It’s 1pm on a Wednesday in September, but all the students have already gone home. They’ve been released early to give us time to prepare for an open evening for prospective new students.

For me, as a department head, it’s the perfect opportunity to demonstrate just how wonderful and creative my department is. My team is ready and waiting to do whatever I need them to in the precious few hours before hordes of Year 6 children and their parents turn up.

But there is one person who isn’t ready: me.

Too late, I realise that I have no clear plan for what needs to happen or what I want my team to do. They are happy to help - but I’m flapping, and looking to them for ideas.

“Just tell us what you want and we’ll do it, but we need to know - otherwise you’re wasting our time,” they tell me, frustrated.

Eventually, they all head to their own classrooms to tidy up displays and set out exemplar work, while I rush around being little help to anyone. Despite this, open evening goes well. We get lots of lovely comments from our visitors and SLT about how great the history department is. But behind the scenes, it’s been chaotic.

Looking back, this was the first sign that I was beginning to struggle as a head of department. By February, I would no longer be in that role. Being a HOD was wonderful in so many ways, but I also made many mistakes. These are mistakes that I plan to learn from - and when I get the chance to lead a department again, I won’t make them the second time around.

So, what should you avoid, as a head of department? How do you make sure that you don’t make the same mistakes that I did? Here are my tips.

1. Don’t ignore the difficult conversations

You have to be prepared to have tricky conservations with your team, no matter how uncomfortable it might make you feel. This is something I shied away from and it made it impossible to lead my department well.

However, having those conservations doesn’t mean being horrible to someone; it means leading constructive dialogue with them. I was too worried that these conservations would damage the relationships I had with my team, who were also very good friends of mine. This meant that I didn’t tackle things like underperformance, despite it having a negative impact on the whole department.

2. Don’t just manage, but lead

Yes, there is an admin side to the head of department role, but, ultimately, you need to see yourself as a leader, not just a manager. There is a reason why the role is often called “subject leader”; you not only need to lead your team, but also your subject. This is a distinction that I didn’t fully appreciate.

Use CPD to develop yourself. I wish I had done that more and really utilised the skills that I developed completing the National Professional Qualification for Middle Leadership. Keep abreast of developments in your subject and make sure you lead your team through changes with a clear vision.

3. Don’t ignore the importance of a good spreadsheet

I hated Excel and didn’t properly understand how to use it well. I didn’t see data analysis as being that important. After all, I didn’t get into teaching to spend time studying a spreadsheet. To me, it was another admin task for the powers that be.

However, in reality, data can be the most important tool at a leader’s disposal, when used effectively. When leading a department, knowing your data is crucial, and Excel (or other such programs) can actually be your friend and make your life so much easier.

4. Don’t ignore hard truths

I was a head of department for eight years. At first, it didn’t seem to be going badly. Each year teaching and learning was incredibly strong in the department. At the start of my time as HOD, there was a big improvement in results, and this continued year on year for the first four years. Then we hit a plateau. After that, things began to decline: for three years, results went down each year.

I convinced myself that these results did not reflect teaching. But the hard truth was that if results were declining year on year, there was likely an issue with teaching and learning. Rather than face this, I buried my head in the sand. Instead of analysing the teaching in the department and trying to turn things around, I looked at other causes.

5. Don’t be afraid to make changes

Following on from that, remember that it is your department; you are the leader. If something isn’t right or isn’t working, be courageous and change things up. This could mean changing an exam specification, taking a class away from an underperforming teacher or modifying your curriculum.

As someone who is now a classroom teacher, it is sometimes frustrating when I can see great opportunities for change at department level, and I am not able to make them - knowing that I had the chance to do it before, and yet did nothing.

6. Don’t be afraid to walk away

Leading a subject is wonderful. It’s a great challenge, but it can also be time consuming and stressful. My biggest struggles as a HOD coincided with my becoming a new father. In those early years of my daughter’s life, I was focused on my family and found my work was constantly taking a back seat to that.

Ultimately, this is something I don’t regret. Deciding to take a step back was perhaps the one thing I did right in that role. Getting home and spending a couple of hours extra each day with my daughter was simply more important to me.

I know that if I have the chance to lead a department again, I will be so much better as a result of my previous experience; this time I will learn from my mistakes. And, most importantly, I will take on the responsibility when the timing really is right.

Gareth Storey is a history teacher at The Abbey School in Kent

This article originally appeared in the 18 September 2020