Headteachers lead their schools through change all the time.
Some of the changes are positive - welcomed by the families, the team, and the wider community.
Others? Not so much.
Think ‘that email’ from the Department of Education, just as you’re breaking up for summer. The one that thanks you for your hard work, wishes you a great summer and says that all pupils and adults will be expected to return on the 1 September, travelling on pogo sticks whilst wearing shower caps.
As well as dealing with some big (and sometimes hard to understand) asks, the buck stops with you. This makes headship a lonely job, no matter how supportive your senior leadership team is.
So, it always helps to spend time with other heads – chatting, reflecting and having a bit of fun thrown in. This is precisely what Hillingdon Primary Heads did, with the support of Sarah Creegan, a former head with a great deal of change management experience.
The session got people thinking about:
- Where their teams are in terms of accepting change and continuous school improvement.
- How to create a trusting and psychologically safe environment so that people feel okay being out of their comfort zone.
- Personal thinking and communication styles – how to flex and communicate change even more effectively.
- Stakeholder management - and how important this is in introducing new initiatives with fewer bumps, as smoothly as possible.
- Feedback was:
"It was so fun but still informative and thought-provoking. Sarah is an excellent facilitator."
And we’re delighted to say that, as a result, Sarah has been invited back to work with several other Hillingdon groups. This means she’ll be able to tell even more people about the time when she was a head that she tried to introduce a new packed lunch policy – and it all went horribly wrong! What fun for everyone!
If you’d like Sarah to share her packed lunch policy story in your school or at your conference, alongside our change management training, get in touch with Doug - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
