– A Survival Guide for Principals Geoff Lovegrove
Geoff Lovegrove, a previous president of the NZPF 10. NEVER allow surprises at Board meetings. Thank the person for raising the issue, then only respond when you’ve had time (1999–2001) wrote an article for principals, following a survey to properly investigate it. on principal stress levels in an earlier edition of the New Zealand 11. Relationships are everything. Decide which ones take priority. Principal magazine. His comments then are even more relevant now, and we reprint an updated version of the article first 12. Your key people are your partner, your Deputy Principal, published 13 years ago. your Board Chair, your Secretary/Office Manager and your Staff Trustee. Treasure them. Value The author served as a primary school them. principal for many years, in a range of The role of principal 13. There is no secret formula for New Zealand schools, large and small, success, but try this: Value People, rural, provincial, urban, high and low can be demanding, Employ the Best, Trust Them. decile. During that time he gathered invigorating, and 14. Find out why children remember together a range of quotes and general great principals. They are your advice from well-respected colleagues.
deeply satisfying. It is
models.
The role of principal can be demanding, 15. Only you can provide the big invigorating, and deeply satisfying. It always challenging. picture for staff, board and is always challenging. There has been community. an increasing awareness of the difficulties being faced by 16. Take some time every week to read and reflect. school leaders, and many good people have left (or are 17. When a crisis or traumatic event occurs (yes, it will), take a seriously considering leaving) the profession. NZPF has little time to consider how you will handle it. always placed great importance on Principal Hauora – the 18. When writing a difficult letter (or preparing for a difficult well-being of its members, and we all know that there are conversation), sleep on it before reviewing its content and no easy solutions. However, there are some things we can tone before sending it. do today, tomorrow or next week to help our colleagues 19. Always check every message before hitting SEND. and ourselves. Here are two sets of random thoughts from 20. Always share a problem with a trusted colleague. the author, who has used many of these himself . . . SURVIVAL KIT FOR PRINCIPALS (Try putting these in your own priority order): 1. History has shown that, no matter how dedicated, capable or hard-working you are, you are absolutely no use to anyone if you are dead. 2. No principal has ever been dismissed for failing to fill in a form. 3. Only your Board of Trustees can dismiss you. Not ERO; not the Ministry. 4. The commitment and dedication of New Zealand principals is killing too many of them. 5. Your most useful file is your rubbish bin (or your delete button). Fill that bin every day with everything unrelated to the real needs of your learning community. If you don’t fill it, find some files and empty them into it. 6. Receive emails and messages from each other, including jokes. Then reply. 7. Phone each other regularly. Keep in touch with colleagues, especially those you haven’t seen recently. 8. Make a list every day of what must be achieved. Start each day’s list with #1: “Make a list”. 9. Your job is only as secure as your last board meeting.
21. Holidays are for rest, recovery, refreshment and rejuvenation. Only a fool ignores that. 22. Don’t complain about the interruptions. The job is all about the interruptions. Deal with them. 23. Experts and life coaches talk about life balance. Do not expect total health and sanity if you have everything out of kilter. 24. It’s really all about kids, but it’s also all about you. Refer again to #1 above.
And another list of thoughts, taken from a speech to a Small Schools Principals’ Conference: Get better at saying NO. Delegate more (not easy if you’re in a sole charge school!). ¾¾ Never lose your sense of humour. ¾¾ Have a trusted mentor you can share your thoughts and concerns with. ¾¾ Take part in your cluster groups and association activities. ¾¾ Take time for yourself. ¾¾ Never take your partner for granted. ¾¾ Maintain a balance (some sport, some spirituality, some pub; not too much of any one of these). ¾¾ Be unavailable sometimes. ¾¾ ¾¾
Take risks, make mistakes, learn from them (isn’t that what we say we want our children to do?). ¾¾ Always Iook like you are enjoying the job. ¾¾ Make it clear that you are not the property of the community, to be used, abused and discarded as they see fit. ¾¾ Do the basics really well. Your community will forgive you if you fail to fill in those returns, those forms, even those health & safety compliances, but they will never forgive you if you fail to teach their children well. ¾¾ Maintain an excellent relationship with your Board Chairperson. ¾¾ Show how much you value learning by demonstrating that you too are a good learner. ¾¾ Pick your issues. There are things that will take a lot of emotional energy. In the end, you have to say, ‘Was that battle worth fighting?’ ¾¾
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Nothing is simple. School leadership is complex, and every day brings a range of challenges and satisfactions. Many things are beyond our control, but what we can control is the balance. At the end of each day, take a minute to reflect on the events and pressures you dealt with, and always ensure that the positives outweigh the negatives. Best wishes – enjoy the privilege of principalship!
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