Britain's headteachers' associations on spending cuts, Coalition plans and boycotts
Two heads are better than one, or so the saying goes. Nowhere could that be better put to the test at the moment than in the education world, as both of the country's leading headteacher organisations prepare to start the academic year with a new leader at the helm.
One of the two has not actually been a headteacher himself. Russell Hobby, the 38-year-old general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) raised eyebrows by being headhunted from the world of management consultancy (he was with Hay Group). He is, however, now a leader of heads, and it is not the first time that his union has moved outside of education to finds its chief. His predecessor but one, David Hart, was a lawyer by trade.
The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), though, has gone down a more traditional path, appointing 55-year-old Brian Lightman, headteacher of a 1,400-pupil comprehensive school in Wales and a member of their ruling council for the past two years. It will certainly be a testing time for them both.
They will be in at the start of the schools revolution planned by Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Education, who wants a massive boost to the academies programme. The new academies will be free from local authority control, and heads will be able to run their affairs. Gove also wants to see the opening of Swedish-style "free" schools run by parents, teachers and faith groups. Here, at least, he will have a measure of support from the two new incumbents – even if it is cautiously worded.
"Schools have a very ambivalent attitude towards freedom," says Hobby. "They both want it and fear it at the same time. Our position is that if a school decides it's the right thing to do, then we will support them through it. With freedom, you can choose how you use it. Schools don't have to be isolationist and competitive with it, you can be co-operative and socially responsible towards your neighbours."
Lightman says ruefully: "It has been fascinating to see how the whole education landscape has completely changed since I was appointed to this job – with a new ministerial team and new thinking and a fresh start. We don't have a policy towards any kind of school structure. We represent them all: state secondary schools, independent and colleges. Our advice to members would be to consider all the implications and make an informed decision rather than rush into it." That is why he is unconcerned that Gove appeared to end up with egg on his face after telling Parliament that 1,100 schools had applied for academy status in June, only to reveal the following month that the figure was just 153.
A more gradual build-up would be preferable, Lightman argues. As for "free" schools, he does not see them as an issue as he does not expect more than a dozen proposals for them to come forward. Earlier attempts by John Major's government to encourage parents to run schools met with little response.
It will not all be plain sailing in their dealings with ministers, though. One obvious bone of contention is the national curriculum tests (SATs) in maths and English taken by 600,000 11-year-olds every May. The NAHT joined with the National Union of Teachers in boycotting them this year, as a result of which they had to be cancelled in more than 4,000 primary schools (about 25 per cent of the total).
drive from www.independent.co.uk