Reflections of an ex-head teacher

Something caught my eye on my social media timeline yesterday. It was a post about an event called 'Empathy Week,' and as I write a lot about empathy being one of the key characteristics of effective leadership, I decided to investigate further. Empathy Week is a big deal as it is not just a national event, but a global one. It launched in 2020 and the website states that last year they involved over 330,00 students in 54 different countries. I must be honest that up till yesterday I had not heard of it but it is backed by big hitters such as the BBC and The Times newspaper, so with a bit of luck, it will become even bigger this year. It is free to register your school for Empathy Week, and for me signing up is a complete no-brainer as the aim of the organisers is to develop "the crucial skill of empathy in students aged five to eighteen". They will provide teachers with resources for the classroom as well as access to assemblies and other live events throughout the w...

I am going to start my post today with a quote from the greatest TV show of all time, The Simpsons. Although to the uninitiated it may appear to be a silly cartoon show full of wacky characters and fun but meaningless catchphrases, those of us who have been enlightened understand that it is actually a study of the human condition as well as a time capsule showing us the good and bad of every aspect of pop culture from the past 30 years.  Anyway, back in 2001 the show broadcast an episode called 'She of Little Faith', which focused on the search for the meaning of life that Lisa Simpson, the daughter of the family, was going through. As part of her journey she spoke to other residents of Springfield, and I want to share with you a short excerpt from a conversation she had with two of them, colleagues of her father named Lenny and Carl. Lisa: Lenny and Carl? You guys are Buddhist? Carl: Oh, yeah. If I didn't have inner peace, I'd go completely psycho on all you guys all t...

It was a tradition at my school, as I expect it is in many schools, to celebrate the end of our year six children's time with us with some events at the end of the summer term. This usually involved their families, too. I remember one year during the annual parents versus children rounders match when the adult team—and let's be honest, it was the dads—took it so seriously that they thrashed the children so badly that the class teacher ended up having to have a strong word with them . Things were even more interesting a couple of years ago when we were particularly pleased to say goodbye to some of the parents. It wasn't just the relationship between school and parents that had been challenging; we were also aware that some of the parents really didn't get on! The first event we had to negotiate was the leaver's lunch. This was one of my favourite traditions and involved the children planning and cooking a meal, which was then shared between all the families of the c...

The following post is taken from the manuscript for my still unpublished book. The book is designed as a manual for the new head teacher and the section I am including below is one where I describe the particularities and challenges involved in building positive relationships with different staff groups. I hope that you find it an interesting read and that some of it strikes a chord with your own experiences.

Wellbeing Wednesday is dead. There are two reasons for this comment, the primary one being the fact that wellbeing is not just for Wednesdays, but also because I don't want to be constrained by the days of the week in my blog. From this point on, I will not be using that title for my wellbeing-themed posts. I toyed with 'wellbeing weekly' but again that limits posts to being once a week, which is not how this is supposed to work. My next port of call was the AI on my phone, so I asked it for some ideas. They were all too specific, so I will take each post as it comes and think of an appropriate title for it when I am writing. Yesterday, I took my father for a visit to Slimbridge Wetland Centre for a day of birdwatching. He has been through some health struggles this year and is not feeling well enough to do the drive up from Somerset, so I volunteered to be his taxi for the day. I am a keen birdwatcher myself, but not to the extent he is as I would definitely describe him a...

Being a Collector There is a lot written about the negative aspects and psychological dangers of being a collector. However, in this blog post I am going to suggest that it is a worthwhile wellbeing strategy, which can form part of a a healthy work life balance, and even increase your effectiveness as a school leader. First, lets get the warnings out of the way. Maintaining a collection can lead to obsessive behaviour patterns, and it can become financially ruinous if a healthy balance is not maintained.  Collecting can also become hoarding if taken to the extreme; if you are my age you can probably remember the documentary in the 1990s about Edmund Trebus, whose life had been taken over by the desire to hoard. If not, I would recommend watching it as a study of someone who had been psychologically damaged by his past.    The Story of Edmund Trebus As with Mr Trebus, the dark side of collecting is only likely to come to the fore if there are other psychological or mental ...

