Teach Secondary 13.5

NARRATIVE THIS WAY! I write this at the heady mid-point of the 2024 General Election campaign. Children –my own and my school’s pupils – ask me who I’m voting for. I try to explain how, when I vote, I’mnot really voting for the party leaders, but rather for my local MP. This doesn’t make much sense to them because most of the noise across the airwaves is predominantly focused on those key players. They’re centre stage; they’re the ones who are making all the music and dominating the conversation. In a similar way, while youmay have developed a strong, distributed leadership model, as the headteacher, you will be the main spokesperson for your school. And this exercise in public relations – whereby you build a picture of your school with the things you say and the stories you tell – will typically be an unfamiliar experience when stepping into headship. Strategic thought and time On the other hand, youmay be an experienced headteacher who has served in a school that’s had a relatively settled period. The community knows it, values it, understands it and supports it. Should you then find yourself moving to a different headship at a school with an altogether rockier history, or one going through a period of transition, this ability to build a positive narrative about your school will be a real asset. As those of us seasoned in school leadership know, it’s a process that takes strategic thought and time. Another consideration to bear inmind is that youmay sometimes be sought out by members of the media for comment. A parental complaint might have made Shaping the SCHOOL PR | PARENTAL COMPLAINTS | SOCIAL MEDIA School improvement advice for headteachers and SLT 57 teachwire.net/secondary L E A D E R S H I P