August Headteacher blog – To be or not to be

Two weeks of the holiday is almost up and I have read a lot of books. I love reading and will pretty much read anything as long as it isn’t too scary. Reading takes me away from everyday life into different worlds, encourages me to empathise with new characters and generally ensures that I happily nod off to sleep every night. During term time, I read an awful lot of dodgy escapist chick lit-and I love it. The benefit of reading on my kindle is that nobody else can see my tosh and I can quietly enjoy it–lost in my own little bubble. Over the holidays I have read quite a lot of educational books and I love them too- sometimes they help me nod off even more quickly!

This summer I have really been thinking about leadership, the type of leader I am and who I want to be. I have read Tom Rees’ ‘Wholesome Leadership’, Andy Buck ‘Leadership Matters’, Steve Margetts ‘Everyone Succeeds’, Mary Myatt ‘High Challenge, Low Threat’ and ‘Hopeful Schools’ -my list goes on. I have learnt a lot and picked out real pearls of wisdom from all of them. The problem I now have is that despite reading all of these books and making lots of tweaks to my thinking which will hopefully lead to positive marginal gains I can only really be me, albeit a September 2018 new, improved version of me.

So on that note- my ‘to be’ list for September 18 and beyond…

1. Whilst I will ‘eat that frog’ when needed; I don’t particularly thrive on conflict. I am incredibly honest and when things are going well I tell people and when things need to be improved I tell people. I hope that I always do this kindly, specifically and helpfully. I always want people to treat me the same way. This isn’t always the case and I find it difficult when I receive an upsetting email, or find out that people are complaining about something without coming to talk to me. I take this too personally and have a tendency to over think things. My new improved September version needs to put myself in their shoes, think about situations from other perspectives, be kinder to myself and generally be a bit more robust.
2. I am going to over-communicate! This will ensure more clarity over what is going really well and ensure that everybody knows and understands our ethos and values. I am going to be even clearer.
3. I am going to spend more time in classrooms; with children, with staff – coaching, watching, supporting, listening – I am going to be there more.
4. I am going to continue to care and be that person who always wants to get better and find new and improved ways of doing things. I will continue to read widely and know that together we can continue to make things better for our communities. I will continue to be hopeful.
5. I am going to continue to love my job and focus on all of the parts that I am really good at and love. I am going to stand on the gate and chat every morning with a coffee in my hand; phone families and tell them how brilliant their children are; talk to children about their life and marvel at their enthusiasm and capacity to learn and sit in the staffroom and laugh with my colleagues. I am going to continue being me.

And now… I am going to stop. It’s the first day of August and it’s time to stop thinking about September and enjoy the now. I have put my out office email reply on, packed away my educational books and am even considering deleting my Twitter app (although this may be a step too far!).

It is now time to be here; with my beautiful family, fantastic friends and happy life. Here’s to September 2018 – just not yet!

Lisa Dadds

Headteacher

August 2018