IPPN

Published: 16 June 2005

10 Self-Care Commandments for Principals:

1. Before the end of term, arrange a meeting with your BoM Chairperson and Deputy Principal to make a collective list of the main outstanding tasks for the months ahead.
   
2. Collectively prioritise key tasks and decide which items can wait until September.Just because the school has been given a deadline, plan your response based on what you consider to be a reasonable time frame.
   
3. Examine each of the prioritised tasks and decide who should take responsibility for them.
   
4. Delegate as much as possible to individual BoM members and the In-School Management team.
   
5. Where certain key functions such as recruitment must be scheduled, make a plan for July and August which facilitates the Chairperson, a Deputy Chairperson, Principal and Deputy Principal, to provide cover for each other whilst also being able to plan a family holiday etc.
   
6. Arrange that the school secretary handles all mail during the holiday period. If you do not have a school secretary, delegate it as a task to some member of the ISM or BoM.
   
7. Organise a telephone answering machine.The voice message should advise parents why the telephone is not answered, where books and uniforms can be purchased, the date of school re-opening, how to apply for late enrolments etc.
   
8. Delegate the responsibility to manage keys and alarm codes for summer camps, maintenance work, staff access and other unplanned events, e.g. burglary, vandalism etc.
   
9. Take a complete break from school by organising a holiday which physically prevents you from being available
   
10. Remember that although you are the principal you are not indispensable. Turn off your mobile phone and take a decent holiday.

Since last September you have given considerable time and energy to the pastoral care of the children and staff in your school. Constantly giving of yourself is a major drain on you personally and your emotional well-being. It is an undeniable fact that in fulfilling a role where one is frequently supporting, caring and 'looking after' others, such a role is unsustainable on a long term basis, if one does not ' look after' oneself. It is probably true to say that you will be of little use to those whom you are leading and caring for, if in the course of your work, you neglect to care for yourself. Regrettably, it is so often true that principals put themselves last in the long line of people's needs.

The end of the school year for most people, involves looking forward to the enjoyment of a summer break. On the other hand, principals juggle with a multiplicity of deadlines and pressure points which one would normally associate with something traumatic like moving house. Why is the end of an academic year so stressful for principals? Is it absolutely essential that most aspects of school business are 'wedged' into a common deadline? Is there any other line of business that would arrange staff recruitment, stocktaking, financial year end, refurbishment, annual maintenance, professional reporting and administrative deadlines, all to happen at more or less the same time - when everyone is on official holidays and communication with key contacts is often impossible? Needless to say, you as principal, cannot walk away from school on June 30th, if you have any intentions of the school being ready to reopen on September 1st.

Factors beyond your control relating to SEN staffing, disadvantage resources, NEWB reporting, Summer Work Scheme, a building programme, and the recruitment of temporary and permanent staff, could easily wipe out any hope of a summer holiday, if one were not careful. Is it your fault that others didn't complete their planning on time? Will the world stop revolving if you don't meet unreasonable deadlines set for the convenience of others? The main risk arises from the frenetic pace of school life in the last fortnight of June. You as Principal are constantly responding to everyone else's needs based on their desire for 'closure' by June 30th. In order to effectively address these needs, you feel forced to give every minute of your time to the ever growing queue of requests, consequently postponing many of your own priorities which inevitably back-up and remain on your list until July 1st. That's when you get the mixed feelings of relief, because the external pressure has been released, followed quickly by the feeling of exasperation in knowing that you have so much to do and you are more or less alone in both knowing what needs doing and getting it done.

Alternatively, you may decide to be proactive and strategically plan the impending workload arising from the management needs of the school. This approach is the only alternative to that workload occupying your time and your mind throughout the summer. In early June, a Kildare based principal faxed the IPPN Support Office with her '10 Self-Care Commandments for Principals'. On reading these, it is likely that you will probably feel - 'I could never do that in this school!' Why not? There is a first time for everything. Unless you can assert your right to distribute leadership and delegate management responsibilities, you are consigned to perpetual martyrdom 365 days a year.
Bí­odh samhradh iontach agat.