Headship is one of the most challenging jobs there is, it’s intense, fast paced, high stakes and for most of the time, very lonely. For me, my reason for becoming a Headteacher was to give as many students as possible a better education than I had.
Many who have stepped into Headship have done so with the right intentions, we want to improve teaching, enhance the curriculum and create a school culture where genuine mutual respect is evident with every daily interaction.
We will have all talked about being a leader that is proactively visible, creating that environment where teaching is done disruption free and celebrating the successes of both staff and students.
The National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) gives you a framework of ten strategic areas which outlines specific ‘learn that’ and ‘learn how to’ statements.
Importantly, one of the strategic areas outlines how Headteachers can successfully implement a strategy and review the impact accordingly. The NPQH is evidence-based, and research informed and contains lots of useful information for a Deputy Headteacher who is ready to board the Headship train.
It is a bold statement to make but one which I wholeheartedly believe to be true ‘nothing can prepare you for Headship’. The reality of the modern day Headteacher, particularly since returning following the pandemic, is one that requires a truly adaptable skill set and knowledge which spans beyond the NPQH framework.
In fact, my experience so far has taught me that developing the team around you is the most critical thing you can do as a Headteacher. The reason for this is those members of staff who are responsible for bringing the teaching, curriculum, behaviour, SEND, culture and personal development to life within the school.
For the Headteacher, the reality can often be finance, human resources, juggling staff well-being, national change and a complaints culture which is out of control, all of which take time away from the educational reasons, which is why we all wanted the job in the first place.
I am going to recall two very vivid incidents which accurately explain how Headship goes way beyond the NPQH framework. In the early part of my school leadership, one of the science technicians found some out of date chemicals in the science fume cupboard.
Following several calls to CLEAPSS and the police, the Bomb Squad arrived at school to deal with this situation. Thankfully, we managed to contain the excitement and avoid evacuation. Instead, it was decided that the controlled explosion on the school field would take place in the early evening. Residents had to be informed and all those who were using out lettings facilities also had to ensure they were significantly away from the blast.
I drove home that night thinking, did today really happen? On that specific day, not once did I consider the school culture, nor did I have the time to drop into lessons to support staff with challenging students and I did not give the professional development programme a second thought.
Instead, I witnessed a rather large hole dug in the middle of my sports field and explosive experts pack the hole with explosive materials and a skillfully laid detonation pack. I quickly learned and understood that being a Headteacher is going to involve a significant element of crisis management.
As a Headteacher, you quickly realise that you are not just running a school from the hours of 08:30am – 15:00pm for 190 days of the academic year, you are a figure head for the whole community. Problems outside of school at the local shop become your problems.
Every episode of poor behaviour beyond the school gates is emailed to the school, for you to address. Parents who ignore local parking arrangements frustrate residents who in-turn, take their frustrations out on you. Behaviours which are ignored at home and will not be tolerated by your exceptional high standards are the reasons for public social media outrage and unnecessary public ridicule.
The enormity of role grows with every problem, and this can begin to manifest as self-internalisation, and you begin to question why these things are happening.
Nothing rocks a school community more than the death of a child. Sadly, I have experienced too many child deaths in my educational career, but when this happens as a Headteacher, the impact is magnified ten-fold.
Nothing can prepare you for the call from the Local Authority and nothing can prepare you for the level of detail shared in the ‘child death’ meeting. It is during these times you realise that the role of a Headteacher is far greater than the NPQH framework and that your supportive actions are on public display more than ever before.
Switching off as a headteacher is tough, I would argue it is impossible. During the holidays, the uninterrupted time where the emails might slow down but the Headteacher’s thinking doesn’t. The difficult conversations are still repeating themselves, the endless decisions you have made and those you are yet to make play out in your head and those little things that continually niggle away at you that maybe just don’t sit right. The NPQH might give you an evidence based and research informed framework of how to strategise teaching, curriculum, assessment, SEND and school culture but it does not articulate the reality of Headship.
The reality is that you need to be comfortable with making lots of decisions and holding the line when those around you disagree. The continual change on the national agenda must be managed locally, never forgetting your school context should be your fundamental driver for change. Getting this balance is not easy.
Your expertise in niche fields such as finance, human resources, crisis management and people management occupies your time, which is why building those around you is key to your success as a Headteacher. If you are not comfortable being judged, then think carefully about the Headteacher role as you are judged relentlessly.
Whether this is a message in a staff briefing, the way you word a letter to families, the way you make that member of staff feel during a difficult conversation, those all-important Key Performance Indicators of which there a so many now, learn to appreciate you are being watched by the whole community all of the time.
For all of the challenges and pressures the Headteacher role brings, doing it developmentally and not judgmentally brings with it some highly rewarding moments, many of which the NPQH can’t ever prepare you for.
