Five Years On

On 17th April 2012 I will have been Headmaster of the High School for five years. I cannot believe how quickly this time has flown and I am delighted to say that I am still enjoying the role every bit as much as I did back then. I remember the days running up to taking over very vividly, the sense of excitement and trepidation, the natural nerves over the first staff meeting, the first assembly etc, the feeling of not really fully knowing what to expect.
Five years on I have learnt a great deal! I thought I would use this post and perhaps a subsequent one to reflect on what I have learnt. One of the first things I noticed when I became Head was how other people react differently to you. Although I remained in the School where I had been a deputy head, there is a distinct difference in the way that people view you as Head. The title, the doors that people have to go through to reach you place barriers in the way despite my avowed intention to be approachable. Thus, I have had to find other ways to achieve this. Chief amongst these have been such things as this blog and my use of Twitter. I have found that such methods allow me to show that I am a real person and not just a title, that I have a life outside of the School and that I welcome contact of all sorts from different people. I have been thrilled by the way that blogging and tweeting has caught on at school and by the overall improvement in our communications that this has brought.
Of course, there is much more to being approachable than using these methods. I also want to be approachable to boys and whilst weekly visits to the games field have helped with this, I have also started having lunch with groups of sixth formers on a weekly basis. I have really enjoyed this opportunity to chat informally and have learnt a great deal in the process. This is now one of the favourite parts of my week. Of course, on the other days, I have lunch with the staff and again these informal opportunities to chat have proved very useful.
Another feature of the past five years that I could not have foreseen is how much I have gained from working together with other Heads as part of HMC (made up of the Heads of the leading independent schools). I now chair their communications sub-committee, one of four main committees that do much to promote the work of independent schools in this country. The opportunity to share ideas, concerns and good practice with other Heads around the country and to benefit from shared experiences and interests has been hugely beneficial. Yes, it means time out of school but I have no doubt at all as to the benefits this has brought to me both personally as a leader but also to my school.
Another feature of this role of Head which is hard to prepare for is the fact that in the end you always have to make a decision. Whilst there have been times when reflection on a decision is useful, it is evident that you do really have to have an answer to every question you are asked and are expected to give a prompt answer no matter what the topic is. Not rushing in to answer has been useful, so too has been access to expert advice from the various professional firms that the School uses but in the end one just has to rely on good common sense the majority of the time!
I have loved every moment of the past five years. Even the difficult decisions provide a sense of challenge and fulfilment once the dust has settled. I love the variety that every day brings, I have enjoyed bringing in a number of new initiatives which are now working very successfully to enhance the education of boys at the School and I enjoy the challenge of planning for the future. In an ideal world I would receive fewer emails; I would be able to get out of the office a little more. I could not do the role without the support of an excellent management team, dedicated staff both on the teaching and support staff, and above all without a very loving and understanding family. Five years though have flashed by with many, many highlights and I will reflect on some of these highlights in my next blog post.