Recently I did a 'deep dive' post looking at the development of the use of the computer in classrooms. As a child of the seventies, my formative years were at the start of the age of the personal computer, and as a teacher and then a headteacher my career ran parallel to the introduction and growth of the Internet and then the mobile technology revolution. Being just the right age to map my life and career in this way made it an interesting exercise, and brought up many long forgotten memories involving my interactions with technology at different points of my life, some of which I want to share in this post. I want to start by going back to my time as a class teacher in the late 90s and early 00s, when I took on the role of ICT co-ordinator for my school. One of my favourite things to do was find new websites to share with the staff so that they could use them with their children. Even back then, in the dark ages, there was some great content that we used to enhance our curric...

This seems like the good day for another 'leadership lessons' post, for tomorrow is the day when the 47th President of the USA is inaugurated. As the incumbent of this position becomes the most powerful person on the planet, and is known as 'the leader of the free world', there must be something we can learn from their leadership, right? So, why don't we analyse Donald J. Trump by focusing on the characteristics of what I term as a 'cultivational leader' to see to what extent that he possesses them? Let's start with 'empathy'. A cultivational leader needs to demonstrate empathy for others, so can we identify episodes where Trump has shown this? Two examples come immediately to mind; the first was during a rally in 2015, where he was accused of mocking a physically disabled journalist. This reporting was sadly inaccurate as he was in fact showing so much empathy with the individual concerned that he was attempting to inhabit the man's body and...

Today's post includes two stories that reflect the importance of making a good first impression. I hope that, if you find yourselves in similar situations, you will learn from my mistakes. Speech Time I am standing out on the playground trying to look relaxed and welcoming. It is my first day as head teacher and families are starting to trickle through the gate and assemble on the playground for the start of the new term. Going up to 'strangers' and introducing myself is not a strength of mine, but fuelled by adrenaline and two coffees I think I am doing quite a good job. The previous head teacher was not exactly helpful when it came to any kind of handover, so I am meeting 99% of people for the first time today. Most of the parents seem friendly, and the younger children are happy to chat. It's obviously not cool for the older ones to do that though, and they are more interested in finding their friends. I do what I usually do in these situations, and I latch on to a p...

Towards the end of my time in school, the fear of parental complaints had almost got out of hand. One might call it paranoia, but the statistics tell another story. In 2023 there was an increase in parental complaints to Ofsted of almost 25 per cent from the previous year. That's only the ones that go to Ofsted of course, and doesn't take into account the numbers that are dealt with by schools themselves, which I suspect had increased by at least that amount over 2022 figures. I was at primary school in the late seventies and early eighties, and as the title of this post states, things were different then. Today I was thinking about one day in particular when this was the case, so I thought I should write about it here. Apaches It's summer in 1980 and the whole school have been gathered into the hall. Something unusual is happening and there is a lot of chatter from the children, as there is not normally an assembly after lunch. The heavy brown curtains have been pulled acr...

I feel that I should summarise the statement I made at the beginning of my post last Wednesday before embarking on the second of these themed posts.  "Wellbeing is for life, not just for Wednesday."  'Wellbeing Wednesday' it is a nice catchy title, but schools that only think about wellbeing on a Wednesday are fooling themselves when they claim that it is a priority of theirs. I have therefore come up with a catchy slogan (above) of my own, based on the old 'dogs are for life, not just for Christmas' one to counter it! Last week I described a technique that I recommend for your own wellbeing as a headteacher. This week I am going to focus on something that definitely should be priority one for head teachers in terms of staff wellbeing.  I believe that my strategies are grounded in common sense; they are focused, achievable and impactful and importantly they don't cost the earth to put into practice. Today's will cost you a little, from both your person...

