1) Do Your Homework as much as you can before you arrive: 1-2 minute explanation: Read up as much as you can in the appointment process and certainly in the time you have before you take up the role from Day 1. Know the school’s history, its vision and values, its strong points, its USP, and look at who you will be working with in your team and board. You don’t really get this time again once you hit the ground running from Day 1. It is also the most obvious way to demonstrate you are taking the role for pull factors as much as push. You are “theirs” now as their new school leader. They expect you to be so from Day 1.

2) No capricious fads or whimsical changes for its own sake. 1-2 minute explanation: Sounds obvious but the short-termism of some school leaderships means everyone wants to “make their mark” and then onto the next role. The problem is, the school communities are left with the mess and trying to make a fad work that they didn’t really understand and didn’t really own. The school community wants stability and certainty before change and this is where Take 3 and 4 come in.

3) Listen and Learn from everyone in those first weeks and months. 1-2 minute explanation: The very best time a new school leader can take is to see, be seen, and listen. Listen to everyone. Not just your chair, or deputy or COO. Everyone. This is where being at the school gate daily is vital. Be highly energetic and visible, but not just for this time, but every day. Talk to parents, student council, and walk the school to be seen. Listen and talk to the catering staff, the janitor, the bus drivers, the students in isolation. It will show you are serious and you want to lead the whole school. It is also the best way of knowing the school and taking the temperature daily.

4) Have some sort of plan and timescale of your time in post.

1-2 minute explanation: it may seem daft but the days of a school leader sitting in post for years and years, are long gone. Sir Tim Brighouse believed 5-7 years is the optimum time and when a school leader is established and really makes an impact. Leading a school can be like sending an army into battle, the original plan soon is overtaken by the reality on the ground and events. And as the Woody Allen joke goes, how do you make God laugh, say you have a plan. However, having some idea of what your 4-6 years will mean and what meaningful change, leadership and stewardship you can make, given the parameters of context and organisation, is important. I would add in here, a succession plan too. Get the middle leaders and senior leaders trained and ready for the future and even if you could fall under the proverbial bus.

5) It is ok not to know everything.

1-2 minute explanation: A bit of humility in a school leader is not only refreshing but it goes a long way. No one wants to make an obvious faux pas like dropping a lunch tray in front of the whole school, or slipping over on the ice on break duty, it has happened to me, but this is about showing your ability to listen and learn. You are often jack of all trades and master of none. You have a team who are skilled and waiting for the new dynamic to establish with the new person. It is bad enough filling someone else’s shoes but confident is a world a way from arrogance so some humility and allowing the skills of others to support you and build a rapport when you start, is best achieved by learning and building the trust and respect of those you are going to lead and work with closely.