In every school: a well-led and highly-skilled workforce
The quality of a school system cannot exceed the quality of its workforce. We will continue to invest heavily in seeking to recruit the most capable graduates as teachers, to provide initial training of the highest quality and professional development throughout a teacher’s career. We will continue to support the development of support staff – expecting them to achieve level 3 qualifications – and the diversification of the workforce, with an even wider range of professionals taking their place in the school workforce, as schools become ever more closely linked to wider children’s services. We will support school leaders to take on leadership of partnerships, federations and broader service delivery, and governors to play their role effectively.
In particular, we will:
invest in the selection and training of the best graduates as teachers: continuing to market the benefits of the profession, trialling a new tool for selecting teachers for their inter-personal as well as their academic skills, improving routes into employment-based training, and trialling accelerated training;
transform the culture of professional development in teaching through the development of the Masters in Teaching and Learning, with the expectation that in time, all teachers will achieve a practice-based Masters qualification;
introduce a renewable licence to teach, so that all teachers need to keep their practice up to date in order to renew their licence, and continue to develop professionally, alongside a new entitlement to continuous professional development;
look to establish new and stronger expectations for the development of support staff, and consider through the new Support Staff Negotiating Body how their increased professionalism should most appropriately be reflected in their pay and conditions;
ensure new leadership roles are formally recognised, defined and equitably rewarded and that leaders receive appropriate development to take on these roles;
bring an ever wider range of skilled professionals into the workforce, in order to ensure that all barriers to learning can be addressed and there can be early intervention in problems; and
strengthen the system of school governance, improving governor training and enshrine in law the fundamental powers and duties of governing bodies.
6.1 The ability of the school system to support every child and young person to achieve success depends most of all on the school workforce. Over recent years there has been a steady increase in the quality of the teaching workforce (Ofsted says that we have the best generation of teachers we have ever had) and in the quality of their initial training. At the same time, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of other professionals and support staff working in schools, carrying out key tasks to improve outcomes, while teachers focus on their own central role – teaching. And there have been significant improvements in the training and support of school leaders, through the National College for School Leadership.
6.2 Continuing reform and support for the workforce in each of these areas is vital if we are to achieve the ambitions for children and young people set out in this White Paper. Our priorities are:
Developing school leaders to take on wider leadership roles – leading partnerships, federations and groups of schools, and taking responsibility for wider services;
Continuing to improve recruitment, selection and initial training of teachers, while transforming the culture of continuing professional development (CPD) for teachers;
Broadening further the range of other professionals and support staff working in schools, while improving training; and
Supporting governors to carry out their responsibilities of holding school leaders to account effectively, especially where a school is taking on wider responsibilities. We consider each area in turn.
Leaders – every school needs effective leadership
6.3 There have already been significant changes in leadership and management roles and the responsibilities of those working in schools: head teachers have enthusiastically led significant cross-boundary leadership activity, connecting at a strategic level with governors, other services, the wider community and local and national agencies. This has provided a range of opportunities and challenges for other senior and middlelevel leaders in schools. School leadership is now more distributed with schools being led by a team, not just individuals, and leadership teams now look very different than in the past, not least because many of the people bring a range of skills and experience that complement those of the teachers in these teams. The latest Ofsted report ‘Outstanding Schools’ says one reason schools become outstanding is through having outstanding and well-distributed leadership. According to Ofsted (2008) [22] the quality of school leadership is the best it has ever been and improving.
6.4 Achieving the aims of this White Paper will require school leadership to develop further. Already, school leadership roles have broadened to include a wider range of activities, as most schools have begun to offer a large number of extended services. As schools take on more responsibility for early intervention and for multi-agency teams, school leaders’ roles will grow further. Alongside this, head teachers and other senior staff in schools are increasingly taking the lead in a range of local partnerships, with other schools and other services. We want to support heads in all of these roles.
6.5 At the same time, large numbers of heads have taken on ‘system leadership’ roles, involving wider responsibilities beyond their own school. These roles include working as School Improvement Partners and Local or National Leaders of Education – in various ways supporting other schools to improve. And we have seen an increasing number of Executive Heads, who directly lead two or more schools in a federation or other partnership arrangement.