After watching and enjoying a film over the Christmas period that told the early life story of a hugely successful and visionary business leader, I thought that they would make a good topic for the latest of my 'leadership lessons' posts. Luckily there is also a film which describes the later life of this person, which I have also re-watched, so I am able to reflect on a pretty thorough overview of their leadership career. The subject of today's leadership lesson is the confectioner Mr William W. Wonka. Rather than just discussing Mr Wonka's chocolate making skills, which are not really in question, I want to focus on his leadership and management abilities, to see if there is anything we can learn from him.* *For the benefit of one Mr D. Trump, who I am aware is unlikely to view this post, I am fully aware that Mr Wonka, like your 'friend' Hannibal Lecter, is a fictitious character. When viewing the two films in order we see significant changes in the prioritie...

Our scene opens on a snowy night outside a theatre. Christmas lights and wreaths hanging from street lamps tell us it is the festive season. A man in a brown overcoat comes in from the cold, but he passes the ticket booth without paying, as he is not here to see the show. As he opens his locker and grabs his spray bottle we can see that he is a janitor, although photos stuck to the door of his locker suggests he has bigger dreams. He sings in a low soft voice as he goes about his job. The sound of his voice catches the attention of some of the other employees throughout the theatre, who stop and take a moment to enjoy his singing. Our scene shifts to the stage, where our mystery man taps a chord on the piano before starting to mop the floor around it. It seems that he is dreaming of being on the stage and performing to an adoring audience. We cut to a lady in a smart suit, who appears to be his manager, perhaps the manager of the theatre. She pulls out her phone and we can see that she...

I would like to begin by clarifying that the title of this post is intended to be somewhat ironic. I have noticed the term 'Wellbeing Wednesday' used frequently in schools, and I must point out that this approach is flawed. Wellbeing should not be confined to a single day each week; for it to be truly effective, it must be integrated into daily routines on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday as well, and perhaps even more crucially, over the weekend! Each Wednesday I am planning to publish a post themed on one of my own recommended wellbeing strategies. They will be strategies that you can use to support the children, to support staff, or to support yourself. They will be achievable, realistic and hopefully fun too! The theme for this week is 'Pick a Team'. I was considering calling it 'join a team' but I appreciate that many of us don't have the time or the inclination to physically do that. If you do then good luck to you and I am sure it will have a pos...

For the third in my series of 'leadership lessons' posts I am going to look at a rare beast, a politician who for at least a while was universally loved. Jacinda Ardern was Prime Minister of New Zealand between 2017 and 2023, and during that time I think it is safe to say that citizens of many other countries wished she was their leader too. But why was she popular and what made her a good leader in the eyes of millions? To answer that I am going to take each of the key characteristics that I described in my Christmas Eve post as being those that make someone a 'cultivational leader'. For a more detailed definition of this type of leader please go back to the blog post in question. 1. Empathy Arden's immediate response to shootings in a mosque in Christchurch in 2019 clearly demonstrated the level of empathy she had for all citizens of New Zealand. Not only did she offer immediate financial support to the families that were affected, she also wore a traditional Musl...

Today is the first time I am not starting a new year as a head teacher. The first day of the spring term was for me always one of the least pleasant in the year. My thoughts are with those who are on their commutes this morning, as no matter how much you love your job, the first day back after Christmas is always hard.  The following post is a reflection on past experiences. The First Day of Term The alarm shrieks at you to tell you that Christmas is over. You didn't need it though, as for the first time in two weeks you were fully conscious hours before it went off. Why does it seem darker now than it did in the week before schools broke up? Apparently the nights are starting to get shorter now, but it doesn't seem that way. An extra spoonful of coffee in your favourite mug has the desired effect and drags you out of the house and into the car. You curse out loud as you realise that you have to sit there, prolonging the holiday for a few more minutes, whilst the windscreen def...