Please excuse me for having a bias, but some of our recent articles have genuinely resonated with me. Their messages are so important and centred around the themes of Teacher Self-Care and Wellbeing, and appreciation for your Principal.
A great combination at this time of the year.
Today, I want to stay with this theme by acknowledging and thanking all of our Assistant Principals, and I’d encourage you to do the same. As you settle into the holiday period and start to unwind, take a couple of minutes to send a text, email or pick up the phone and say ‘thanks’.
After all, it’s often our Assistant Principals who are the glue within our schools. They bind the Principal, the entire staff, hundreds of students, their families and the community together. At times, we don’t really know what’s involved in their job, they just make things happen and enable our school to function. For our APs, a daily routine is often anything but a routine. They allow our teachers to teach and our Principal to lead.
When I reflect on my time as a Principal, not only did my AP’s work hard but they made me look good. I can’t explain exactly how they did it, but they provided the stability I needed, and they kept everything moving along at the right pace and in the right direction. I am sure many other Principals will feel the same.
So, AP, whatever your plan is for the school holidays, make sure you take the time to catch up. That’s not to catch up on the endless list of jobs you didn’t cross off last term but rather it’s catching up on the important things in your life. Your school will need you to be firing again at the start of next term so spend the time with your family, your friends and prioritise your health.