6.6 Executive Headships can work in a range of ways. In some cases, a single head teacher runs two or more schools in quite a handson way – this is often easier where the schools are smaller and close together. In others, the Executive Head is very hands-on in turning around a weak school, while spending less time at another school, where a head of school is appointed to report to the Executive Head and manage the school day-to-day. At the other extreme, perhaps where there are several schools in a federation, the Executive Head appoints heads of school who manage each school day-to-day, while reporting to the Executive Head, who devotes some time to each school, while remaining accountable for all of them. All of these models have shown their worth in different circumstances.
6.7 Whichever model is being used, the best heads should be encouraged to become system leaders and spread their expertise more widely across the education and local children’s services system and should be properly rewarded for doing so. We will ensure that the roles of consultant leader and Executive Head are reflected in the School Teachers Pay and Conditions Document. In the short term we accept the STRB recommendation that a premium of 5–20 per cent should operate for heads taking on additional responsibilities on a temporary basis where the current scale does not fully recognise the circumstances. This is not sufficient incentive for heads taking on permanent responsibility in similar circumstances, and accordingly we are not accepting the proposed limit in such cases. The short term changes will take effect from September 2009 to be followed by a more wide-ranging review to clearly establish where responsibility and accountability should most appropriately lie in these models. We will also legislate to ensure that the full range of models can be appropriately recognised and rewarded.
6.8 Recognising and supporting these roles will open up new career pathways and progression routes for the best aspirant and serving heads; and make available new opportunities and challenges for other senior and middle leaders in schools (including those not from a teaching background) for example, through the increased use of School Business Managers and School Business Directors.
The impact of new leadership roles
The impact of National Leaders of Education
During the 2007/08 academic year, primary schools that received support increased their Key Stage 2 results (including English and mathematics) by 7.1 per cent – over four times the national rate of improvement (1.5 per cent).
During the same year, secondary schools that received support increased their GCSE A* to C (including English and math) grades by 3.5 per cent, compared to 1.3 per cent nationally for all schools.
Seven out of the ten schools in Special Measures that have been supported by a National Leader have come out of Special Measures.
Source: National Leaders of Education deployment records NCSL; Primary school (Key Stage 2 %L4+ in both English & mathematics) achievement and attainment tables 2008 DCSF;GCSE and Equivalent Results in England, 2007/08 (% 5+ A*-C grades including English and mathematics) DCSF.
The impact of the London Leadership Strategy (2003-2007):
Secondary schools (2003-2008) being supported by a Local Leader of Education increased their 5 or more A* to C GCSE grades by 19.5 per cent. This compares with 12.4 per cent nationally for all schools;
Primary schools (2006-2008) being supported by a Local Leader of Education improved their Level 4+ scores in English and mathematics by 13.2 per cent, compared with 2.5 per cent nationally.
Source: London Leadership Strategy deployment records NCSL; Primary school (Key Stage 2 %L4+ in both English & mathematics) achievement and attainment tables 2008, DCSF; GCSE and Equivalent Results in England, 2007/08 (% 5+ A*-C grades) DCSF.
Executive Heads
Early studies exploring the impact of executive headships show a range of positive impacts including:
improved management structures;
improved behaviour and attendance;
the development of a ‘can do’ culture; and
in primary schools, removal of schools from special measures and serious weakness.
Source: Professor Ron Glatter and Dr J A Harvey, 2007.
6.9 We will continue to invest significantly in the recruitment, development and deployment of school leaders, for example through: the investment of £30m over three years in NCSL’s succession planning strategy; ensuring rigour and quality through the refocused mandatory National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH); and asking the NCSL to make sure school leaders have the capacity and capability to engage with other services as part of the emerging systems of local Children’s Trusts.
Teachers – making teaching world-class
6.10 Since the 1998 Teachers Green Paper we have made great strides in driving up the status, reputation and quality of the teaching profession in England. The supply and calibre of trainees has improved and 41,000 additional teachers have been recruited since 1997. We have always known that ‘the quality of the system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers’ and so we are determined to continue to improve the quality and consistency of classroom practice.
