LESSONS LEARNED - THE JOURNEY TO SENIOR LEADERSHIP

'A Leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way' John C. Maxwell

As part of my performance management appraisal last year, my Headteacher suggested that I write a blog. As a Deputy Headteacher, my responsibilities include Teaching and Learning, CPD and staff welfare. I have considerable experience of delivering CPD at a regional and national level so it makes sense to share my experiences and expertise in some kind of blog. Like the rest of our Leadership team, I have a Twitter account and find it an invaluable source of CPD, not to mention a great way to keep up to date with ‘what’s what’ in education. 

However, I have often wondered how any teacher or senior leader finds the time to blog on top of their day job whilst at the same time having a life! And I am a big believer in having a life. I am also uncomfortable with self-promotion. I am not an expert on education nor do I claim to have all of the answers but what I can do is share what I have learnt…warts and all!  

 

I was fortunate enough to be part of the DfE’s Marking Policy Review Group which ironically came about as I wrote a one off blog which you can read here https://teaching.blog.gov.uk/author/emma-thom/

This proved to be a great opportunity, not least because I was able to represent the views of many of my colleagues but also as a vehicle to drive change in my own school.

So on reflection, taking time out of a busy day to jot down some thoughts that could benefit fellow teachers or leaders is not such as bad idea after all.

 

I recently facilitated a course to aspiring senior leaders and it made me reflect on my own teaching career and my step up to senior leadership. I should note that I have never actually attended a senior leadership course myself and don’t hold any leadership accreditations. Nor I might add am I fiercely ambitious. It was certainly never part of my career plan to become a Deputy Headteacher and I still have those out of body moments when you look down on yourself in meetings and think, how on Earth did this happen?

 

I put my career path down to my personality traits. It is somewhat of a family joke that I get bored easily, struggle to stay on one task and find it very hard to sit still for a prolonged period of time. Senior leadership therefore suits me perfectly because, as any senior leader will tell you, being able to juggle comes with the territory. My career ambition was to become a Head of Geography which was not on the cards at my first school so I applied for a role at a very successful, local comprehensive. During my lesson observation, my memory stick froze, the screen went blank and it all went a bit Pete Tong! Consequently, I was told that I would not be going through to the interview stage. At the time, this experience was a huge blow to my confidence but it did give me the incentive to prove my worth. As we regularly tell our students, FAIL means First Attempt in Learning and I went on to become an Advanced Skills Teacher (AST). This opened the door for me to coach staff across all subjects and to deliver training to local schools which ultimately got me to where I am today.

 

Having started to get itchy feet at my first school, I started looking for other AST roles. At the time, schools only wanted ASTs in core subjects which was my next barrier. I spotted a job advertised at a local, inner city school for a Head of Geography. On the off chance, I contacted the Headteacher and asked if she would consider taking me on as an AST and Head of Geography. The school had had no suitable applicants for the post and once again, I like to think fate was at play as I got the job. I spent four very happy years at that school and I think it made me the teacher that I am today. Many of the students were what we might politely call ‘challenging’ but helping to turn young people’s lives around was the best reward and, if you’ve ever worked in a tough school, you’ll know that there is something very special about the camaraderie amongst the staff. My advice to anyone reading this is to take a chance. After a couple of years, an internal vacancy for an Assistant Headteacher came up. I knew it had someone else’s name on it but I decided to apply for the interview experience. Luckily, the Headteacher saw potential in me and offered me a secondment onto the Leadership Team. I would advise any aspiring leader to snap up the opportunity to do a secondment. Not only does it give you a glimpse into the role but it equips you with a new set of skills and expertise that will help you to stand out in the shortlisting process.

 

And so to my current role as Deputy Headteacher. I had been an Assistant Headteacher for two years and was starting to think I might like to be a Deputy Headteacher one day. I remember walking past Plantsbrook School and telling a friend that if I were to be a Deputy Headteacher, I would like it to be there. I didn’t really know a lot about the school other than I had heard that it was a happy place to work…and that’s my second piece of advice. I have based every decision on whether to accept a job on whether I could see myself fitting into the team. I have withdrawn from interviews because I didn’t get a feel for the staff that I would be working with. I am a big believer in following your gut instinct, especially when you have to make a decision about a job there and then. When the going gets tough (which it will), you have to know that you have colleagues that you can turn to and, most importantly, make you laugh. I have worked in three schools and my gut instinct has never let me down. I have worked with some amazing colleagues who count as some of my closest friends.

 

In another twist of fate, a role was advertised for a Deputy Headteacher at Plantsbrook School shortly afterwards. Having only two years experience as an Assistant Headteacher, I didn’t fancy my chances of getting shortlisted. I had also heard on the teaching grapevine that there were internal candidates. In my favour, I had delivered a Saturday morning training session as part of a local consortium network to some of the Plantsbrook staff and had received good feedback. At the time, I remember regretting signing up to deliver a session on a Saturday morning but it proved to be one of the best things I did. When my job application landed on my Headteacher’s desk, she took a chance on me and shortlisted me. The interview was the toughest process I have ever been through. I got shortlisted to the second day along with two other internal candidates. For me, just getting through to the second day was a personal achievement. When called back into the interview room to get the outcome, I had to ask the Chair of Governors to repeat himself in case I had heard him incorrectly. The decision had been made to appoint all three of us. The morale of the story….never be put off when there are internal candidates as you can offer a fresh pair of eyes.

 

If I knew now what the job entailed, I would probably never have put an application in. Not because I don’t love my job but because it has been such a steep learning curve. In all honesty, I don’t think I would have ever been ready for it. There are just some things that you have to learn on the job! However, if you have potential and you can show that in an interview, then go for it! Don’t let a lack of experience prevent you from taking the plunge.

 

Thanks for reading.

Emma