In the summer term 2025 I was a secondary school Deputy Headteacher, alongside being Director of Education across the secondary schools in our trust. All of a sudden, I took on an interim headship at a one-form entry primary school. In my hometown. Where two of my children attend. What could go wrong?
Well, luckily, nothing massive so far. But I have spent every day of this term, all 15 weeks of it, reflecting on the differences between primary and secondary education in the UK. Thus I bring you some of my musings on term one as a new head, and as a teacher new to primary.
What does it mean to be a head?
I spent five years being a deputy in a secondary school, and loved the responsibility that came with the role. I never ‘thought’ I was ready to become a head, and probably still don’t, but I felt confident that I contributed to decisions that drove the school forward. But it’s quite different when you sit in the headteacher chair.
Previously, I’d be part of discussions and planning, and ultimately implement a lot of the initiatives, along with the others in the leadership team. But the headteacher has the final say. The buck stops with them. They take ownership of the accountability. And I hadn’t quite realised what that feels like. You can empathise with your head’s role, and try to shield them from as much as possible day-to-day, but the feeling of being the final decision maker on everything weighs a little heavier than I imagined.
That’s not to say I don’t enjoy that element of the role. I’m reasonably robust, and if me taking on decisions and responsibility means it lightens the load of others to express their views and talents, or just to focus on doing their role well, then all the better.
When you’re the headteacher, you genuinely can set the culture and atmosphere of the building. The way you interact with children and staff. If your open door policy really is open door. How often and with what purpose you move around the school, popping into lessons or taking an interest in what’s going on. I get a real buzz about 1) being myself in that role, and 2) thinking about how I can continue to shape the culture and atmosphere of the school.
And then there’s the scope to help others grow. Asking staff ‘how do you want to develop this year?’, and then creating a plan to make it happen. It’s a huge privilege to walk alongside professionals as they learn and grow.
But it’s not all wandering around the school and planning CPD, though. The sheer volume and breadth of tasks can be overwhelming. I find my brain shifting from doing a safeguarding audit for the local authority, to covering a lesson, to going through a very challenging budget, to taking prospective parents on a tour of the school, and that’s just taken us to 11.30am! That’s the job we sign up for, but the fatigue from the constant context shifts means when unpredictable things do occur, it can feel overwhelming.
What does it mean to be a head? Honestly, I’m not sure yet. I’m 15 weeks in and still feel like it’s day one. But I’m learning every day.
Primary reflections:
Aside from being brand new to headship, I’m pretty new to primary school, too. The good news is, I bloody love it. Here are a few thoughts…
If you want some joy…
If you want to feel a real sense of joy, innocence, wonder, and kindness, go to a primary school. Just ring up and book a tour. After an hour you’ll feel like all’s right with the world. The children are full of wonder, questions, and love being part of a school family. The adults are fully dedicated to the development of the children. Utterly joyful. Having watched plenty of nativities and advent services in the last two weeks, I’m still on cloud nine!
Children are hungry to lead…
I’ve written about this before, but one of my big takeaways is that children are desperate to help out, contribute to the school, and lead others. And guess what? They are brilliant at it. Once you encourage and support this, you have a culture of peer leadership and student leaders across the school. I can barely get 2 steps out of my office without children asking me how they can help today, or if they can plan an assembly or act of worship. To my shame, I have under-utilised this in my secondary school career, particularly with Key Stage 3. Lots to think about.
Leave your ego at the gate…
All school staff, and leaders, must get stuck in to anything that needs to be done, but in primary schools it’s on another level. There may not be premises or admin teams, so a chunk of the day is dedicated to tasks that are definitely not on your job spec. Who cares, buddy, they just need doing! And I have to say, whether you’re mopping some escaped bodily fluid off the floor, unloading the dishwasher (several times a day), or bolstering the adult numbers to walk Year 2 to the swimming pool, it never feels trivial. Or mundane. Or beneath you. Because none of it is. It’s part of the ecosystem of working in a smaller school; every job is just as important as the other because it keeps the ship moving forward.
There is a gap between primary and secondary…
Some schools and trusts are doing brilliant work on this, but there is a big systemic gap between the two phases. Not in terms of quality of practice in either, but in how we connect. Some of this is inevitable, but there’s so much more we could do. From the way the curriculums sequence and progress, to the ways we teach, I can’t wait to connect our primaries and secondaries more in the future. Watching primary school teachers live mark or scaffold with mixed ability groups is a work of art, and I’d never seen it properly until this September; I’ve learnt so much about my own teaching.
But I’m an English teacher…
I am delighted and proud to be an English teacher. I just love everything about it. Well, except the marking. I delight in the depth of subject knowledge I’ve acquired over the years, particularly teaching Sixth Form. Teaching a whole range of subjects, though? Oh no, definitely not. That sounds hard. And not very fun. Cut to September 2025, and I realise that I’m teaching Year 6 Computing and Science, and Year 5 French. Gulp. Firstly, we use brilliant curriculum resources, which helps. But I have loved getting stuck into new subjects: all three that I would NEVER have picked out as being preferences. My brain is alive with learning, and I feel like I’m learning alongside (well, hopefully just ahead of) the children. My pedagogy is sharpening and my subject knowledge is broadening. It’s funny when you really click with things that you might not have ‘chosen’ to do.
Of course, there have been challenges along the way. Every day I probably get things wrong just as much as right. But when you work in a supportive community moving forwards together, it doesn’t matter when you make a mistake. The mission is greater than individual moments.
So, there’s no real call to action here. Apart from one last request. If you have dismissed moving from secondary to primary, or vice versa, go and have a look around a school. Embrace the differences. Even if you don’t like what you see, you’ll learn a lot. And one day, an opportunity might come up that makes you wonder: could I give it a go? And the answer is always, yes you could.
Thanks for reading
Sam
Sam Crome 