Five years, three schools: sometimes you close your office door and only you know it could all end in disaster!

I think it’s really important that we are honest and share. There have been times when every school leader feels like they are on the edge of cliff and this can feel very lonely. It’s imported that we share these stories, the successes, the difficulties that we have faced and that we have lived to tell the tale…

I love a challenge and I love change, the reason I came into teaching was to make a difference, I wanted to change the world and inspire the next generation. I really struggled academically at school, so much that I was the child that needed the 1:1 classroom support and the Saturday morning tutoring just to learn the basics. I know how important it is to be inspired, be resilient, embrace and learn from failure, show grit and to never give up. Sport taught me lots about dedication, commitment, determination and hard work.

You read about the ‘disappearing Headteachers’, the pressure of school leadership, increased stress levels of educators and ended careers. I’m sure we are only a few years from reading research about the decreased life expectancy of someone choosing to be a Headteacher. I have been a Headteacher for five years now in three different schools and I have come close to ‘disappearing’ – really close and more than once!

I had been a Deputy for about 18 months when I found myself in the ‘Big Chair’ about a month after my 30^th birthday. The current headteacher was seconded to another primary school for a short period (this ‘short period’ actually ended up being 2 years). Three weeks after I took up the reins the provisional SATS results were published… the school was below the floor for the second year running and the LA ‘pressure’ phone calls started coming! During the same week, an official complaint was made to Ofsted about the school with the word ‘safeguarding’ splashed all over it and a member of staff raising a safeguarding concern about another member of staff, was the icing on the cake. I had been used to pressure as a Deputy and responded well but my Headteacher was always there for support and to make the final call… now the buck stopped with me and I didn’t think I had the skills or experience to deal with it!

The Ofsted safeguarding complaint was unfounded and disproved, the complaint about the staff member was resolved informally and plans were put in place to address the teaching and outcomes. This was my first term as a Headteacher, it was a roller-coaster and I could have easily ‘disappeared’ before the summer.

The pressure was on in September and support was hard to find but fear was being applied by the bucket fall. Ofsted was due and the data looked bleak, teaching was generally good but not good enough for these children – they needed something special, inspiring and motivating. The majority of the children came from disadvantaged families and just ‘solid’ teaching wasn’t going to cut it! I felt the pressure but I was enjoying it, the team was great and hard working. I faced it with a smile and relentless optimism but when it came to ‘swinging the axe’ and removing a member of staff – that was really hard!

All teachers like to see children learn, succeed and smile. The great thing about being a Headteacher is you can develop teachers, help them succeed and learn. Watching a new teacher build a skill set, add their personality to their classroom and inspire 30 young minds is amazing, this is easily one of the best parts of the job. However, when a teacher is underperforming this needs to be addressed, the children only get one go at their education and too many get a raw deal when poor leadership do not take action. Senior Leadership Teams need to offer support, offer challenge and improve the education… it’s horrible when that doesn’t work and the worst combination is when a teacher desperately wants to improve but can’t!

After a long process of support plans, union meetings and angry parents a teacher left my school – sitting in the LA’s HQ there was celebration of my ‘strong leadership’, the turning point I had made in ‘proving myself’ and a ‘significate strategic move for the school’… hearing all this was depressing and I was not celebrating! Back at base, staff were questioning my leadership and mourning for their lost colleague, some parents were happy, others were fuming – Facebook comments asking for my head on a stick appeared and I was on damage limitation… I could have easily disappeared!  

If you don’t have thick skin, you will never survive as a Headteacher. I don’t give up, I never have, and I was determined to do what I had always planned to do… inspire a generation, change the lives of young people and change the world! There were lots of great times, moments of magic, fun and excitement -  but the difficult times keep you up at night and Headship can be a lonely place! In five years, one thing has never really changed – I love about 90% of my job and the other 10% (normally a member of staff and some parents) make me want to punch a wall or collapse in a dark corner!

The next 10 months were spent trying to demonstrate that we were a school on the up, outcomes were still very average and we were destined to be under the floor again – three years on the bounce! Ofsted turned up during the summer term… I was fighting for RI (requires improvement) the data was pointing to lower than this. My Headteacher career could have ended as quickly as it started!

Two days with a full inspection team and HMI turning up on day 2 was intense but we managed to show all the good work we were doing and the journey we were on… ‘The Headteacher is leading an improving school, pupils' progress was getting better’ (Ofsted 2015). The outcome was in line with my Self Evaluation and a true reflection of the school at the time.

