How to Sabbatical
How to Sabbatical
Despite being in the principal game for 14 years now, I only completed my first sabbatical in 2019. Like many of my colleagues apparently, I could never find the perfect time to take a sabbatical. There was always one more thing to do before I could justify being away from my school for 10 weeks. I now know this thinking is quite flawed.
Having now had a sabbatical I can, with the benefit of experience, say it has been a brilliant period of time for my mental and physical wellbeing, as well as my professional capacity.
Going on a sabbatical is not as simple as walking out of the office and returning 10 weeks later. Making the most of it is something to consider beforehand, as while it's appreciated and needed, it’s not a huge amount of time. So I share the following not as a prescription of ‘how to sabbatical’ but just of how I did it. If you’re yet to have a sabbatical then I hope it might aid your thinking and planning. If you’re off for your second or third, then I hope this may be of some use to you too.
Handover
“you can be well prepared but never ready”
I read something recently that was quoting Apple CEO, Tim Cook. He was discussing the transition from the leadership of iconic CEO and visionary Steve Jobs to himself. In essence, he was saying Steve was very helpful at preparing him to take over as CEO. It was part of the succession plan and Steve would spend time ensuring Tim knew about the organisation and that he’d worked in a range of departments, with a view to ’knowing’ the company well. Here was the key statement (paraphrased) for me: ‘you can be well prepared but never ready’.
This sums up my thinking well. It was important for me to do what I could to prepare my Acting Principal. However, this also had to be on the transparent understanding that they could never be ready and I could never cover off all potential scenarios. Unless you've been in the role there is no way you can understand just what it entails.
Avoid the goal of a perfect handover with perfect knowledge and aim for a good handover with good enough knowledge.
During the entire term preceding my sabbatical, I had a standing weekly one-hour meeting with the incoming Acting Principal. The purpose was to hit the end of the term with the Acting Principal having a comfortable knowledge of various aspects of principalship. We covered a wide range of topics - a sort of principalship boot camp if you like. Things like SUE reports, redistribution of responsibilities for the term, timelines with Board meetings, composing board reports, working with different trustees, things to report on to the Board, budget (including how to manage the unders and overs), banked staffing, handling complaints and time management.
What you cover off in the handover process is bespoke for your context, the key principle is that you give some time and energy to the handover process.
Support
Although many principals may think they need to be all things to all people and able to handle anything that comes their way, this is not based on reality. Principals are not superhuman and should not attempt or pretend to be. I don’t go about my job without having support networks in place and it would equally be unfair and unreasonable to expect the Acting Principal to do so. I have both formal and informal people I draw on to enable me to better at my job each and every day. I discussed this key practice with the Acting Principal.
In practical terms, I asked a highly experienced colleague who knows our school quite well to make himself available for weekly coaching sessions with the Acting Principal. This enabled the Acting Principal to continue their professional growth in her new role. It gave them someone to share her latest challenge with and an expectation that they would be asked some questions that would help them to work the problem through. It also provided them with a sense of perspective as she moved through the ten weeks. We all know it can be easy to get caught in the weeds of day-to-day life in a school, and therefore this perspective element is important.
The second practical action was to ask a consultant we use for various purposes to be available on an as-required basis for questions surrounding staff performance and culture. This gave the Acting Principal someone to contact who was both familiar with the personalities involved and also the culture and philosophy of the school.
Thirdly I advised the Acting Principal to ensure their partner was involved - that they shared with them their day and the broad outlines of what was going well, what was challenging and what they were learning. I also asked the Acting Principal to plan a midterm weekend so they could disconnect from work as well as another break at the end of the term so they could draw a line under the acting role and refresh themselves mentally for the coming term.
The sabbatical
What your sabbatical looks like will be the sum of what you’re researching, your responsibilities on the home front and the funds you have at your disposal, so this section will simply mention some tips or principles to bear in mind as you scheme, plan and dream.
“Turn off, delete, remove any trace of an application that will connect you to life at your school.”
Turn off, delete, remove any trace of an application that will connect you to life at your school. You can’t disconnect and refresh if there is even a remote chance of connection. Try to go for the whole 10 weeks without social media. If you can’t be trusted, then make sure you’re even further removed from devices that will keep you in the school loop. I set up a temporary email address with our school domain so I could send study-related emails without accessing my regular school email.
It will take some weeks to wind down, and it will feel weird not going to work when the world around you is. That’s ok. Set up your day in a way that suits you - it’s all about you.
How you structure the 10 weeks is completely your choice. It can be tempting to feel as though you need to show something, a product, a finished thing, at the end of your sabbatical. While you do have a responsibility to carry out your agreed research, this does mean slaving over a report that consumes any more than 50% of your time. My main point is that if you are working on your research for more than half of your time, you’re not going to reap the rewards of a sabbatical.
In the weeks and months before going on sabbatical, I met far too many colleagues who have been principals for well over 10 years and who are yet to have their first sabbatical. Many of them suffer from the same affliction I did: PTS or perfect timing syndrome. It goes something like this: I can’t go on sabbatical next year because this project is not quite done, or I can’t go on sabbatical next year because I don’t have the right staff to lead in my absence, or I can’t go on sabbatical next year because there is a Board election. You get the picture. ‘I can’t go on sabbatical next year because [insert your excuse here]’.
Know this: perfect timing doesn't exist. It is a figment of your imagination. My advice is to plan for it now, take on board some of the tips above, and apply for a sabbatical every five years. The only decision you need to make is which term you are taking it.
