Heads change lives - but we have to be prepared to fight

For those of us who came into education with a moral purpose, a determination to best serve young people and truly make a difference in their lives, being a headteacher is the ultimate act of service.

Doing that, though, means you have to love the fight. School leaders are in a privileged position to be able to speak truth to power and be the voices of our community.

Without a doubt, times are hard. They are challenging for schools, with a year-on-year squeeze on our budgets, but they are even more so for the most vulnerable in society. There are currently 4.5 million children living in poverty in the UK.

Some 25 per cent of children in UK schools claim free school meals and many more are entitled to but don’t claim them because of the perceived stigma.

Schools helping children in poverty

The household annual salary that is the threshold to be eligible for free schools is just £7,400 a year, and there are hundreds of thousands that just miss it.

Evidence from the Sutton Trust this week showed that opportunities and outcomes continue to be too varied, depending on what part of the country you live in. If times are tough for schools, they are critical for young people and their families.

Being a senior leader, you are on the front line of funding cuts. However, you are also on the front line of deciding where the money your school receives is channelled.

There is no other role where these decisions are in your gift to give. So even when money is tight, you get to at least try to provide young people with the right recourses and experiences for them.

With imagination and perseverance, it is possible to forge relationships and opportunities with external partners who can provide some support. Maybe it is not much but is better than nothing, and when we get it right the appreciation from families is affirming.

Making an impact

Just five years ago, in the midst of Covid lockdowns, the commitment to ensuring that all young people were looked after came to the forefront: packed-lunch deliveries, daily phone calls, raising funds to cover household bills while parents were furloughed and creating food hampers for whole families.

This was on top of providing school work and supporting learning remotely. Many school leaders have civic leadership ingrained in their psyche.

Post-Covid, these issues have not gone away. Indeed, they have widened massively. It is no longer small numbers of schools that have a laundry room where uniforms and sports kits are washed and dried; hygiene rooms with shampoo, toothpaste and sanitary items provided; free or “Vinted” uniforms and food banks. It is widespread.

The decision to direct school resources, time and space to these things is one that can only be made by a values-led headteacher, along with compassionate governors and aligned senior leaders.

Supporting all learners

However, children living in poverty are not the only ones needing strong and ethical professional cheerleaders. There are far too many marginalised groups of young people in our schools and it is essential that we safeguard every one of them.

With recent headlines dominated by whether migrants are welcome, or which toilet can and can’t be used, there are hundreds of children feeling increasingly unsafe and, seemingly, few people are willing to speak up on their behalf. It is school leaders that set the tone and culture within our schools.

We have to be loudly and intentionally inclusive, because if we’re not then school ethos and environment can be adversely influenced by external cultural conflict. Every child deserves to feel safe at school, that they are liked and valued, that they have a place where they belong: this is the difference headteachers and leaders can make.

As well as working in collaboration with external partners, there are times when we need to challenge them. Probably the most frequent challenge is between schools and local authorities, particularly when advocating for children’s needs, including education, health and care plans. In far too many arenas processes appear to deter many from even engaging.

For example, the mother of one student, who was moved into sheltered accommodation following many years of domestic abuse, was given incorrect financial advice by the shelter staff. She is now thousands of pounds in arrears to the Department for Work and Pensions and we are now supporting her.

No matter how thankless these challenges are, we absolutely know that the battles we fight are the right ones and improve children’s lives immeasurably.

We may not be showered with glittering rewards and financial bonuses, but we have changed lives for the better, often with generational positive impact - a kind of purpose that is a privilege and that is powerful.

Keziah Featherstone is executive headteacher at The Mercian Trust. She is co-founder and vice-chair of WomenEd, as well as being co-chair of the Headteachers’ Roundtable. Her first solo book, Punk Leadership, has recently been published by Corwin

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