The report was published in the Summer term and had a mixed reaction, some understood the journey the school had been on and other just saw a drop from ‘Good’ to ‘RI’ – it was a PR nightmare! The Governors and LA wanted me to continue the journey and take on the substantive job when the previous Headteacher resigned that summer… I didn’t! I had given all I could give to the school and was ready to move on. I thought long and hard about the decision and when the advert was published I informed the Governors and the LA that I was not going to apply, I couldn’t morally take the job knowing I would still be scanning Eteach every weekend. It felt great to make a bold leap of faith but at the same time I was panicking, I had turned the opportunity down with nothing else to go to! The countdown was on; I would have to walk through the school gates in September as the Deputy (the school I was Head in for two years) if I didn’t find a job a job by the end of the summer term.

Four Headship interviews came and went, a range of feedback, some useful and some not so useful including, ‘you’re too nice’ and some rubbish feedback followed by 'we appointed the internal candidate’ – this happen twice. I also walked out of another interview after day 1 – where the Governors and LAs understanding of the school’s position was so far from reality the job would have been near impossible. I have had some challenges over the past five years but one of the hardest was entering the building in September as Deputy Head.  It was confusing for the staff and children and painful for me - 6 weeks felt like a lifetime, I did very little (in comparison to the previous year) and put all my energy into supporting some new NQTs and less experienced teachers – I enjoyed this as much as I could!

Then one wet weekend the phone rang and I was asked to consider taking over a school across the county border. The person on the other end of the phone was head of education in the LA and previously worked in my current LA. The school was in a total mess and close to closing, it was 5 years since its last Ofsted and they would have closed it down if they walked through the door then, the school was already ‘red flagged’ due to safeguarding issues and the LA were ready to put their hands in their pockets and give me whatever I needed to try and sort it out. I had access to all services available, a hotline to LA HQ and resources to support rapid improvement.

This was a leap of faith to say the least, I already had an RI Ofsted with my name on it and I could very quickly have a ‘inadequate’ or worse to add to the collection – it would have ended my short Headship career! I decided to take the plunge, cross my fingers and hope I would get at least 6 months to do something about the mess (spoiler: I got 4 and half months).

When I arrived at the school I was greeted by a team so bashed into the ground that it was amazing they hadn’t thrown in the towel already, a wonderful community that knew something was wrong at their school but not to what extent and an almost new Governing Body – 6 new Governors (including the Chair) were appointed the day I was brought in. I was also lucky enough to be greeted by a new Business Manager who had only been in post about eight weeks, she brought a fresh perspective and was excellent. She was with me, good days and bad, every step of the way.

So, what needed doing? Short answer, ‘a lot…’ the culture of safeguarding was weak and the whole school was built on trust and good will – which is lovely, but trust is easy to break and good will is easy to lose. There were open gates straight into neighbours back gardens, children arriving at school was so relaxed anything could have happened, visitor and sign in systems were non-existent, and health and safety checks had never really happened, to name just a few. These were relatively quick wins, they cost some money but fixed in a few months (with some interim measures to hold it together in the short term). My biggest concern was the vulnerability of the staff, they had had little to no CPD for years and their style was dated (not that there is much wrong with this but I did have one teacher sticking large sheets of sugar paper to her interactive whiteboard rather than turning on her computer).

The staff needed time, protection and some TLC. I took care of and protected them from the LA and external pressure, I implemented some new organisation, policies and procedures. We also had the press outside the school gates on a number of occasions (trying to run some very derogatory and damaging articles on the school), the office were brought to tears by abusive phone calls and two formal complaints that needed legal support. I arranged some off sight supervision for all staff that needed it and some teaching CPD and just let the teachers teach. They were a good bunch and knowing someone strong was there in the Head’s office was enough for them to just get on with it and do a good job. There were a few cracks that started to show with some members of staff, some HR meetings were called and some union involvement, I made sure I did this by the book with empathy and rigour. A clear message to everyone– you're dedicated, committed and a team player or you’re not – it you’re not, there’s the door (some chose the door and that was best for them and the school).

Four and a half months passed and Ofsted turned up, it was a close one and the LA question my Self Evaluation the day before the inspection and challenged me on the progress the school was making but I was confident in my judgements. Ofsted turned up and the inspection lead to a ‘good’ outcome.

The report recognised my partnership with Governors, the LA, local leaders and even called me ‘dynamic’ 😃 which was nice. It captured the culture of the school and the way the teachers ‘made learning fun’ and enjoyed coming to school – this was a real credit to the teachers especially during a really turbulent and tricky time.

