Facing The First Day Fiascos

Fresh from a couple of weeks in the USA, Sam Finch was feeling refreshed and positive about the year ahead. The first day back and everything looked like smooth sailing – until…

Day 1 – September 2024

All is calm. Staff have returned refreshed and then the phone rings – a school has no Wi-Fi, SIMS isn’t working – they can’t take registers, no software will load, students are arriving, new staff have no laptops and there is no IT technician available.

Immediately I can feel the stress levels around me rising.  First thoughts how do I overcome that and keep the situation calm and the school running?

The first step is to collaborate with the school’s SLT to develop a plan to address the staffing shortage.  The joys of being a CFOO means access to a wide range of external stakeholders who I have built relationships with over several years.  I can outsource IT support quickly and an IT professional will be joining us as an interim measure.

A New Calling?

Next thoughts…. with no technician present, what else is there to do than become one yourself? My CFOO hat is lifted and replaced with an IT one (this should be fun) and before you know it, I am handing out laptops to new staff, updating the asset register, looking for projector bulbs, researching why digital signage won’t switch on, exchanging laptop leads and looking for batteries (apprentice IT Tech could be my future calling)!

The call then comes that the catering tills are also down, so a call to our account manager and suddenly, I am the proud owner of a super user login for the software, being talked through how to get us up and running.

The stream of year 7s is due and my amazing central team are by my side offering to help take fingerprints along with school staff.  Teamwork truly is making the dream work and students have no idea of the chaos that has just ensued.

Back to the IT office I go and next call – the signing in system isn’t syncing and no students have pulled through!  Call to outsourced IT provider and the company and they are straight onto it for us.

Putting On the Cape

Why am I pointing all of this out?

The above were just some of the real-life issues encountered on day one, however the moral of what I am trying to highlight is the importance of maintaining positive relations with both our schools and their staff and, of course, with our external stakeholders.

I have worked hard to always ensure that our external stakeholders feel part of our extended team.   This led to day one of term remaining positive as opposed to the stressful situation I could have found myself in without these networks to lean on and rely on.  My key takeaways from the above were effective communication, showing appreciation, not being afraid to ask for help and working collaboratively. My new saying is there is a superhero inside all of us, we just need the courage to put on the cape!