The Head of Year’’s Handbook: Driving Student Well-Being and Engagement

The Head of Year's Handbook is the 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 you will face, and provides strategies and ideas to improve student outcomes and improve your 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 text focuses on student well-being and engagement, your own work-life balance, and the need to celebrate achievement.

Originally qualified as a youth worker, Michael managed youth work provision across multiple youth centres for a local authority. Since qualifying as a teacher he has worked in a small rural school in North Wales, a large Church of England school in Cheshire and an Academy converter in Greater Manchester that was in special measures. Throughout this time he experienced a wealth of issues in the role of head of year alongside engaging in his own original research for a masters degree in educational practice. This collaboration between academic research and lived experience across a variety of settings positions him as an ideal author for this book.