Turning the dial
Improving schools by 'scratching your own itch'
Throughout my career, it has always been common to hear headteachers and senior leaders say that middle leaders are the “engines of the school.” Middle leaders are indeed crucial for school improvement, often balancing senior leaders’ demands with departmental needs. Having led from the middle as a head of year and a faculty leader for over a decade, starting out in the UK and moving internationally to schools in Vietnam, China, and Malaysia, you gain real insight into what is happening at the ‘coal-face’ and the sentiments among the students and teachers in your teams. You are also privy to the school's strategic direction via the senior leaders, and you begin to see how things can be improved from your position.
I see the purpose of leadership as driving improvement, achieving results through others, removing barriers, and inspiring those we lead to reach their full potential. As a middle leader, I would often take my ideas, or those of my team, into my one-to-ones with my manager. Sometimes, things would change, but often, there wasn’t the scope to make any improvements. Strategic plans are usually set well in advance, and there is not always the appetite for changes that are not set out in the school’s plan or on the agendas of the SLT team. As a middle leader, you are generally driving the agendas of those above you. You can influence your own team and make things happen on a smaller, faculty or year group scale. But I began to feel frustrated and wanted to effect more change and have a wider sphere of influence over the systems and processes in our school, as I believed there were things we could do that would improve the experience for our students and teachers, making things better for everyone.
So, after a successful term-long secondment, completing my MBA in Leadership and Management, and three unsuccessful SLT applications over a couple of school years, I finally secured a senior leadership job as an Assistant Headteacher. I was delighted not to drown in that first year. I was lucky to have a very supportive Head and SLT who welcomed me and helped me get settled into the job. I asked a lot of questions in my first term (well, all year probably) and remember our Head beginning to respond to my questions by asking me what I thought. I would answer and she would nearly always say, “do that then…!”. I was told I was hired because they believed I could do the job and that I was trusted, so I needed to trust myself. I slowly took my training wheels off and did begin to grow more autonomous… that’s when I really started to enjoy the role.
As both my confidence and agency grew, I began to consider some of those ‘itches’ that had bothered me as a middle leader. Equally, I was still very close to other middle leaders in the school (including being married to one) and maintained good professional relationships that meant I continued to hear of things to help our school improve. While I was handed a set of roles and responsibilities that came with the job, I began working on some of the areas that I felt would improve the school, areas that had been bugging me as a middle leader. I am now about to go into my fourth year as a senior leader, and my job description has slowly morphed to incorporate many of the elements I had taken on as projects beyond my core duties. They are now a mix of my operational and strategic responsibilities.
Some of these projects have included:
Working with our Heads of Year and data team to improve attendance, punctuality, and uniform.
Devising, experimenting with, and rolling out a safeguarding On-Call system.
Working with our digital team to incorporate better habits and improve how we use devices at school.
Leading on improving behaviour, having just co-written our new behaviour policy.
Interestingly enough, none of those actions listed are passions for me within the school environment. I have always been enthused by teaching and learning, coaching, and professional development. However, those areas where I have been turning the dial always bothered me. I felt each area was a barrier to school improvement, and until ‘fixed,’ the school wouldn’t be what it could be. Things like teaching and learning, and coaching needed some essential structures, systems, or processes in place first.
I work at an amazing school, with incredibly enthusiastic and passionate teachers and wonderful students, and to take things to the next level, some fundamental systems and processes were in need of updating or introducing, at least from my perspective. As a middle leader, I was not able to effect the kind of change I wanted and so took the leap and became SLT. With the added responsibility, I genuinely feel I am now able to help our school improve and have slowly been helping to turn the dial on some fundamental areas. It has been amazing to have the autonomy and authority to lead on key changes and I am excited at the prospect of taking things further this year. With Viviane Robinson in mind, I try to keep to the mantra of “improvement over change” so that the work I do is not just making things different, but solely focused on making the school better.
Teachers and leaders alike are generally (if not acutely) aware of the issues that exist within their school environment. The key to genuine improvement lies not in ignoring these problems (or just complaining about them) but in recognising them and leveraging them as opportunities for growth. By acknowledging challenges and addressing them head-on, we can create pathways for positive change. This proactive approach transforms obstacles into stepping stones, fostering a culture of continuous improvement. This is pretty much what I have done throughout my career, unintentionally at first, and often in areas where I was not an expert or even keen to work. But by tackling these issues, I have not only furthered my career but also helped to improve our school. Seeing issues as catalysts for development has driven meaningful progress, enhanced the learning experience for myself, and created a more effective and supportive environment for our teachers, who recognise I am someone who genuinely wants to help make things better.
My writing here is to reflect on the journey I have taken so far, documenting the work I am doing now, and sign-posting where I aim to head next. I hope my writing will help me to collect my thoughts (which are often all over the place!) and provide a way to share insights and strategies that have proven effective in improving school systems and processes in my school’s context. It may be that what I share proves useful for others in their leadership journey, and it would be great to hear feedback and insights from others that can take me further in my development.