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Diary of a headteacher: Practising ‘tension-free’ leadership

Whole-school issues Senior leadership Staff wellbeing
Is the job of headteacher a stressful one? There is certainly a lot of pressure, but what can we do to protect our wellbeing and ease some of the many stresses and strains we face day-to-day...

One of the most common questions that I am asked is: “Is your job stressful?”

It is an interesting question. The role of a head can be highly pressurised and the weight of accountability and responsibility can be a heavy burden to carry.

For schools in challenging circumstances I know that stressors can emerge from all angles on a daily basis. In fact, I am sure that every single headteacher feels stressed at some point during the academic year – but do I have a stressful job?

The way I view this is that mindset and attitude are key. I could easily allow the pressures of my role in school to cause me stress, but if I were to lead from a position of stress then the culture, feel and ethos of the school would be highly compromised.

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