I began a new role approximately 2 months ago. It’s as a maths lead practitioner.
I had been head of maths for around 3 years and my school was toxic and had a SLT overhaul which made things very challenging as the goalposts kept changing. Anyway, I decided I’d had enough and I was relocating towards Manchester. I was on approx 53 k and moved to 60k as LP of maths.
I love that I am no longer inundated with multiple emails all day and juggling admin and a toxic team who believed in going above me at all times no matter how strong I was when it came to leading them. However, im still not adjusting to not having complete control of a department (albeit I was never made to feel like it at my previous place as I was severely micromanaged by women who bullied me out hence why I made the decision to go). It just feels strange, I feel like I’m a bit of a no one at the moment and ive not yet adjusted to it. It feels like I’ve taken on a different identity, while I love that im not juggling admin tasks all day, I also feel too free and too available.
I also feel I will miss doing raising attainment plans for the department or looking at a data analysis etc. I feel like I’m a bit scared that now I’ve taken the role (while yes for more money) that my strategic brain isn’t going to be heavily challenged. 2 months isn’t much time to say that, I know. But I just worry, because ultimately, in good time I would want to be AP but I am now not necessarily on par with a hod, but beneath, as they are managing me, I suppose I’m having a slight wobble.
Sorry if the post is incoherent ramble, my main concerns are: have I stunted my progress and is it normal to feel wobbly when taking a role change?