Top 10 Tips For Surviving Headship (in no particular order!)

1. Always remember that the children are the most important aspect of the school

Too often adults in the school think they matter the most and the school becomes an organisation that makes things better for them and not the children. Without the children, none of us have a job or get paid! It should always be about the children.

2. Having said that, ADULTS are incredibly important too

Look after your staff, as no matter how brilliant you are, you cannot do it alone! Staff always seem to take up more of your time than you imagine. When they are happy the school works well and children learn! Children are very good at picking up on unhappiness.

3. Relationships in school are critical

It is more important to get this right than anything else. No matter how brilliant your curriculum, if there are poor relationships between adults and children in class then learning will not happen. Relationships are key. Good relationships between adults mean team work is easy. Good team work makes everything happen! Remember to speak to as many people as possible every day. Be positive, smile a lot, show an interest in them both in school and out. Make sure everyone eats together and sings together regularly. The toilets are important and indicate a great deal about your school - especially to female staff.

4. Remember support staff are just as important as teachers

They need to be lead and managed in the same way as the teaching staff. Beware the school where this does not happen. Who wants to work in a dirty school? Who needs TAs who think they don't need to be prepared for a lesson? Who wants lunchtimes to be a time of conflict and a source of problems that take over afternoon lessons? Who is it that cleans up a sick child? Who wants visitors to be made to feel they are unwelcome? And so it goes on... Good support staff are the oil in the machine. Treasure them for the smooth running of the school. Make sure they feel as valued as the teaching staff. Show them in ways that compensate for not being paid a fortune - get the governors to serve them Christmas dinner!

5. Don't complain about your governors

You get the governors you deserve. They appointed you, so they cannot be all bad! Recruit the right people for your school, who are more interested in the school and the children, rather than themselves or their CV. Educate them, ask for their opinions, use their expertise and time to benefit the school, whilst being clear that, as the head, you are the one paid and responsible for the leadership and management of the school.

6. Spend care, time and thought on recruitment

When you appoint a member of staff you have them potentially for all their working life. Why would anyone appoint a teacher without seeing them teach? Take the time, if you can, to see them in action in their current school - it tells you so much beyond just a lesson observation. Appointing an NQT and baffled by the waffle of the university reference? Then contact the head of the school where they did their most recent practice. A brief conversation can tell you all you need to know...

7. Parents are important

Spend time getting to know them and helping them understand why the school is how it is and how they can make a positive contribution. They are potentially your strongest allies. Invariably they just want the very best for their child and who can blame them for that? Keep them onside. Very helpful when you need resources to benefit the children.

8. Maintain good working links with other heads

They, more than anyone else, understand just how hard and lonely the challenge is to be a head. Some of the best and most enduring friendships have come from my fellow heads. We have helped each other and laughed when all else seemed mad and impossible!

9. Take very good care of yourself

Take time out to relax and get away from school. Take time to stand and stare. Exercise, have fun with friends and family - this will sustain you. Prioritise your time. Do what is really important rather than what is urgent. Make sure everything you do has IMPACT. Ask for help. Do not think you can do it all alone. Sometimes, no matter how good your relationship with your deputy and/or Chair of Governors, another experienced person to act as a sounding board, or to challenge your thinking as a critical friend is just what you need. Choose someone who you feel understands you and you can talk to in confidence. This may be another friendly local head, but it may need to be someone who is not local. Remember to invest in yourself not just the staff and children. You, as the headteacher, are far more important than you might ever believe.

10. Make school fun!

School should be a happy place for everyone. For some children it is the only place where they feel happy and secure. As a head you have a responsibility to make school happy and fun for all the children and staff. We spend so much time there - why make it miserable? Defend and protect them from the dull, drudgery of the outside world. As a head you have the authority and responsibility to do this. Turn negatives into positives. For example we had a seriously flawed Ofsted inspection. They said we were good and we should have been outstanding. So we looked to our clients - the children - and they said we were outstanding. With the help of our school improvement partner, who was also an Ofsted lead inspector, we trained the children as inspectors and they inspected the school and wrote a report. The children always know - you cannot fool them. We made sure the next team had a copy alongside the SEF! And sure enough they agreed!