. The response was awe-inspiring, reaching 95,000 views in 11 days.The post details the moment I realised that being a headteacher had damaged my relationship with my son. Since that epiphany, if either of my sons ever asks me to do something, I do it, no matter how much work I have.
It is liberating when you decide to draw the line. When I admitted that I couldn’t be the perfect headteacher, I became better at my job. It was my fourth year in charge and I have prioritised ruthlessly ever since. Make sure you sort out the important stuff and don’t be afraid to cut corners when the workload is overwhelming you.
And, whisper it, the holidays are a treat. When I add up all my school-free days, I reckon I get five clear weeks of holiday a year and for eight weeks I can work flexitime to suit myself. In many ways, being a headteacher is one of the most family-friendly professions; I have solicitor friends who work many an evening and weekend and have half my holiday time.
If people perceive the job to be incompatible with family life, it will prevent hundreds of potentially fantastic leaders from taking up positions. Make sure you get the balance right so others can see that it is possible.
To be a headteacher, you need to have a deep-seated commitment to public service. It’s not about you and your ego. Ultimately, it is about the children. And we need people of humane sensibilities to do the job. If we are going to burden classroom teachers with the weighty responsibility of providing the best possible education to young people, we need headteachers with the wisdom and humility to create the conditions for professional growth.
If that sounds like you, then do it. Yes, there are barriers, but there are so many benefits. I genuinely love my job. In the end, being a headteacher has helped me to realise my ultimate aim in life: namely, to leave the world a slightly better place.
We need to ensure that the current crop of would-be leaders fulfil their ambitions. We need to take a serious approach to the worrying possibility that the best candidates may not be coming forward. The image problem of leadership is not terminal, we can still turn it around. Let’s accept the challenge and make that change happen.
John Tomsett is the headteacher of Huntington School in York and co-founder of the Headteachers’ Roundtable thinktank. His book, HEAD Teacher: Why headteachers should be the HEAD teacher in their schools will be published by Crown House next year
