h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

(I'm struggling with the musical title today - settling for a song title rather than a lyric)

Today I had one of the trickier parts of my job highlighted: there's a question of who I actually work for, whether its the kids or the school. I work at a very small 6th form, right on the borderline of viability, and it's well-regarded in the city (though we're working hard to change that). As a result we struggle to recruit the brightest Year 11 students into the 6th form.

This is where the dilemma kicks in: if a student expresses a preference to go to another school do I support them with that, knowing it's the right thing for the student (but may damage the school) or try to persuade them to stay in our 6th form which is better for the school but may put the student at a disadvantage because we don't offer the range of subjects or have the best facilities. If too many students leave we might be left without enough kids for the 6th form to be able to carry on and (since these days I'm almost entirely 6th form) I'm out of my job and the school takes a big hit in the league tables.

There are some things we can honestly say we do better than almost any other school: our small size means the 6th form team really get to know the students, we do very well on careers and university and we're good on the pastoral side of things but that's generally not enough to sell the school.

In the past it's never really been an issue because there's always been someone senior taking the "looking after the school" position (and I had *fun* cleaning up his mess today) and I've been able to take the principled student-first position with impunity and without thought but now the entire team is entirely student-first and all of a sudden my opinions are starting to matter and I should probably think about it.

I'm still probably going to consider the students first, because that's who I'm doing it all for, and supporting the school is almost always more trouble than its worth, but it is a tricky one.

If it were me ... As much as I feel an obligation and duty to the company that I work for, in this case I would really do what I thought best for the student. It just seems right to me

"and it's *not* well-regarded in the city" - that typo rather changes things

I think thats known as 'walking a tightrope', a delicate balancing act to say the least. I daresay thats added pressure to an already difficult job.

Hmmm. Doesn't Granny Weatherwax hate her sister because her sister's badness meant that Granny had to be the good one. I do get what you are saying about a balance of opinion being needed. Difficult.

Students first. Definitely.