Contributing to Headteacher’s Conference, Lincolnshire 25 February 2010
A sea of faces looked back at me!’ Hundreds.’ I was at Lincolnshire Headteacher’s conference.’ I have previously given many keynotes at headteacher conferences, and having worked in thousands of schools alongside heads for over 35 years, I have huge empathy for the responsibility and unique challenges of headship.’ Being a head gets harder – although seemingly there’s more support to be had – NCSL, school business managers, etc., etc., the truth’ is that escalation of initiatives and the stress of coping with the’ ever-deepening ‘fractures’ in society and their effects on families makes their job increasingly harder.’ More importantly, I believe the emotional health of children and adults is becoming increasingly more fragile – which,’ coupled with the everlooming shadows of Ofsted – has and is taking its toll on the emotional resilience of headteachers.
Take this example (and I’ve written about it elsewhere in one of my blogs…).’ On the day of the conference – in the breaktime, I found a very distressed head who’d just received the news that the dreaded Ofsted was about to arrive.’ She was a young head, she needed the camaraderie and wisdom that her peers could give her over this residential weekend.’ The shock on her face was etched strongly.’ Summoned – she had to go!’ This madness has go to stop!’ The good headteachers I know try and absorb the worry of Ofsted in a huge effort not to pass it on to the staff – so the staff can still try to function in a creative, responsive way to the curriculum and children.’ Other heads just can’t stop themselves showing their stress to the staff so everyone gets hyped up and it becomes the sole topic of staffroom and staff meeting conversations.’ So, where’s the laughter, the sheer joy of teaching?’ So I was particularly happy to receive an email from a Lincolnshire headteacher – Mark Anderson – requesting some further training and saying… “… I have recently seen Jenny at a conference and was invigorated by what I heard.’ Although much of what she talked about was not new, it re-lit a few fires within me and reminded me of why I do the job I do.’ Her values and ideals are similar to mine, but in the daily toil of headship one can sometimes lose focus on what really matters – happiness. …’ I very much want to get back to my core values of excited happy children and staff who have high expectations and aspirations.’ Therefore I would really appreciate it if you could come and do some training….”.’ So heartening!
TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT BOOKING JENNY FOR A KEYNOTE SPEECH OR WORKSHOPS CLICK HERE’’OR PHONE 01225 767157 OR EMAIL US ON CIRCLETIME@JENNYMOSLEY.CO.UK
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Posted on 04 May 2010 | Category: Consultancy News
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