6.11 Teachers change lives. Society recognises what an important job teachers do and how valued they are. This is probably why teaching is now seen as the number one career choice for this year’s graduates. As well as attracting and supporting high quality new teachers we want to make sure that the most experienced teachers are encouraged to stay in the profession and excellence is properly incentivised, recognised and rewarded.
6.12 During the last ten years the value of teaching has been recognised with a range of incentives and improved pay and conditions. These include financial incentives for training such as postgraduate bursaries and ‘golden hellos’ to attract teachers with shortage specialist subject knowledge and increases in pay to make teaching competitive with other graduate careers. We are also offering financial and professional incentives to teachers to encourage them to work (and remain) in the most challenging schools, including a £10,000 ‘golden handcuff’ for three years’ service.
6.13 The quality and diversity of teacher training provision has improved with a range of training routes in place to attract the best quality people into the profession, including career changers and those with specialist skills and knowledge. We will continue to work with the TDA to develop innovative routes into teaching, with a particular focus on shortage subjects, including mathematics, physics and chemistry, for both graduates and those seeking to switch career.
6.14 We will continue to raise the quality of new recruits through a range of means, such as expanding the successful Teach First programme, making it easier for careerchangers to train (for example, through the Transition to Teaching programme) and encouraging trained teachers who have left teaching, but want to return, to be supported to do so.
6.15 The National Workforce Agreement on Raising Standards and Tackling Workload (2003) introduced a series of significant changes to teachers’ conditions of service designed to free teachers to teach and to raise outcomes for pupils, alongside the remodeling of the school workforce. We will continue to work with our Social Partners to monitor workload. Highly-skilled teachers are recognised and used to develop others through roles such as Advanced Skills Teachers and Excellent Teachers.
6.16 Working with our Social Partners, TDA and NCSL, we will ensure the current suite of occupational and professional standards continue to reflect and meet the demands of the 21st century school. These standards set the context for teachers’ induction and performance management arrangements, helping them to identify their continuing professional development.
6.17 But our intention now is to transform the culture of professional development in teaching. We want teaching to become a Masters-level profession, with supported training and development continuing through the early years of teaching, as every teacher gets the opportunity to gain a new practice-based Masters qualification. The first new teachers will enrol for the Masters in Teaching and Learning in January 2010.
6.18 Our aim is to ensure that as highly-valued professionals, teachers have the right to access effective professional development throughout their career. We have invested in improving the school workforce’s skills in special educational needs. We expect teachers to continuously reflect on their own performance and be committed to improving their practice through appropriate professional development, keeping their skills and knowledge up-to-date.
Case study: Teach First
Marian Catterall, Head teacher, North Manchester High School for Girls
“We were very pleased when the Teach First programme came to Manchester having read of its success in London. We were extremely fortunate to have four placements in the first year and again in year 2.
Our Teach Firsters have been some of the most committed, enthusiastic, positive, caring and supportive young staff it has ever been my privilege to work with.
These young people have fully embraced the challenges of an inner city school and they arrive with their ‘eyes wide open’ to the nature of the problems and difficulties they will be facing. They have risen to the challenge with ease, good grace and humour. Without exception, they have established excellent working relationships with both teachers and students. Their creativity and enterprise has brought rich rewards for both the students and the school. They have been a force for renewal, forward thinking and they given us confidence for the future of the teaching profession.”
6.19 Ofsted’s 2006 report on CPD, The Logical Chain showed that the most effective CPD takes place in schools. Here, teachers can work collaboratively, supported by coaches, continuously learning from each other by watching each other’s lessons and reflecting on the effectiveness of practice.
6.20 But teachers can also learn from other schools, again from observing other effective teachers. We have asked TDA and NCSL to work together to consider how the current resources supporting Training Schools, Teaching Schools and Leadership Development Schools could be best used to support and develop a more comprehensive and sustainable network of quality-assured cluster-based professional development provision, which takes advantage of links to existing providers of top-quality teacher training. Our ambition is that these CPD clusters will not only support teachers, but also provide access to sources of high-quality professional development for the whole children’s workforce in schools.
6.21 We want to ensure that all teachers are keeping their skills up-to-date. That is why, alongside our continued work with our Social Partners on a CPD entitlement for all teachers, we will introduce a renewable ‘licence to teach’, similar to other high-status professions, including doctors and solicitors. This will mean every teacher will be expected to renew their licence to teach periodically. In order to do so, they will need to demonstrate that they have up-to-date skills and learning to be effective in the classroom.
