The Head of Year’s Handbook

Over the past year alongside my role as a head of year and starting out on my doctorate in education. I have been writing a book titled ‘The Head of Year’s Handbook: driving student well-being & engagement‘.

The Head of Year’s Handbook has been written as a companion to one of the most rewarding yet challenging roles within a school. It looks in depth at what a head of year does on a day-to-day basis, the challenges they face, and provides strategies and ideas to improve student outcomes and improve their own leadership ability.

The book is suitable for those just starting out as a head of year or those who have been in the role for a number of years and need some inspiration or up-to-date strategies. It takes into account current issues facing your students, and often society as a whole, including cyberbullying, resilience and mental health, dealing with major traumatic events, while also helping you to build your leadership and management skills. Most importantly, the book focuses on student well-being and engagement, the head of years’ own work-life balance, and the need to celebrate achievement.

Writing the book has provided me with numerous opportunities to reflect upon my practice and improve what I do for my students and the hope is that it will have the same impact on other heads of year and their students.

You can order The Head of Year’s Handbook in the following places:
Directly from the publisher (click here)
Waterstones (click here)
Amazon (click here)
WHSmiths (click here)

Praise for The Head of Year’s Handbook

The Head of Year’s Handbook is a must read for anyone who is a Head of Year, and anyone thinking of moving into that role.

It is full of practical advice for many of the situations that Head of Years may face. It is written by someone who has been there and done that, the real world grounding and applicability is evident in every chapter. Michael Power also draws on theory to help us understand why we do what we do and helps us frame different approaches to the Head of Year role.

The Head of Year role is one that is difficult to prepare for as a classroom teacher, but this book will help the reader be both prepared and effective.

– Professor James Holt, University of Chester –