I know you're working during the school holidays...
So let me help you to cut down on the amount of work you THINK have to do by just reading this blog and spending half an hour planning.
After my “Eat the Elephant” post a week or so ago. I thought I’d follow up with a bit of help prioritising your workload. Here are some questions to help you to save as much of the holidays for enjoyment as possible, rather than fretting over the pile of work you think you really have to do
AbhiSuryawanshi, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
As a soft lead in to full subscriptions starting in September, paid subscribers get access to a worksheet to help them plan effectively.
Step One Consider your position within the organisation
How much clout do you have? If the answer is not much. You’re gonna have to find those big girl/boy pants and start raising the profile of your careers department (Even if it’s currently a department of one!) Not an easy task for many of us but one that is essential. YOU are your school expert on careers and you should be advising SLT and Governors on what is expected, necessary and required.
It’s been proven umpteen times that without SLT & Governor buy in you’re on a hiding to nothing, so pull on those pants and get thinking about who can support you. The CEC have a useful guide for education leaders here
Make a list of the support you have, both internal and external, Groups, colleagues, Online sources etc.
Think about the changes in the Gatsby Benchmarks
Don’t sit and fret about all of the changes. Pick 3 to focus on this year. Don’t make that three of the biggest issues, choose one big issue and 2 smaller ones. If you’re not sure what they are, go back to my recent blogs that outline the major changes. It’s important to have a couple of smaller tasks as completing these, or at least making progress on them, will give you and your school tangible progress to celebrate
Choose 3 things you want to change about the way you work with staff/Stakeholders
This may be buying in or delivering some CPD for all staff, building your network of employers or auditing where careers is already being delivered in the curriculum, or indeed something totally different. Again, no more than one big issue and 2 smaller ones.
Now choose 3 things you want to change about the way you work with pupils/parents
Yep you guessed it one big and 2 smaller. I’ll be doing a lot of blogging and providing resources for supporting parents over the next year so maybe one of those things might be to buy a paid subscription…
To make it easier for you to see your thinking, I’ve put together a short worksheet to help you filter your thoughts, use it to scribble on and visualise your planning.
Download your copy of the planning sheets
Next Step pin your action plan somewhere where you can see it
Don’t put it in a drawer or a folder. Put it where you can see it when you’re working. Don’t stick it on the fridge at home, that will just make you feel guilty every time you pour yourself a drink, or feed the kids.
Decide how much time you’re going to give to work over the holidays
and stick to it. Make a realistic commitment, be that 2 hours or a 40 hour week. Then give yourself permission to enjoy the rest of the time relaxing, you’ve earned it.
An important thing to remember is…
If it’s not all done by September, the world won’t end BUT how good will you feel if you’ve made progress. Whether you’ve devoted your set amount of time or less, you’ll still have made progress. Well done.