With a bit of planning, you can take a well-earned break and keep on top of work tasks, says Helen Burge
Last word W 1 2
e all know that the summer holidays are roughly the same length as half a term –
hence the label ‘Term 7’. But this period is a little different from other terms, so special preparations are in order. Whether you’ll be working in school or jetting off on holiday, here’s a handy checklist to make sure you’ve got everything covered.
Dig out your job ‘passport’ and make sure it’s in date.
Just as a passport goes out of date, so can your job description. Take the time to review and update it, adding in any new responsibilities to ensure it’s all in order before your next departure to appraisal land.
Check you have all your essential documents
Do you have all the ‘boarding passes’ (passwords, logins, information from others) to successfully navigate your way through the websites and systems you’ll need access to during Term 7? Use RAG (red, amber, green) to assess your work against the ISBL professional standards, and review your appraisal targets.
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Make sure you don’t overestimate your work
‘luggage allowance’ Exceeding your ‘weight limit’ by planning too much work content for Term 7 is a common SBM trait. The belief that there are fewer disruptions, and that more work can therefore be packed into those six weeks, can lead to disappointment when the ‘luggage’ is weighed at the end of Term 7 and deemed to be too much. Have you considered that you are
also taking some leave during Term 7, therefore you need to adjust your workload accordingly? Have you considered all the activity that happens in the week before school
58 SUMMER 2019 FundEd
starts, and the impact that can have on work productivity? Do a common sense check and estimate your work ‘luggage allowance’. Pre-book additional support in advance, and delegate some tasks during Term 6.
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Know your emergency contact details
Review your lone working policy before Term 7. Do you have a list of useful numbers in case you need to contact anyone in an emergency?
Do you know which members of the leadership team are contactable during which weeks of Term 7?
5
Check your route and plan ahead
Plan your route through Term 7 and allow extra time in case of disruption – from teachers coming in to prepare their classrooms before the new academic year, to maintenance works that go on longer than expected.
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Sort out your finances Consider how you are you going
to carrying on completing payroll, banking and other monthly financial tasks during Term 7.
Tell everyone about your ‘holiday’ plans
Make sure the main school email address and phoneline have a message about the school being closed, and that messages and emails are checked occasionally. Let parents know if social media accounts are going to be on radio silence for a bit.
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Sort out your ‘housekeeping’ Encourage all lunch boxes and
PE kits to be taken home so there is no opportunity for them to mature in warm classrooms into exciting new strains of mould spores!
Start planning your next big adventure
This may seem bonkers, but don’t plan to do anything in the first week of the new academic year. Keep your work schedule free to help others – new staff, existing staff, new parents, your office crew – to get going with the next big adventure.
Helen Burge is academy business leader at St Anne’s Church Academy and Little Learners Nursery in Hewish, Weston-super-Mare
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