Leadership Story: Elin Wakeham
Headteacher of Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Bryn y Môr
Who or what inspired you to be a leader in Wales?
Throughout my career I have always been interested in the impact inspirational and effective leadership has on schools. Having worked in a range of schools, for close to 30 years, I have seen the difference inspirational leadership can have on an organisation. Although I never consciously had a career pathway or plan, my curiosity into learning about leadership and the role led me to engage with different opportunities. My first formal interest in understanding leadership began as part of the thesis for my MBA in 2004. The focus of my research was on the professional offer for head teachers and the impact of leadership in schools. Another opportunity was to be part of the curriculum design project as a pioneer school from 2015. This gave me far reaching insight into large scale strategic change in the education system. Being part of this journey really inspired me to want to become a leader and to see these innovative changes shape the course of education. During this process, I heard many professors, and leading experts speak, and these people have influenced and shaped my values and attitudes towards forming leadership choices that make a difference.
What do you actively do to inspire and support the next generation of leaders?
Using my knowledge and understanding of leadership I have actively tried to develop the staff around me by providing opportunities. In school staff are given opportunities to lead and take responsibility to engage in local and national projects. For example, members of my senior leadership team and middle leadership team have been part of the national leadership offers. Leaders are allowed to be innovative and lead significant change within the school. I have also worked with cluster staff to develop and create roles and responsibilities as system leaders as part of our curriculum design journey.
As a leader, how do you model prioritising your own well-being as an example to staff?
I took up my very first role as Headteacher in a new school and new local authority in January 2020. Within a few months we were in the middle of the global covid pandemic. Leading the school through such an unprecedented time, on top of large-scale changes that included the curriculum, and the Additional Learning Needs (ALN) code tested my resilience greatly. I have had to take responsibility for my own well-being to ensure that during challenging times, I have the strategies in place to keep me healthy. I look after my own well-being by walking or using my cross-trainer to work off stress. Time management has been incredibly important. I try to use my time at work as effectively as possible so that I work sensible hours, and this allows me to connect with my friends and family. I also encourage the staff around me to do the same – for example at work, all staff use the scheduled send email function to ensure staff are not interrupted at home by emails and I always set a start and end time for meetings. I encourage teamwork so that staff support each other; to socialise and use the staff room and we try to have a social coffee morning once a month. Humour is an important part of building relationships.
What book/professional learning opportunity/piece of research have you recently utilised to inform your leadership practice?
When I started my role as headteacher, my partner gave me his copy of Steve Coveys’ “The 7 habits of Highly Effective People”. It had a significant impact on the way I approached things and the way I thought – a big mind shift. I still have examples of highly effective paradigm statements on the wall in my office – with the aim of continuously striving for improvement. I also listened to the Major Marcus Heslop podcast on the National Academy for Educational Leadership’s website. This was also very thought provoking and again made me re-think what it was to be a leader. Recently, I have found Dr Alma Harris’s research into system leadership fascinating.
What has been a career highlight for you during your time as a leader in Wales?
I feel very proud of the work I have done as part of the implementation of the Curriculum for Wales within my own school. This was recognised with a case study following a recent ESTYN inspection in January 2024. Other career highlights have been the leadership progression I have made throughout the years and the various roles and responsibilities I have held. Recently, this includes a secondment to work for the local authority and the opportunity to be part of the National Academy for Educational Leadership.
How have you connected and collaborated with peers beyond your own organisation to have an impact on the wider system?
As part of the launch of the curriculum I travelled across Wales to connect and present to many different stakeholders. I have continued this as part of my work as a headteacher with the cluster. The work that we have done as a cluster, from ensuring that there are common goals to ensuring that staff have an excellent understanding of learning and progression is embedding co-construction as part of curriculum design. This has ensured that schools within the cluster have high standards, similar expectations and that collaboration ensures equality for the pupils of the cluster schools. As of September 2024, my role as part of the School Improvement Advisors team has opened up those opportunities to work across clusters and across Wales.