Developing an anti-misogynist culture in your school starts from the top. There must be a commitment from leadership at all levels, and it must be threaded throughout all school practices and policies.
However, women remain under-represented within school leadership (Bergmann et al, 2022). In England, the school leadership characteristics report (DfE, 2022) reveals that at primary level, 85% of primary teachers are female compared with 74% of headteachers.
It makes me wonder whether the reason that we don’t talk about the menopause as much as we should is because senior leadership teams can often be male-dominated.
Traditionally, notions of leadership are connected to perceptions of masculinity – having “strength” or “gravitas”. In reality, being a successful school leader requires someone who is both strong and vulnerable, someone who is driven and compassionate, someone who is commanding and empathetic.
Menopause in schools
Menopause is a significant time for women, usually occurring between the ages of 45 and 55. The menopause is defined as when a woman's periods have stopped for at least 12 consecutive months.
The first step to take as a school leader is to understand what the menopause might involve for a colleague – and it is not just hot flushes!
A report from the Fawcett Society reminds us that that 84% of women describe the lack of sleep and 73% the brain fog that can come with the menopause as being difficult – this compared to 70% who said this about the hot flushes or night sweats; 69% say they experience difficulties with anxiety or depression due to menopause (Bazeley et al, 2022).
The report is cited in a recent Headteacher Update article written by employment law expert Kelly Rayner (2023). In this piece – which is well worth a read, as indeed is the Fawcett Society report – we are also reminded that 8 in 10 women experiencing menopausal symptoms are in work and that 44% of women said their ability to work had been affected by the menopause, while 1 in 10 have left work due to menopause symptoms.
The National Education Union reminds us that the menopause is “an occupational health issue for women educators, as well as also being an equality issue” (NEU, 2025). Symptoms can include:
- Hot flushes or night sweats
- Heavy or light periods
- Headaches/brain fog
- Insomnia
- Urogenital issues
- Loss of confidence
- Low mood
- Poor or reduced concentration
- Anxiety and panic attacks
- Joint pain and muscular aches
However, despite the clear impact these symptoms might have on someone’s working life, sadly, the menopause is rarely mentioned in many workplaces, particularly when the leaders are male.
Women should be able to work in a supportive and understanding environment with reasonable adjustments made when going through menopause. The NEU offers a range of resources, including checklists for school leaders, posters to raise awareness, and a model school policy (see further information).
Practical issues
There are a number of practical questions that we can consider immediately. Drawing on the NEU’s advice, these include:
- Do you have a menopause policy and are all staff aware of it, especially line managers? Again, templates can be found via the NEU and The Key among others.
- Is the staff team “menopause-aware”? This will avoid female members of staff having to raise it as an individual issue.
- How do you ensure adequate ventilation in classrooms and staffrooms? Do staff have access to temperature control for classrooms?
- Other simple provisions can include leaving doors open, ensuring that windows can be safely opened, access to fans, and fitting blinds to windows.
- What systems are in place for cover if a staff member needs to go to the bathroom or get a cold drink mid-lesson? Indeed, is there ready access to cold drinking water?
- Ensure you have sanitary products available in toilets – you could have a basket of a variety of different products in your women’s toilets
- What systems are in place to ensure swift permission for absence to attend menopause-related medical appointments?
The NEU advises leaders to support requests for flexibility, such as undertaking non-contact time at home or requests to reduce hours or change hours temporarily. Remember, offering cover in the short term is better than having to hire new staff members in the long term
Its advice for leaders adds: “Give control to individual teachers and support staff over their immediate working environment – a clear message will empower staff and reduce requests to the leadership team.”
A positive culture
Your approach and your written menopause policy must create a culture in school which is positive. For example, supporting staff members experiencing difficulties helps to improve the wellbeing of staff, retains great and experienced teachers, reduces recruitment costs, and works towards gender equality. These are key messages.
Other advice for school leaders includes:
- Get to know your staff: Have regular catch-ups so you build trust and are in touch with how they are feeling and what they are experiencing.
- As the NEU advises above, give control to female staff over their immediate working environment – this is empowering
- Research and encourage access to support services locally. Many local authorities run menopause working groups for local government employees – make your whole staff team aware of this and offer cover if there were women who would like to attend the support meetings.
- Understand that every woman’s experience of the menopause is different. Build a supportive culture at work by having an open-door policy. Ensure a private conversation can take place if needs-be and make sure you follow-up and review any actions or agreed adjustments
Final thoughts
Having a menopause policy helps to develop gender equality in schools (and beyond) as it addresses the specific health needs of women going through menopause, which can impact work, potentially leading to unequal treatment and career progression disadvantages.
- Sarah Wordlaw is a headteacher working in an inner-city south London primary school. She is the author of Time To Shake Up The Primary Curriculum (Bloomsbury). Find her previous contributions to Headteacher Update via www.headteacher-update.com/authors/sarah-wordlaw
Further information & resources
- Bazeley, Marren & Shepherd: Menopause and the Workplace, Fawcett Society, 2022: Click here
- Bergmann, Alban Conto & Brossard: Increasing Women’s Representation in School Leadership: A promising path towards improving learning, UNICEF Office of Research, 2022.
- DfE: School Leadership in England 2010 to 2020: Characteristics and trends, 2022: www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-leadership-in-england-2010-to-2020-characteristics-and-trends
- NEU: Working through the menopause: Resources including template policy and school leader checklists (accessed March 2025): https://neu.org.uk/advice/equality/sex-and-gender-equality/working-through-menopause
- Rayner: School staffing: It’s time to take the menopause seriously, Headteacher Update, 2023: www.headteacher-update.com/content/best-practice/school-staffing-it-s-time-to-take-the-menopause-seriously