This practical handbook offers a month-by-month guide to the curriculum, assessment, progress, and leadership over the school year. It gives the academic year a structure that helps school leaders prioritise their time and workload, and their team's.
Considering the statutory and key leadership activities from admissions, induction, transitions, and parents’ evenings to coursework, timetabling, assessment, staff performance, and much more, the book provides a clear plan of action to ensure school leaders have prepared their work at the optimal time over the year. Each chapter features tried-and-tested strategies to help schools put robust systems and processes in place alongside guidance on sustaining pace, developing resilience, and exam preparation and technique.
It includes practical tips on improving progress and real-world examples from leaders working in primary and secondary schools.
Who it is for
Primary and secondary school leaders who want to plan the year's leadership work in advance; the publisher's page quotes a review that recommends it to new and aspiring leaders, including headteachers. The book follows the calendar in three parts, one per term:
- Part 1, Autumn Term: Sowing Seeds (September to December)
- Part 2, Spring Term: Nurturing Growth (January to April)
- Part 3, Summer Term: Reaping the Harvest (May to August)
About the book
- Author: Michael Harpham, described by the publisher as director of School Leader Development Ltd, a leadership coach, trainer and former headteacher.
- Full title: The School Leader's Year: Month-by-Month Progress, Every Lesson, Every Day.
- Publisher: Routledge. First edition, copyright 2022, 240 pages, ISBN 9780367654931; also available as an ebook.
Source: Routledge, checked 13 October 2026.