It arrives every year with clockwork certainty. Like a tide that cannot be held back, the final weeks of the school year surge forward—hectic, relentless, and somehow always catching us off guard. No matter how carefully we plan, how many calendars we colour-code, or how early we begin preparations, the last month in schools is a breathless sprint. Report cards, graduations, performances, parent meetings, staff transitions, and curriculum mapping all converge in a perfect storm of deadlines and expectations.
We nod knowingly, call it “just the way schools are,” and brace ourselves.
But beneath the surface of logistical overwhelm lies something more human, more complex. This isn’t simply a problem of poor planning. It’s a seasonal mirror reflecting the emotional labour of educators—the unacknowledged cost of caring deeply, year after year, child after child.
I’ve come to see this time not as disorganisation, but as emotional compression. We are trying to tie a year of growth into a bow. We are trying to honour each learner’s journey while already imagining who they’ll become next year. We are grieving a little, celebrating a lot, and carrying invisible burdens few ever name.
The late Dr Roland Barth once wrote, “The nature of relationships among the adults within a school has a greater influence on the character and quality of that school… than anything else.”
During these final weeks, those relationships are tested and tender. Patience thins. Frustrations surface. Our capacity to give is stretched just as our reserves run dry. And often, the language we use to explain the chaos—“It’s just that time of year”—masks what is truly at stake: identity, belonging, and the deep moral purpose of teaching.
A metaphor I often return to is that of a stage curtain. As the school year closes, the curtain is falling on one act—but backstage, everyone is rushing to change the set for the next. The audience sees the performance. Only those behind the curtain understand the chaos. And yet, we keep showing up—cue after cue—because we believe the work matters.
In our rush to “wrap things up,” we risk devaluing the heart work that has been happening all year. We turn people into checklists, learning into grading, and farewells into functions. But what if we paused? What if we asked: What do these final weeks reveal about our culture, our priorities, and our assumptions about success?
It’s time we stopped pretending the end of the school year is merely a logistical challenge. It’s a cultural rite of passage—one that deserves care, reflection, and grace. Time to spend together and celebrate.
Let us give one another permission to feel the weight of this moment. Let us allow space for teachers to linger in the hallway with a student they won’t teach again. Let us hold meetings not just for data, but for storytelling. Let us remember that closure is not a task—it’s a transition.
Empathy must lead us. Not only for our students, who sense the shift and need our steadiness, but for ourselves, too. Because to teach is to be fully human. And to end well is not about perfect planning—it’s about finishing with presence, purpose, and heart.
And that, perhaps, is the permission slip we need most.
Discover more from Dr Jake Madden
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
