August is usually a quiet time for governors, unless like me you come back from a week at the seaside - making sand-pies for my baby granddaughter - to the news that our beloved headteacher is retiring at Christmas.
She had planned to leave next summer but the staffing problems of the last year have taken their toll. Teaching a class herself while running the school and being heckled by parents who didn’t seem to have heard of the national teacher shortage was no fun. She needs to get out now while she’s still standing. Will she be available for supply cover in January, I ask? Probably not.
The governors agreed that we were more likely to find a new head for next term than a supply teacher to cover our deputy as acting head, but we had to move fast. Within a week we have had two meetings, one for the full governing body and another for the selection panel. We have drafted advertisements, job descriptions and personnel specifications and put together an information pack. We thought we had a year to this. My holiday seems a very long time ago. But at least we had a full complement of excellent staff lined up for this term.
Anyone for a headship?
Joan Dalton
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