Headteacher Priorities: Leading Through the Final Days of Term into the Summer Break

As a headteacher or school leader, your headteacher priorities in these final days of term are critical; not just to get to the finish line, but to prepare for the summer break and the busy session ahead. The last week before schools finish, for some in Scotland this week or next, is a whirlwind of exhaustion, endless to-do lists, emotional farewells, and last-minute planning.

I know this because I’ve lived this too as a school leader.

The demands on you are incredibly challenging.

You’ve nearly done it.

As a school leader, your priorities become more defined than ever as you’re just days away from the finish line – and it probably feels like you're crawling there, clinging to caffeine, humour, and the hope that no one asks you for one more thing.

The last week of term is a strange kind of chaos.

There’s a weird mix of exhaustion and anticipation – like running a race where the final 100 metres involve lost property clear-outs, end-of-year awards, emotional leavers’ assemblies, and a constant stream of “Can I just…” requests.

I’m writing this as an experienced school leader, who has very much been in those trenches myself, and I want to take a moment to acknowledge everything you’re holding right now.

Because it’s a lot.

The Final Push: What’s Your Priorities During This Final Week

Let’s be honest. These last few days of term are a whirlwind of practical, emotional, and logistical juggling. If you’re a primary teacher, as I was (apologies I can’t share the challenges of secondary schools), you're...

·      Making sure Primary 7 (Year 6) leave with dignity, joy and memories (while holding back tears yourself) - oh yes, you feel the love!

·      Clearing out cupboards, sorting class moves, and trying not to trip over lost property, you're desperate to return to the rightful owners.

·      Supporting staff through their own emotional farewells – especially those leaving your team.

·      Planning transition for new starters from nursery or other schools, even as this year’s pupils wave goodbye.

·      Feeling absolutely, utterly done – but still needing to show up with kindness and clarity.

And somehow, you’re also meant to be forward-planning, reflecting, and delivering thoughtful closing remarks at staff briefings and leaver assemblies that aren’t just “Bye – good luck!”

Leading Through Exhaustion: Burnout Risk

The end-of-year tiredness in school leadership is a unique kind of fatigue.

It’s emotional, physical, and mental.

You’ve been holding space for everyone else: staff, pupils, parents – and now you’re trying to hold yourself up long enough to make it to Thursday without bursting into tears over an empty glue stick.

Headteacher burnout is an increasingly recognised challenge, with leaders often overwhelmed by competing priorities and stretched resources. If you’re interested, this article from Keeping Well, by the NHS Coping with Stress and Burnout offers practical ways to find support and manage the impact of this intense pressure.

Getting Over the Line: Final Days’ Priorities to Focus On

Here are a few reminders to help you just about keep going:

1.  Don’t sprint the last 100 metres. You’re already running on fumes. Now is the time for soft landings, not heroics. Be present, not perfect.

2. Give yourself permission to feel all of it. This week is emotional. Let it be. Say goodbyes. Feel the pride. Let the tears come if they do – let's face it you give so much of yourself to your people, that you will undoubtedly feel the impact of grief as they move on to pastures new, so let the emotions out, and if need be have a cry – you can always shut your office door or pretend you’ve got something in your eye!

3. Prioritise what truly matters. With so many competing tasks, clarifying your headteacher priorities is vital. Focus on what will make the biggest difference to your staff and pupils now — and let the rest wait. Did you hear that? If not, read it again.

4. Let the list go. That beautiful colour-coded plan for strategic development? You’ve spent hours creating this vision, your priorities and trying to bring the vision to life. But the only thing that really matters right now is finishing well, with compassion and calm. Leave strategy to the side for now. It knows its place, and you can always pick up your colour-coded plan later. It won’t be going anywhere.

5. Celebrate the win. You made it. Even if it was messy, delayed, or not how you envisioned it, you led your school through another year.

That’s is (bl**dy) huge! Er, hello!

What Comes Next: Managing the “Not-Quite-Break”

Once the gates close on the last day of term, you’ll feel the shift – the strange quiet. The adrenaline slowly leaves your body, it’s like a weight that lifts… but there’s also a void that opens. You're programmed to be constantly responding to the next curveball, that the void of nothingness can be hard to manage.

I learned not to go away on holiday in the first fortnight of my summer break. My head couldn’t cope with the void, the nothingness, and my brain wouldn’t turn off. I needed time to decompress in advance of going away, otherwise I’d find myself lying poolside, with my school diary in my hand, planning ahead, or reading the latest academic book to go the rounds. I just couldn't rest and relax. And I’m sure you will know what works for you, and if you don’t know yet, then take some time to reflect on how you feel during this fallow time of summer, to see what shows in your body, soul and mind.

But let’s be honest: the summer break is never fully a break.

We’re soon enough having to lift our heads and look forward. There are planning days, sometimes school building works, recruitment, shifting pupil numbers, strategy reviews, and those joyous INSET sessions looming on the first days back, which you need to plan to maximise the time you have when all your team are pupil-free.

But there is also space.

And you get to choose what you do with it, so choose wisely.

Try This Over the Summer:

Truly rest – for at least a part of it.
Set boundaries around your time. Take a week (or more) completely offline. You are a person before you are a leader. If you want some guidance on how to set effective boundaries that protect your energy and well-being, check out The Power of Boundaries.

Reflect, don’t ruminate.
Jot down what went well. What you learned. What you’re proud of. Don’t use the summer to beat yourself up over what didn’t happen – use it to anchor your growth.

Plan with purpose.
When the time comes to think ahead, do it with clarity. What’s the one thing you want to do differently next year – for you, your team, and your pupils?

Start slow.
Those early days back in the new term – InSET, new staff inductions, updated risk assessments – come at you fast. Ease yourself in with intention, know what you’re doing, so you don’t immediately jump onto the crisis response cycle once again.

Reconnect with your why.
Reignite the spark that made you step into leadership in the first place. Your role is about more than systems and strategies – it’s about people, purpose and potential. If you’d like to have me support you through that process, then you want to check out Summer Reset - Leading with Purpose, my brand new, self-led programme for headteachers who want to move forward into the new session, reignited with purpose.

Final Thought

So, my fellow school leaders – if you’re staring at the last day of term like it’s the summit of Everest, I see you.

This work is tough, relentless, and deeply human. And in a few days, you’ll have made it through another extraordinary year.

Be proud.

Be kind to yourself.

Be off-duty for a while.

And when you’re ready, I’ll be here – helping you step into the next chapter of your leadership with clarity, courage and a little bit of calm.

You’ve got this!