Jonathan Pitt 'a Day in the Life of a Housemaster'

I recently wrote a piece for the pastoral priorities website www.pastoralpriorities.co.uk  on 'a day in the life of a Housemaster'.

I wanted to give people an idea of the time constraints seen by a Housemaster but also for people to see just how much we put the pupils at the centre of our work. 24 hours a day, our major focus is on the pupils in our House, whether that is getting the milk order into the fridge, handing out medication or dealing with a sensitive issue.

'Our major focus is on the pupils in the House'

The day may change, some days run smoothly and everything goes like clockwork but there are other days when an issue comes from nowhere and you need to respond quickly. Any delay, in a pupils' mind, can seem huge. I have recently had boys that have found 'lumps' on areas of their body. When they disclose this information, you can be confident that it is nothing to worry about, the doctor can try to calm them down but the delay between finding the lump and getting the final all clear from the doctor can seem like generations have past. The boarding House can  seem like an intense place at times and it is hugely important for pupils to know that you have their best interests at heart. Finidng the time to talk to a boy when he wants to talk is priceless.

The timings below are the concrete timings that I can list. The timings that do not fit into this are probably the most crucial ones in the day. The moments that you sneak in there for a quick chat. The positive praise for a boy that you have only been nagging about late preps. The sit down meeting in a place where the boys feels comfortable to talk. Boys are not always great talkers and the old B.T. adverts are correct it is indeed 'good to talk'.

If you have any questions about the general timings of a day for a Housemaster or any of the jobs (maybe you think I am spending a lot of inefficient time) please get in touch and add your comments in the section below.

I have tried to summarise a basic outline of a day for me as a Housemaster. The extras: emails, pupils concerns, parental phone calls etc will also be in there but, obviously, these cannot fit into perfectly into a timetable and so an element of flexibility is needed.

6.00 Alarm goes off and I make a coffee for me and my wife. I let the dogs out and get showered and changed for work.

7.00 I go into the boys side of the boarding house to open up the doors, bring in the milk and change the screen to show the day’s activities. Several of the boys take my dogs for a walk as part of their DofE and they will meet me at this time.

7.30 The boys start to come into the house or come downstairs from their rooms or dorms. They register with me in matron’s office. Some will sit with me watching the breakfast news as they wait for their friends to go to breakfast with.

8.00 Matron arrives, she takes over registration and organises the day diary, updates the medical details and the off games list.

8.20 All boys must be registered by this time.

8.35 House assembly or tutor time. Once a week the whole House gets together for a full House assembly and this is a crucial time to share any issues and praise pupils within the House.

9.00 – 10.45 Morning lessons. I have a teaching allocation of 16 lessons each week.

10.45 – 11.05 Morning break. This is spent either in the staffroom for a coffee and chat or in the boarding house to catch up with the matrons and a few pupils.

11.05 – 12.50 – lessons. If there are any free periods within this time. I will catch up on email admin and get some marking done.

12.50 – 14.00 – Lunch. This is spent in meetings three time in the week but otherwise I will try to be in and about the boarding house. This means that I can assist the matrons in supervising the boys around house and speaking to as many of the day boys as I can (several of these boys will arrive at 8.20 and leave at 16.00 and so any time I can catch up with them is hugely valuable pastorally).

14.00 – 15.45 – lessons.

16.00 – 18.00 – After school activities. This usually revolves around rugby for me. I have one hour training on Mondays and 2 hours on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Matches are then on Saturdays.

18.00 – Check in with matron. I get an update on anything that has happened in the day and also speak to any boys that are around. I will then try to get into my house so that I can see my children before they go to bed. I will try to get my children into bed and help my wife but usually this time is taken up with a pastoral or discipline meeting that I have with a pupil or parent about something that has happened during the day.

18.50 – The duty tutor arrives and I double up with them to start prep. This means that the boys get sorted quicker, get into good habits and means the duty tutor can focus upon getting the boys signed up to prep whilst I do a quick circuit of the House.

19.00-21.00 – This is time I spend in private side. I will have an evening meal with my wife and do some work in my office. This time is usually interrupted by the bell going off two or three times during which will be about a boy with an issue as diverse as needing paper for the printer to a much more serious pastoral issue.

21.00 At this point matron will leave. Although all information will have been written in the day book and I will have been emailed throughout the day, it is still good to speak to matron to go over any issues that have arisen over the course of the evening.

21.00 – 22.10 I sit in matron’s office at this point or go to speak to any boys where I feel a pastoral chat would have a benefit. This is the time where informal issues can be solved. The boys will usually be in the House in one of the social rooms and are well used to me or the duty tutor popping in and speaking to them.

22.10 – The duty tutor will have put the 3^rd Form and 4^th Form to bed and collected in phones and computers. The tutor then leaves the House and the final bed times are then supervised by me.

22.45 – All pupils will be in their beds with lights out. I will check 6^th Formers are in their rooms with no audible noise.

23.00 I will usually sit in matron’s office at this point doing work and emails. This also allows me to check that the House is calm and quiet. There are certain evenings in a boys’ House where the boys will take time to settle and several trips to certain corridors may be needed before the boys are properly in bed and asleep. Sleep is crucial and it would be naïve to just believe that they are all in bed and asleep just because we have switched off the lights.

00.30    This is probably my average bed time. From 23.30 I will move into my office in the private side and do marking and lesson planning for the Geography teaching part of the job.

Additional Information:

·       The Assistant Houseparent does 2 evenings per week and there may be an opportunity to leave the campus on these evenings.

·       On Saturdays, activities fill the mornings and Rugby Fixtures will usually end by 18.00 when the duty night then begins.

·       1 weekend in 4 has the Saturday evenings and Sundays covered by the Assistant Houseparent and on these occasions I try to do things with my family.