Fiona Kane

As the academic year draws to a close, many school leaders find themselves at their desks, reflecting on the past year—a year filled with both triumphs and trials. I hope this reflection shows a little of what it means to lead a school, even when the students and most of the teachers have left for their summer break.

The Great: Celebrating Achievements

• Student and Whole School Success Stories: Teachers and School leaders beam with pride as we witness students’ growth and accomplishments. Whether it’s a struggling reader finally mastering a text or a sports team bringing home a title, these victories fuel our passion for working in education.
• Community Engagement: Building strong ties with parents, carers, local businesses, primary school partners, our area learning community (ALC) partners and other community organizations, is essential to our growth and development as a school and a place of learning. School leaders celebrate successful partnerships—whether it’s community use of the school for music or night classes, a joint community project, or a career mentorship programme.
• Teacher Collaboration: Effective school leaders foster a culture of collaboration among teachers. We celebrate moments when educators take time to come together to share best practice, co-plan lessons or units of work, and support one another in the pursuit of student excellence.  We had fantastic Teacher Professional Learning (TPL) opportunities for our staff this year.  For instance, an excellent TeachMeet recently in our ALC with a particular emphasis on beginning and early career teachers, a sharing of Projects led by Middle Leaders completing a Stranmillis University College Middle Leader course, Education Authority Steps Into Leadership and Senior Leadership Pathways project sharing at school level.
• Innovations in Learning: From implementing new technology to revamping and refreshing the curriculum, school leaders champion innovation and creativity in learning. They celebrate teachers who experiment with flipped classrooms, project-based learning, and interdisciplinary approaches.

The Challenging: Navigating Stormy Waters

• Budget Constraints: School leaders grapple with shrinking and challenging budgets, making tough decisions about resource allocation. And it’s great to celebrate small victories in this area—like securing a grant or external funding or creatively stretching limited funds—these things help keep us motivated.
• Pupil and Staff Well-being: Celebrating and valuing teachers and staff also means acknowledging their struggles. The best school leaders work tirelessly to address workload and support their colleagues, provide professional development, and create supportive, nurturing work environments and opportunities to come together as a staff team to share some time, such as a meal together or for fun well-being activities, during the school year.  This all helps to build and strengthen community and a sense of belonging in the school.  Students too have their well-being valued and prioritised.  Support and Pastoral programmes are well thought out, with student voice being at the heart of the school response.
• Parent/Carer-Teacher Dynamics: Balancing parent expectations and teacher autonomy can be challenging to navigate at times. Effective school leaders champion open communication and collaborative problem-solving with all parties.  Ultimately teachers, parents and school leaders all want the same outcome – the very best achievement and success for each pupil in the school and so working together and working through any issues or barriers, is time well spent to ensure everyone works together, playing their part in the partnership to ensure each pupil as unique individual reaches their goal and fulfils their potential when at school.

Looking Ahead: Summer Planning

• As the school year ends, leaders shift their focus to summer planning. They strategize for the next academic year, the return to school in August and getting ready for the new year ahead. While the hallways may be empty or emptier than usual, their desks remain busy tidying up some loose ends of the school year just past and busy with preparations for the new year that beckons.
• At this time of reflection, school leaders find solace in both the great and the challenging. They understand that growth, learning and development come from a combination of all of the great things that happened during the last academic year and probably even moreso from the challenging things that happened.  They hopefully have a sense of satisfaction for a job well done over the year as a whole, they look forward (in Post-Primary schools) to the excitement of the August results days when they see directly in the faces of their students and young people, that hard work has indeed paid off! They know that their own dedication shapes the future of their school, and as the holidays beckon, they go off to rest and relax with family and friends to recharge their own batteries and to fill the well ahead of another year of service to their school and local community.  #school’soutoverandout!