End of term blues?

The end of another academic year is upon us, together with the demands of end of term events and activities that show schools at their very best to parents and local communities.

All staff recognise the supreme effort needed to get through these last few days of the summer term.

In the follow up to recent media reporting over Headteachers’ salaries, the halting of the BSF programme, the Academies Bill, new Free Schools, and a host of other new initiatives, public speculation and sometimes misinformation, perhaps it might be helpful to reflect on the strengths and successes of our schools and those at every level who work so hard to make it so.

The public mindset can be fickle – on the one hand, teachers and others are held up as hero figures, encouraging children and young people to be aspirational and grow beyond their current environs in order to flourish and thrive.

On the other hand, they are often seen as the public face of bureauocracy, chasing targets and harassing families in order to meet those targets and be seen to excel and achieve the “outstanding” label that is seen as so important.

So let’s remember when the schools are closed over the summer break, when in reality many Heads, teachers and other staff will be choosing to work, that we have a system that in the main actually does work, thanks to some really dedicated people who keep things working successfully - sometimes in spite of, rather than because of, government.

It’s so easy to dismiss everything that has gone before in an effort to be seen as the “new broom”. The trick is going to be to build on the successes, while tackling new challenges with what is likely to be a decreasing set of resources.

All staff working in schools should remind themselves of what they do well and then focus on pulling together to face up to what is going to be a very interesting new term.