It is difficult for primary schools in England to appoint headteachers: a third of them do not find a suitable candidate when they advertise.
As a pretty happy school headteacher in London, I came back to work and found 400+ emails in my inbox and what looks like a hundred letters, circulars, brochures etc.
The flyer for a course I had booked myself on says, at the bottom: "you may wish to bring a suitcase so you can take the materials home at the end".
And there are problems with our building work - running late. (Why are builders always so optimistic? Does it make them happier people in general?)
I get a stream of furious emails and a take a tricky call, which never quite becomes a bollocking, on my mobile.
Did anyone turn up to see how I was managing it all...to see the extent of the problems...to say anything to the staff who came in during the holiday with me to phone every parent, send letters out to them all, etc?
You can read about the problems of recruiting headteachers in England here
(Now, to be fair, I did get a little bit of e-support, admittedly rather late on in all this, and from someone high-up but who has no background in teaching. Perhaps this sink-or-sink attitude is a teacher/education problem?)
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