Nearly half the heads I talk to raise the same thing.
Whatever else is going on in their school, there’s a member of staff whose performance or behaviour isn’t where it needs to be.
And a conversation they’ve been putting off.
I get why.
These conversations feel personal, even when they’re not.
Most of us weren’t trained to have them.
We learned through trial and error, tapping into other people’s experience.
The summer is a strange kind of gift here.
You’re not in the building.
You’re not having to react in the moment.
There’s space to think about it properly.
So if this is you, here’s something that is worth letting rise to surface:
Who’s behaviour or conduct keeps being an issue?
- Maybe you’re trying to improve it, but maybe it’s been going on too long now?
- Maybe it’s being left for now.
None of those are wrong. They’re just different stages, and it helps to know which one you’re in.
What would it look like to walk back into September having decided, even loosely, what happens next?
You don’t have to solve it alone, and you don’t have to solve it today.
But the summer can be a good time to see it with some distance and to decide what needs to change.
If it would help to talk a specific issue through, Jack from my team is around this summer. He speaks with heads about exactly this, every week. It’s not a sales call. It’s just a conversation, with someone who gets it, before you’re back in the building and it’s live again.
Whatever you reflect on or decide, do keep enjoying the rest of your summer break.
Sonia ❤️