What do headteachers do all day?

I’m sure they are doing something at their desks besides playing with paper clips, but after 20 years of teaching I’m still no clearer.

crabapple99

Dunno, really. But I wouldn’t do it for the world.

cuteinpuce

For starters, most aren’t called “headteachers”. They now call themselves things like “principal” or “executive principal”. Obviously, they don’t teach, and have very little to do with teachers.

ferrisbueller

They knit. All day.

seren_dipity

Eating cake, knitting and posting on TES. If a glass of sherry and a bit of daytime TV were included, it would be the perfect job.

cuteinpuce

I’m a primary head and the bulk of my job involves meeting with children, staff, parents, outside agencies, spending time in class, assemblies, teaching, sorting out problems etc. But I have been known to fix boilers, unblock drains, split up fighting parents, move on drunks, administer first aid, disarm aggressors, interview, sing, dance, play football, build shelters, dens, read stories, ferry children and parents about and sometimes I just eat cake. The cake is the only thing that got us through the National Pointless Qualification for the Hopeless.

curlygirly

When they are at their desks, I think they are watching CCTV footage of classrooms. People should start checking their rooms for cameras. On a serious note, I suspect much is paperwork.

darkness

Loads of paperwork, new initiatives to implement. No wonder they try to go to external meetings so often. And they have to give assemblies every morning with some simplistic moralistic or religious homily at the heart of them. And they don’t even get paid that much compared to the private sector. I used to work in the City and we didn’t say prayers every morning.

binoche

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