A Day in the Life of a Head of Year

My day as Head of Year begins well before the students arrive. I check my emails, follow up on any pastoral concerns, and prepare for my 8:15 briefing with my Assistant Head of Year and Tutor team.

As the Y11 pastoral team, we’re focused on making sure all of our students are ready for their GCSE exams, each day, which have just begun. They have all worked so hard, to be ready, but we know that some will be feeling the nerves and will need some friendly words of encouragement, while others will still need to be reminded about the importance of having their equipment, revising, and being on time.

By 8:25am, I’m outside with the students for morning line-up. There's nervous energy in the air. I hand out a few spare calculators, offer a quick pep talk, and reassure one student who’s clearly struggling with pre-exam anxiety. “You’ve prepared for this. Trust yourself,” I remind him—and see his shoulders ease a little.

As students head into the exam hall, I walk with them, making sure phones are off and everything's in order. I speak quietly to a group revising right up to the door—“Breathe, you know more than you think.”

Once exams begin, I spend some time visiting the lessons of those Y11s not in an exam, then go off to teach my own Y9 class who will be in the same position in just a couple of short years. Following class, I make my way down to the exam hall to greet my year as they come out of their exams, there is an air of palpable relief, and excitement, in the air as students talk about the experience, their responses and the how they feel they performed.

Pretty soon, after a short break, Y11 head back into lessons or to their next exam and the whole process begins again.

Lunchtimes is busy too, students are either taking this time to wind down form their morning exams, or in many cases are sat in groups going through revision materials in preparation for the next test. It’s amazing to see all this hard work and a privilege to see my colleagues sat alongside students offering support.

By the end of the day, I’ve made several parent calls, reassured more students, and started prepping for tomorrow’s paper. It’s full-on, but seeing Year 11 rise to the challenge reminds me why this job matters.