to be a headteacher right now - is there money enough in the world?

[whatcolourisyourwednesday]

I was just thinking how much I'd want to be paid to be a headteacher this week.

Flirted with the idea of a cool million a year. But have concluded there isn't enough money in the world.

Just think:

• all your vulnerable children more vulnerable
• all your chaotic families more chaotic
• all the most opinionated parents more opinionated than usual
• risk of long term harm if you choose any option. No option that is clearly lower risk.
• and entering a massive recession that will make your previous funding decisions seem trivial.

Nope. would rather sweep the streets.

I think the teaching profession needs to get some perspective.

People in all walks of life, all sorts of jobs face difficult decisions and carry risk without a pandemic. I mean massive risks. People have jobs where they have to be very adaptable.

Think for example of the police or staff in mental health. I know a few and I noticed how calm they’ve been. They’ve had a lot to deal with. They just got on with it.

In all honesty I think teaching is largely a routinised, predictable type of work. There’s no need in the main to worry about risk.

I was reading a thread started by a teacher where they talked about ‘decontaminating’ after work. Which suggests they are contaminated. It’s not Chernobyl or a Covid ITU. The language I’ve seen thrown about on this site is very emotive and dramatic.

FFS

OP lightheartedly muses about how much she would want to earn to do what she thinks is currently a tough job. Draws no comparison with any other jobs. Concludes it’s not something she would want to do for any money.

(Nearly) everyone else: “Fuck off, they’re not special, everyone’s got it hard, fucking teachers, I can think of millions of harder jobs, what about fucking social workers, eh, eh, eh?!”

Sometimes, I just despair of people.

For what it’s worth, my children’s head is doing a fab job, I really appreciate her, and I hope she feels suitably recompensed for the tough job she currently has. That doesn’t mean I care any less about any other people with tough jobs.

I'm a frontline CP social worker and this has been hell.. I need some time off but working so many more hours than usual, I'm working late on court reports right now. we are half the team down and our referrals have gone up about 200%!!
Anyway, despite my plight which includes having 3 young children and DH working shifts as a police officer, we are managing. Unfortunately the same can't be said for my BIL who is a HT. He is very highly regarded and very capable but he is crumbling under the pressure, I would not want his job over mine!!

@seeyoubugaboo I left social work two years ago, during this I’ve been so glad I changed jobs. Can’t imagine how some of the work is being managed with covid restrictions, it must be very hard!

Interesting that your referrals have gone up. Locally I’d heard that they had gone down as a result of children not being revered by schools as much. Are you getting more police/hospital referrals (just interested/being nosey).

I imagine being a social worker is impossible and incredibly hard at the best of times but it should be equated to being a teacher, not a headteacher?

Being a headteacher is the equivalent of being the chief of a hospital or a police chief inspector, and you couldn't pay most people enough money to do any of those three jobs at the best, let alone the worst, of times.

The CEO of the hospital I work in is responsible for thousands of people, including infectious diseases unit, surgery etc. There’s a lot of risk.

But the CEO won’t know every patient, and I also assume probably gets paid more than a Primary School headteacher. HTs at the moment will be worried about the education and welfare of all their pupils, but will be particularly worried about certain ones and will be concerned that those ones have not yet been in school although they were eligible as vulnerable children.

The CEO of the hospital will see numbers not people. And just think of all the support the NHS are getting at the moment. Any criticism of it is being aimed at the Government not the NHS staff. The same can’t be said of Education.

Anyone complaining about what is happening in their school is blaming the school and the HT/ teachers not the Government.

I imagine being a social worker is impossible and incredibly hard at the best of times but it should be equated to being a teacher, not a headteacher?

In fairness I drew a comparison between my previous experience of being a senior manager in child protection, not being a main grade social worker and have resoundingly been told that job isn’t that hard “all you have to do is keep them safe”. I’ve never come across a profession as deified or demonised in the way teaching is - I suspect the reality is somewhere in between.

I have not doubt that childminders work hard and have difficult decisions to make at the moment. But to compare the job of a childminder to that of a headteacher is ludicrous to be honest.

The school I work at took nearly 2 years to find a permanent headteacher. There is a very 'naice' primary school in my leafy town that hasn't been able to appoint a permanent head for almost 4 years.

Thinking about getting 'signed off'
Only in the public sector would anyone think this -total cop-out.
If you no no get want to do your job or can no longer do it properly then resign and find another one.
'Signed off' way keep the pay and let your colleagues pick up your tasks.

@BeltaneBride

Or alternatively, maybe the job should put guidelines and procedures in place to stop people getting so stressed through their job?

My old head got signed off because children at the referral unit continuously smashed her car up outside as an example, and the stress it was causing was ridiculous.

She wanted to do her job.
She could do it effectively.

But at that period in time, she just needed a break.

@AMID most of the new referrals are re parental mental health or domestic violence, alcohol and drug misuse also on the up. My team are still visiting whereas some teams are not, I think like schools a lot of it is down to how different areas are managing it. It doesn't help that half my team ( the ones that did the bare minimum ) have decided that they or some relation are vulnerable so I'm being asked to cover visits on a daily basis for other social workers
I'd be interested to know what your sounds now AMID 😉

thanks for all the replies.

Comparisons are odious.

re social work - the problem is that we can't see you - we can't see what you are doing. Because of the confidential nature of your work.
I have a social worker friend who posts on facebook and I follow the posts avidly - it's a fascinating window into a different world. But there are limits on what she can say. It's easier for me to imagine what a head teacher is going through right now.

Good luck to the head who is leaving after this term. Get your life back regain strength, go back and contribute in some other way - I'm sure you have lots to give.

The head of a good sized secondary is on six figures, so yes, they get enough, but yes, it is incredibly difficult atm

The headteacher of a Primary School can be on nothing like a six figure sum, think the lowest pay scale starts from £46k.

I only know one head on 6 figures.
That wage figure is not representative of most headteachers

Agree with OP.

According to TES average starting pay for a secondary academy (and there aren't many maintained secondaries left) is £110k.

I have certain knowledge of four heads' salaries locally. Secondary, 1800 students, £135k, Infant school, 180 students £68k, PRU 200 students £86k and a large Primary £97k.

It's a difficult and complex job but no one can argue it's not well paid.

The thing about being a head teacher, that i think is different to a lot of other roles is how alone they are, particularly in small schools. Every single decision is basically the head teachers and so many things the head is liable for. There seems such a big gap between teachers and the head. Maybe bigger schools have more of a team at the top.I worked for 20 years in a fast paced commercial environment, then 7 years in a school admin role - under 3 heads (yes big change) and i was so surprised how everything kept coming back to the head. It was very different to anything i'd experienced before. Thats not to say its harder/better/worse. I just think its a lonely job.

@BeltaneBride resigned is exactly what I did. However the notice period is 2 terms (for some heads 3) so that's a hell of a long time to wait until you finish. In my case if it will be the best part of 8 months as it will not be a case of come the end of term in July, all is done.
So sometimes the stress can feel endless and never ending. I have not been signed off but have come close on occasion.
No head makes the decision to go off lightly.

Oh and I am on nowhere near a 6 figure salary 😂

Inoneminute

you probably want to have a look at the real pay scales before taking any paper seriously about how much those in education earn.

*According to TES
*
Ahhh, so not any actual evidence etc. Just random facts. Very good source

Yeah, that's a load of nonsense.

The four I mentioned are absolutely correct, I'm on the boards that agreed them.