It seems a long time ago that I was interviewed for the role of Deputy Head and whilst I’ve tried to forget the whole grueling (albeit enjoyable in a weird way) interview process, I have been reminded in my fifth week in post of one of the questions asked on that day; the question being “What is the difference between an Assistant Head and a Deputy Head? Whilst I’d given the question much thought in my preparation, nothing can prepare you for the reality of the situation. For anyone who is considering taking this step, I thought I’d share my experiences so far.

My first recollection was the stark reality of seeing my name on my door alongside my new title. I remember thinking “Eek it’s real now and I might actually have to deputise for the Head at some point!” Luckily I’m privileged to work with a Head who has a brilliant sense of humour and constantly makes fun of me. So far, this has included adding the little princess sign to my door when I managed to get my office painted after a few days in post, whilst he was still waiting 5 months later; creating a special signature for my emails (also see below) and most recently buying me a birthday cake with the number 50 for candles (I am not 50-yet!) This sense of fun has firmly grounded our relationship and has enabled me to luckily feel I can approach him about anything (usually accompanied by many eye rolls!)

The biggest difference between AHT and DHT though has been the wider whole school perspective. My responsibility before was leading on T and L which I’ve always been really passionate about. I’d had a fair bit of experience in this area in several schools so whilst there was a lot to do, mentally it wasn’t too much of a challenge for me . My new role so far though has been about a whole new world of experiences, of which I knew very little about. So in 5 weeks, here’s a little taste of the things I’ve had to get my head around: implementing new attendance procedures and processes; streamlining behaviour management systems; learning more about data (my worst nightmare) dealing with parental complaints; undertaking safer recruitment training and leading my first set of interviews without the Head’s involvement; investigating new uniform possibilities and meeting with potential suppliers; dealing with some sensitive staffing issues; listening to students talk about their difficulties with friendship issues; line managing a whole new team (who I have to say are just brilliant!) preparing for sixth form interviews; preparing for year 8 and 9 option choice interviews; interviewing for four exciting new teaching positions; carrying out learning walks; preparing to present at a trainee session for new teachers and my personal favourite asking the Head (he calls it managing up and claims I do this a lot because I’m bossy!) to examine the phallic symbols on some exam desks! 

Apart from the sheer amount of new things to get my head around, upon reflection, I think that the two most difficult things for me have been adapting to the fact that all of a sudden everyone (understandably) comes to you and expects you to have all of the answers. Luckily if I don’t have them Andy (the Head) does or we work through them together. I love this catch up time at the end of the school day; this gives me a chance to learn loads from him and I’m always in awe of his knowledge. The second thing is because of the pace of change, it’s difficult to sometimes find time to mull over or reflect on that decision; I’m becoming more used to this as the weeks go by. One of my resolutions this week is to get better at building a little free time into each day.  This week, the first bit of time I had was on Friday afternoon since Monday morning; and this is no use when issues randomly present themselves and need acting upon straight away.

So what is my final note to self? What have I learnt so far? Well- I love it and wouldn’t change it for the world. It’s a huge challenge and anyone who knows me knows I love a challenge. I’ve also learnt that I should stop berating myself for not always knowing the answers (this I will find hard) I figure as long as I hold onto my values and in the words of Shakespeare “To thine own self be true” then I’ll be ok.

This is a journey and I need to be patient (not my most natural quality) but I suppose I’d just like to end by publicly saying how brilliant my SLT are. We are nearly all brand new to our positions and it’s a real pleasure to work with such fantastic and committed people. Most of all though, I want to thank Andy Byers who has steadfastly supported me in my new role, puts up with my bossiness on a daily basis, washes up after my cups of tea and quite simply believes in me and makes me laugh on a daily basis. I know I’m a pain sometimes Andy (and I know you’re grumpy and fussy) but I passionately believe it’s because we both care.

I’m looking forward to writing about the next part of the journey in a few months time.  I already have the name for it Mr Byers!… ‘Action Andy and the Avocado Princess’