often mull over a decision afterwards to evaluate whether I made the right call. In this instance though, you run through the potential scenarios in your mind before you make the decision.
What if we close and the snow clears by 10am? What if we open and then have to send the students home early? What if we decide to open and then we can’t get enough staff in to safely supervise the students?
It is a really hard decision to make. There are so many factors to consider that it is easy to feel overwhelmed, especially at 5am! Most heads I know will not sleep well when they know there is the possibility of having to make a decision about a snow closure in the morning. They will check the weather conditions outside throughout intermittent periods of sleep and often be in touch with their site manager in the early hours of the morning.
The key in getting the decision right is to begin with the premise that whatever you decide, plenty will disagree with you. You need to be bold and brave to do what you think is the right thing. It is your responsibility to make the decision with the principle interest of the safety of your students and staff at the forefront of your thinking. No-one will thank you for opening the school when they are stranded in their car or on a bus in the middle of nowhere, in fact their fingers will be pointing at you for putting them in that situation.
Headteachers want to ensure valuable learning time is not lost and there is no doubt that snow closures can have a detrimental affect on learning. However, this urge to drive up standards and achievement must be balanced with the fundamental principle of keeping people safe. Deep down I think that most people understand and accept this.
- SecEd’s headteacher diarist is in his fourth year of headship at a secondary school in the Midlands.