My contract at this school was weird as the substantive Head was off sick my original contract was for six weeks, then with agreement it became eight weeks, then four months and finally ten months. I wasn’t staying and never planned to, this was an interim challenge that I made clear at the beginning to the school, the LA and community. I made sure I was referred to as the Interim Headteacher so we all knew where I stood. I supported the school through the recruitment of a new Headteacher and left in the summer. I learnt so much during this time and really enjoyed the ride. The importance of always smiling, letting everyone know it will be ok, saying thank you and well done, and really being the only one in the school that really knows it might all end in disaster. That is a lot for any one person to hold onto but was essential to ensuring the children came to school had a great education and left happy at the end of each day. Looking back at my time at the school the saving grace was being able to offload, joke and laugh with my Business Manager this kept me sane, focused and on task! Coming home to two awesome kids and a supportive wife was equally important in helping me relax, re-energise and back to the job the next day.

I never went back to my original school. A few people had taken notice of the work I had just done and I stayed in the county. Taking my first substantive Headship three and a half years after first sitting in the Head’s office.

I faced a new challenge at this school, taking over from a well-respected Headteacher that had been there for twenty years. The school was full of excellent people but had treaded water for a few years and some changes we needed. Outcomes were poor and the school was capable of so much more. There was very little in terms of delegated leadership and the Deputy Headteacher left the school at the same times as the Headteacher – leaving me high and dry! I quickly appointed a Deputy from the staff team, a gamble taken on a talented member of staff that had never even sat on the senior leadership team. This worked out very well and has been one of the best (and luckiest) decision I have made as a Headteacher. I also appointed a Business Manager (I poached the one from my previous school), appointed a substantive Inclusion Lead, with loads of experience, and was lucky enough to inherit a strong English Leader. In a matter of months, I had quickly formed a new SLT ready to take on the world (our small part of it). 

I assessed the school as ‘vulnerable’ and submitted the LA form, support was offered and the cycle of improvement began. I had to approach this carefully, easing staff and the community into change when there had previously been very little – there were a lot of changes. Some of these were processes and policy but the bulk of my work was teacher CPD, staff training and opening classroom doors. The budget was tricky and about 50K of savings (most of this was staffing) got us to a position of submitting a £11K deficit (1 % of the total budget). I learnt a lot from this experience, and as I powered through the school making changes and improving things, I left some people behind. These were mainly members of the community that who had two or three children go through the school and were comfortable and happy with the previous approach. When Ofsted visited in the summer of 2017 the complexes of the last year were very evident the school was in a good place (just) but getting the school there had created some waves – I have reflected carefully this since then and am determined to ensure my communication approaches are consistent and quality during times of change. Ofsted’s assessment of the school was spot on and a true reflection of the school. One key statements summed up the journey well ‘A minority of parents feel that some changes, have taken place too quickly. However, the findings from this inspection show that the actions to improve pupils’ achievement have been necessary, prompt and effective.’

I am now building on my first year at this school and am so lucky to have a really strong team around me, excellent developing leaders, an awesome community, some of the best teachers I have had the pleasure to work with and a bunch of amazing kids.

I don’t really class myself as that experienced but what advice would I give to a ‘new broom’ just starting the journey…

1.       Keep talking, keep networking – talk to other Headteachers, share ideas, meet for coffee and never miss a cluster meeting. Create opportunities to share issues and solutions, offload disasters and share good ideas. This time is so important and if you start to cut yourself off from the world your days are numbered.

2.       Meet the children and families at the gate and see them off at the end of the day. The impact this has on the school can’t be underestimated and the support this provides for your team. Walk the school after the registration and say ‘good morning’ check in with your vulnerable children and get each day off to a great start – I love this part of the day!

3.       Plan strategically! It’s very easy to get distracted by the ‘fire fight’ and before you know it that is all you end up doing. Delegate effectively to have a direct impact on the teaching and learning in the classrooms – that is what it’s all about anyway. Use a RAP plan to make sure this happens. Make sure every day you can reflect on at least one thing (however small) that has made a positive impact to a child or teacher.

RAP plan

I’m five years in and feel like I have had a careers worth already. Is it worth it? The answer is an undoubtable YES. The hours are long, you feel like you are faking it half the time and the job might be sending me to an early grave… but we are changing the world – one child at a time!

A child was asked to describe me as a Headteacher and I will always remember what she said… ‘Mr B is really good at helping teachers and children, and he fixes things’ – I’m happy with that 😃

Tweet