I have been blessed this year to have been granted study leave to do my Masters of Educational Leadership. What a privilege! I am humbled to have this opportunity with the support of my whanau and school community and a little guilty to be walking away from my school for the year. I spent just over a week at school at the beginning of this month (Jan) prepping my office for the Acting Principal (Deputy Principal stepping up). We also had 3 days working together doing a handover for him to access everything he needs. I am fortunate that I have an amazing leadership team who love our community. I have full faith that they will 'stay the course' of the strategic direction, maintain the community's expectations, and continue to go above and beyond for our students.
We agreed that it's best that I completely step out to ensure continuity of communication and decision-making. This is a big call for me because while I'm not a control freak and I don't micromanage, I'm so used to being the decision-maker that I'm already feeling FOMO. The Acting Principal and I will meet off-site every 3 weeks or so just for a coffee and a catch-up so that he can fill me in on everything and keep me in the loop. I am available 24/7 by phone for him and he is aware of the 'no surprises' rule. I'm also obviously still available by email (out-of-office auto-reply on) and am on all school lists so I get to see what's happening communications-wise. Staff will go to him...I'm out for the year.
So, what will this year mean for me then? While school will always be in the back of my mind, the Masters papers will be at the front. I'm looking forward to the learning and what it will bring to my kete of knowledge and experiences in leadership. It's a little nerve-wracking getting back into the assignments and lectures again, especially at Masters level, but my nerdy self thrives on it, so I'm nervous and excited.
I think the thing I'm most looking forward to is having room in my headspace for me. Having time to focus on just me and my whanau. In the busy world of Principalship, I admit that I struggle with leaving work at work...in fact, ask any principal and it's near impossible to do. Even when you're not at work, you're thinking about it; checking emails, or doing a multitude of tasks that you just didn't quite get to while at school. So I'm excited to be spending time with my whanau being truly present. It's a skill that I intend to develop and practice while on leave. I'm also excited about going overseas for an actual 'holiday'. It will be nice to get cheap airfares and catch up with family overseas. I also intend to read a few books, which I generally do anyway but these are books that I'm hoping will help me better manage my self-care when I do get back behind the desk in 2026. I will be writing more about those books as I read them...just a review because I can.
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