It has crept up on me so quickly and yet some days have felt like they lasted forever. A mix of heady moments of success and achievement and some days where just getting to the end of the day has seemed like a tall order indeed.
I’m three months in to my first headship. Reflecting on this thrilling yet perplexing time, I can see many parallels with my own transition into motherhood with a newborn.
There was no operating manual which came with a newborn… and certainly not one for a new headteacher. Some days it feels like I’m having a great day and others… well others are not so easy.
A school community has lots of parts to get to know. In my first few weeks it was the first thing I thought of when waking and the last thing I thought of on going to sleep. When I closed my eyes I could see every room, teacher and young person. Exactly how I was when both my children were newborns.
I had thoughts about being the best Headteacher ever… just like when I was a new mum. The reality was a bit different to the dream.
I had my shiny School Improvement Plan. It was going to be fantastic… and then, a bit like when I tried to religiously follow Gina Fords Contented Little Baby Book with laughable results, I realised that not all plans become reality… or not straight away. The longview or strategic approach is what’s needed.
In actual fact what is definitely needed at the beginning is that period when you get to know the new baby or new school. You need to become accustomed to a new life. You need to become accustomed to doing things differently. You need to become used to becoming a new version of you.
The past three months have seen me become the chief cheerleader and that adaptable leader, ready with my teaching materials to teach any class any time any where! A bit like having that baby changing bag ready for all unforeseen (and unwanted) circumstances.
I’m getting used to being the one everyone asks for advice and opinions. I am the plan A, the back up and the plan B. I am the decision maker.
There are also days filled with self-doubt but I am gradually managing to ask for help and advice and to not believe I have to do it all on my own. The more I think through this, for me it’s exactly what I went through in becoming a mum.
And yet… the highlights are fantastic! I am the magic maker and the fun facilitator privileged to see incredible children, young people and wonderful people develop on their own journey. Sometimes with a strategic plan, and sometimes with a hunch, a wish and my own developing experience, I’m realise I’m doing the right thing. it almost compares with seeing your baby smile or laugh for the first time.
So that’s the first three months done…
I am now thinking of my headship like my run into motherhood, comfortable knowing that the job will never be ‘done’. This is going to be the trip of a lifetime. I will never arrive and always strive.
Not a bad lesson to have learned in my first 12 weeks.
The Enquiring Head Teacher 