6.22 Our intention is to begin to roll out the new arrangements for qualified teachers and head teachers teaching in maintained schools, non-maintained special schools and short stay schools (formerly pupil referral units) from September 2010. We want to build on the best elements of the existing registration arrangements but place more emphasis on a teacher’s recent record of professional practice and professional development. For this reason we will make provisions for the General Teaching Council for England to take this forward.
6.23 As we roll out we also want to focus particularly on strengthening the quality of those returning to teaching after some time away from the classroom and supply teachers. Both these groups can face significant challenges and we want to make a better offer of professional development to these teachers, to ensure they get the opportunity to update their skills and build confidence so that they are able to give their best. We envisage beginning roll out with newly qualified teachers and returners to teaching from September 2010, with supply teachers as soon as is practicable thereafter.
6.24 We envisage a ‘licence to teach’ being valid for five years, at the end of which the licence holder would have to undergo a process of revalidation, building on the performance management arrangements and including other feedback. We will develop detailed proposals and consult widely with the profession on these arrangements.
The wider school and children’s workforce – ensuring effective development and deployment
6.25 The wider school workforce has expanded significantly in the last ten years, and the improvements to children’s lives over this period could not have been achieved without them. Over a million people work in schools or other educational settings, of which 441,000 (FTE) are teachers and 338,000 (FTE) are support staff, with the wider children and young people’s workforce totalling around 2.7m. The 2003 National Agreement introduced new roles and has improved teachers’ morale and job satisfaction by helping to free them up to focus on what they do best – teaching and learning. Support staff have also played an important role in building links with parents and the wider community and schools recognise the contribution that a broader mix of staff can make to meeting the five ECM outcomes, this in turn supporting learning.
6.26 While there are many examples of effective practice and positive impact, we need to go further to ensure the wider workforce can deliver this vision. Our ambition is that all staff within a school are both trained and supported in their current role and are given the opportunity to develop their skills and progress in their careers. It is essential that schools make effective use of support staff to improve standards.
6.27 We will need an increasingly professional group of staff supporting teachers to deliver high-quality personalised learning both within and outside the classroom. This will include teams working within the school to address pupils’ wider needs, and stronger links with wider children’s services to support the school at the heart of the community. This includes going further in ensuring staff working with children with special educational needs and disabilities are able to improve the progress and outcomes of these children. In the long term this will mean a more highly-skilled and effectivelydeployed support staff. Of course heads will continue to be best placed to make decisions about who they recruit into their schools and what those staff do.
6.28 The Children’s Plan outlined the Government’s ambition for everyone in the children’s workforce to be qualified to Level 3 where appropriate, and the evidence from world-class education systems suggests that having better qualified staff can make a greater impact on pupils in the classroom. So in the 21st century school all staff working to support pupils’ learning will have, or will be working towards, a Level 3 qualification.
6.29 The wider workforce will also play a broader role beyond the classroom when some pupils need more specialist support. Trained staff such as Learning Mentors and Parent Support Advisers will be at the forefront of a co‑ordinated system of early intervention, linked to other professionals including, for example, social services, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), and Speech and Language Therapy, that enable them to meet the needs of every child and young person. And School Business Managers and Extended Schools Co‑ordinators will continue to enable schools to be at the heart of their community, making best use of resources and ensuring value for money.
6.30 There are a number of models for delivering this. Services may co-locate with schools, or schools may sub-commission or directly employ additional staff. For the range of skilled professionals working in or for schools it will be essential that decisions are made about clear lines of accountability and that arrangements are made for any necessary training and development .These decisions are best made locally, as part of schools’ role within the Children’s Trust. But whether schools employ, commission or refer to specialist services, what matters is that pupils have access to the services they need quickly and are supported through the process.
