Principal’s Behind The Scenes:
Flexibility and Work-life Balance
Busy mum-of-two Beth Daniel has been a principal since 2010, originally beginning her Drama Kids journey overseas in her hometown of South Africa working in the head office. Although she has always wanted to use her passion for drama to create a positive change in children’s lives, when Beth became a mother, she was nervous she wouldn’t be able to spend the quality time she wanted to with her growing family.
Thanks to the flexibility that the Drama Kids franchise business model offers, she has been able to work around her family – prioritising both her students and her little ones.
Below is how Beth spent Tuesday 18th October:
6:15am – My alarm goes off and I know it’s time for me to help everyone get out of the door on time! I head downstairs to make coffee for me and my husband so we can have five minutes together before the busy day begins.
7am – I tackle the tricky job of getting my son out of bed so he can get ready for school and wake my three-year-old so she can have some breakfast. I’ll go to the kitchen to make the kids some breakfast whilst my husband leaves for work at 7:30.
8am– I make sure the kids and I are out of the door by 8:20 for the school run, dropping my son off at school between 8:40 and 8:50.
9am– I then head home to spend some time with my daughter who is wide awake by now! She’s with me Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays and at nursery for the days when I teach so I love our quality time together. We choose something to do just the two of us like watching Peppa Pig, doing a puzzle or taking our beagle out for a walk.
10am – After some time together I crack on with work whilst my daughter carries on playing. I will get a bit of admin done and check my emails but rather than sitting down to work for the afternoon, on a Tuesday I take my daughter swimming. This is one of the best things about being a principal for me – I don’t feel guilty for taking time out with my daughter thanks to the flexibility running my own academy gives me. I can spend some time with her and know I can catch up with work when it suits me.
11am – My daughter sleeps between 11am and 1pm so I use this time to do as much work as possible, including marketing, academy admin, chasing fees and checking in with my teachers about how their classes have gone so far that morning. I make sure to check on anyone who has been absent so that even when I’m working from home, my academy community feels supported by me. I work for Head Office as a Curriculum Officer, so I also spend some time writing new material and working on the international curriculum.
12am/1pm – On the days when my husband works from home, we eat lunch at 12:30 together. Otherwise, on days like today, I eat my lunch at my desk around 1pm and carry on working until my daughter wakes from her nap.
I find working when my daughter sleeps really useful as I can get a good two or three hours of work done, but this varies depending on how she sleeps. Whenever she does wake, I know I can stop working and be there for her – being a principal allows me to work around my family’s needs.
2pm – When she’s out of bed, I spend some more quality time with my daughter before it’s time to pick up my son from school – these early years are so vital, and I feel lucky I can help her develop as her mum, fitting this around my working schedule.
3pm – I pick my son up from school as he has no after-school clubs on a Tuesday. We are home by 3:45 and I will sit with him to do his homework together before I catch up on jobs like emptying the dishwasher and hanging up the washing, whilst the kids watch a little TV or jump on the trampoline. I tend not to do too much work after 3pm to spend time with my children – I’ll check emails but anything that needs doing in front of the computer I will do during the day.
4pm/5pm – I make dinner early for my son and daughter before rushing off to clubs like judo and swimming, tonight it was swimming.
6pm – When we’re all back I usually get the children in the bath between 6:00 and 7:00. They’re in bed by 7-7:30.
7pm – I will then catch up on my emails in between seeing how my husband’s day has been and looking after my dog, taking him out for a walk if we haven’t taken him during the day.
8pm – My husband and I eat between 8:00 and 9:00 – I don’t eat with the children as I found it quite hard to eat so early. Depending on how much work I have we will both do an hour of work together in the office or we will watch something on Netflix – nothing too intense, just something we can relax with. I have a strategy that if I don’t get through everything on my to-do list, I highlight those tasks and move it on to the next day – something I wouldn’t be able to do in many other jobs!
10pm – I need my sleep so I’m easily tucked up in bed by 10:30 latest.
Weekly regular tasks
I have teachers running most of my classes which allows me to balance my working hours with being there for my family. On Wednesdays and Fridays, when it’s my time to be creative with my group of students, I can concentrate on my teaching duties on days whilst my youngest is in childcare. On days when I’m at home, I know I can prioritise my children. On teaching days, I love to have a cup of tea whilst reviewing the lesson plan provided by Drama Kids before spending a few hours in class with the wonderful kids I teach. I also make sure I catch up with the parents – it’s a really important role for teachers as it builds our community feel even further.
Drama Kids principals have flexibility on how they choose to work and, as many academies are run from the comfort of their home, franchisees can balance running a successful business with spending that all-important time with their family.
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