This time last year I was worried – partly because of the impending results day but mostly because I was nervous about starting at a new school as Head of Department. I’d been at my previous school for over 11 years, being a relatively big fish in a small pond, and wouldn’t be any longer. Of course I was thinking about new classes and teaching, but at the beginning – on those initial INSET days – I was more worried about settling in as a newbie. Below are a few things I did which seemed to work quite well to allay my nerves but also help the transition, from the perspective of getting to know my colleagues and feel confident in my role. Hopefully they’ll be useful to someone in a similar situation:
1. I prioritised learning names
This sounds obvious but I wasn’t prepared for how many names I would be bombarded with on the first day. I was used to knowing everyone in my old school, and everyone knowing me.
“I no longer be carrying round photo ID. Know why? People should know who I am”
Sue Sylvester, Glee
It’s difficult to remember 50+ new names when you can’t rely on the seating plan or a register. My school has a great resource on their VLE with pictures of all the staff on, so I used that to check names after being introduced to someone (and then tested myself later – got to love that Retrieval Practice!). A school’s DBMS – SIMS or iSAMS or whatever – will often do this too, but I wasn’t familiar with the software at that point. Sometimes I forgot a name, but tried to make sure I didn’t forget a second time.
2. I spent time with my department chatting to them
I had a small department so it was relatively easy for me to do this, but I think it was valuable. We chatted about anything from what they did in the summer, to what they were prioritising in the first couple of weeks for their lessons. It could have been easy to get wrapped up in my own concerns about my office/classroom/planner (budget… meetings… results analysis… the list goes on!) to forget that my own department had their own worries. I also gained some top tips from chatting – finding out everything from whole school events which might disrupt my lesson in the first week to when I should get onto the trips signup sheet to get the best ones. However, I was cautious not to take up too much of their time with talking when they had their own work to get on with.
3. I didn’t make any big changes early on
I left most of the curriculum the same as the previous year because I wanted to feel qualified in my judgment before changing anything. I planned to eventually make some changes, but recognised that it was important to fully understood the context before making any big alterations. I had priorities but wanted to ensure that before making a change, that there was a better reason than it just being something I used to do at my previous school or because I didn’t understand why it was done in that way. I avoided the phrase “at my previous school we…” completely. Nobody wants to hear about someone’s old school and it isn’t a good argument for anything.
4. I tried to find answers if my team had questions
I didn’t have all the answers and nobody expected me to. I endeavored to make sure that any questions from my department – for example, wanting to know the procedure for getting a student’s exam remarked – were followed through so I found out the answer for them, even if it meant pushing some of my own jobs down my to-do list. This isn’t just something I aimed to do in the first few weeks, but is generally decent leadership advice. Most people want a manager who has their backs and will do what they say they will do – I tried to prove to them early on that I would be that manager.
5. I spoke to people in person
Emails are great but in my opinion talking in person is much better, and phone calls a close second. I got to meet people and put a name to a face, I was more likely to get a quick response, and I usually received a more open response than can sometimes be limited by an email. Plus it got me moving around the school which was really useful for learning my way about!
6. I asked lots of questions
Unlike my previous school when I knew each policy inside out, I had to accept that I wouldn’t know the answer to everything. So I asked! Whenever I was worried that it might get irritating, I reminded myself that it would make my line manager’s life much easier if she could quickly answer my question than if I’d tried to guess the answer. I also asked people around me lots of questions, especially school policies that they knew the answer to and I didn’t because I was new.
7. I made a traybake
This was easily the most try-hard thing I did. I made a Lotus Biscoff White Chocolate traybake (they’re amazing, despite my lack of culinary skills: recipe here if you want it) and brought it to the department meeting, year team meeting, and just offered them to anyone who popped their head into the office. I openly admitted that I was using it to buy friends and curry favour, but people didn’t seem to care – it was food. Delicious food.
I was lucky – the support in place from my school was fantastic and I had a brilliant first year. If you’re moving schools this year, I wish you luck and hope that maybe something in here was useful (even if it’s just an amazing traybake recipe).
trattle / @mrrattle 