6.31 Many schools have made excellent use of the skills and talents of their staff. In the best examples, schools have taken a strategic view and recruited individuals with the skills to match specific local needs, and have improved pupils’ experience and attainment as a result. Nevertheless, there is still some work to do to ensure that everyone in the wider school workforce is effectively deployed. The introduction of Higher Level Teaching Assistants (HLTAs) has allowed schools to recognise and reward the contribution of more senior support staff. HLTAs are also able to specialise in areas of the curriculum, so it is important that schools make use of them and deploy them effectively to improve standards. Similarly, we need to encourage schools to make sure that teachers have time to manage and plan with all other adults in the classroom.
6.32 In order to drive up the quality and status of the whole school workforce we will:
a. work with a range of partners and stakeholders to develop and set out clear principles and guidance for the recruitment and deployment of the wider workforce in the 21st century school system, building on the principles of remodelling to develop a single workforce and to ensure value for money;
b. ask the TDA to work with all our partners to draw up a strategy for the professional development of the children’s workforce in schools to be published shortly; and ask Social Partners to consider how a formal performance review process, underpinned by the National Occupational Standards, can be introduced for the wider workforce working with, and building on, the TDA’s National Occupational Standards for teaching and Learning;
c. ensure work is undertaken to bring together the training and development of teachers with other professionals working in schools; and
d. create a more diverse support staff which may include more young people working as apprentices following a variety of children’s workforce apprenticeship frameworks, including both supporting teaching and learning and other support roles such as administration, technicians and facilities management.
6.33 Working with a range of partners and stakeholders we will also look to establish new and stronger expectations for the development of support staff. The new School Support Staff Negotiating Body (subject to Parliamentary approval) has been given a remit to negotiate and reach agreement on matters relating to the pay and conditions of support staff, and to submit those agreements to the Secretary of State. We shall look to the Body to develop a pay and conditions framework that contributes to the effective deployment of a school support staff workforce to help realise the vision of the 21st century school.
6.34 The quality of teaching and learning and ensuring every lesson is a good lesson is critical. To support this we will lead a debate on world-class pedagogy and take this forward in discussion with Social Partners; asking TDA to enhance the evidence/ research base; and seeking input from the next NCSL Fellowship Commission23 to further inform the findings.
6.35 This debate will need to take account of the sound principles and progress of remodelling, the bedrock of professional standards and performance management, and the available evidence about ‘what works’ to identify and implement the next necessary steps.
Governance – a strengthened model
6.36 Good governance is a vital part of the functioning of any successful organisation. Good governance in public organisations is important not only to challenge and support the leadership of the organisation to improve, but also to ensure that taxpayers get good value for money and that public money is used properly.
6.37 School governors are therefore an extremely important part of our education system. It is not their role to manage schools, but in holding to account the school’s leadership for the performance of the school, they play a vital role in raising the performance of schools. They deserve our thanks as well as our support for all that they do in their own time, to support the achievement and success of children and young people.
6.38 We want to strengthen the hand of school governors in challenging performance and in promoting new developments and partnerships to improve the achievement and wellbeing of children and young people. We will therefore enshrine in law governing bodies’ fundamental duties to children, young people and the wider community. We will make clear that governing bodies have duties:
a. first, to ensure the education, development and wider wellbeing of the children on their school’s roll;
b. second, to promote the education, development and wider wellbeing of all children in their area; and
c. third, to support the needs of the wider local community.
6.39 Currently the majority of governing bodies carry out their duties at a satisfactory level or better (as judged by Ofsted inspections), but many have vacancies which increase the burden on the serving governors. We believe that more highly-skilled governing bodies, alongside improved governor training, will set the pace for more effective governance in schools and will be a force for raising standards and for increased accountability. We also want all governing bodies to be supported by a trained clerk to advise and guide them on the exercise of their functions.
6.40 A Working Group has been carrying out a review of school governance, which includes an examination of the responsibilities of governing bodies. We believe the time is right to seek to simplify and streamline the regulations around governance. Governing bodies should carry out skills audits of their membership to identify any skills gaps and target recruitment to ensure that those gaps are filled. And, to support more effective working, we want there to be greater flexibility in the composition of governing bodies. To this end, we will relax the existing rules in this area.
6.41 We will encourage all governing bodies to foster links with business, to recruit governors from those businesses and other educational partners such as colleges, universities and independent schools, and to form long-term sustainable relationships with those organisations through establishing Trusts.
6.42 We will continue to support the School Governors’ One-Stop Shop (SGOSS) which has been particularly successful in working with schools, local authorities and businesses to recruit governor candidates from the business world and place them in governing bodies. SGOSS has also been particularly successful in recruiting governor candidates from under-represented groups and we will promote their services to schools to further improve the take-up in this area. We will also work with the Government Equalities Office on the best way to use training as a way of improving the skills of school governors, as well as how to tackle the low up-take of these roles from under-represented groups, to increase diversity on governing bodies.
6.43 Further, we will expect all chairs of governing bodies to undergo specific training for this role. The initial training which local authorities provide for governors will focus on the central task of providing effective challenge and support, holding to account, making effective use of data and information to manage performance, ensuring value for money and the wider role in overseeing more than one school and extensive co-located services.
6.44 To support this, we will make sure that we provide data and information on school performance in ways that can readily be understood and used by governors. Making RAISEonline accessible to Governors was an important first step in this direction, and we are looking into whether we can incorporate further data on pupils performing below age-related expectations and on the early years so that governors have access to a full set of data from reception class to age 16 to help them track children’s progress. Better governor training will ensure that all Governors have been introduced to this material and its potential. We will also expect SIPs to provide information and advice to the governing body about the performance of the school, especially where there are concerns, and we will ensure that SIPs are able to report on school progress to governing bodies in these circumstances.
6.45 Additionally, governors of underperforming schools can ask for an expert external assessment of their school by inviting Ofsted to inspect the school. They might wish to do so when, for example, a report from their SIP expresses concern about certain aspects of performance or after a new head has implemented a set of reforms and the governors are looking for reassurance.
6.46 In order to drive performance in their own school and also work to deliver outcomes for the wider community, governing bodies need to be open to the possibilities and rewards of partnership, executive headship and federation, becoming a Trust partner or an Academy sponsor. There will be many situations when it will be appropriate for governing bodies to review whether they should be moving into such formal relationships with other schools or partners, depending on local circumstances.
6.47 Currently, the structures of schools mean that it can be quite complicated and timeconsuming to enter into a partnership, and can require some bureaucracy to achieve this. Governing bodies, because their current powers apply to the running of their school, have to set up a separate body/entity if they want to propose a new school, develop Accredited Schools Groups, or advise or sponsor an Academy. We propose to remove this potential barrier by extending the powers of strong school governing bodies to enable them to more easily provide support and spread good practice.
6.48 A particular time when all governing bodies should consider such arrangements is before beginning the process of recruiting a new head teacher, and we will set out in secondary legislation that all governing bodies must consider federation and/or shared/executive leadership at that point. This will then be for individual governing bodies to consider in the light of local circumstances and needs, to secure the best outcomes for children.
Taking these proposals forward
The reforms in this White Paper are vital to ensuring every child and young person gets the best start in life. This is the shared ambition of parents, teachers, head teachers and all those who work with children and this Government. These proposals will build on the foundations of the progress made over the last 12 years, to create a world-leading system of schooling which reflects the needs of the 21st century – responding to the challenges of a changing global economy, a changing society, rapid technological innovation and a changing planet. They will ensure that every school develops and extends the potential and talents of every child and young person to give them the broad skills they need for the future, so that every child can enjoy growing up and achieve high standards. And fundamentally, they will create a system which progressively breaks the link between deprivation, disadvantage, disability and low educational attainment. Over the coming months, we will continue to work with schools, local authorities, the full range of services for children and families, the Social Partners and our stakeholders to develop the detail of these reforms. We will consult widely, both through existing channels, and through a range of forums in the autumn to get the input of all professionals in the system as well as children, young people and parents themselves. And we will set out the detail of how each of the proposals will be taken forward so that everyone in the system – children, parents, teachers and other members of the children’s workorce, head teachers and governors, local authorities and Government – is clear how they will play their part in developing the best school system in the world. Schools are central to our Children’s Plan vision to make this the best place in the world to grow up. They exist to give a great start in life for every child, not just for some. That is why teachers join the profession, why school leaders take on their challenges every day, and why we are taking the radical and ambitious steps set out in this White Paper.
Footnotes:
[22] The Annual Report of Her Majesty’s Chief inspector of Education. Children’s Services and Skills, Ofsted (2008)
