David Melding AM: Cabinet Secretary, I've served as a school
governor since 1992, and I've always been privileged to work with
the most outstanding senior management teams. I do notice in the
independent review that has given you advice on how these powers
may be used that the way headteachers are employed could
change radically, so that they're employed on a regional and
national basis. Now, I...Request free
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AM: Cabinet Secretary, I've served
as a school governor since 1992, and I've always been
privileged to work with the most outstanding senior
management teams. I do notice in the independent review
that has given you advice on how these powers may be used
that the way headteachers are employed could
change radically, so that they're employed on a regional
and national basis. Now, I wonder how that might work
out. Is the idea behind that to bring up the schools that
are achieving at a standard that we think needs to
improve, to bring them up to the best, and that you might
be putting in new senior management teams to really get
them moving?
AM (Cabinet Secretary
for Education): Well, first
of all, can I thank David for his own personal commitment
to the national mission by serving as a governor? As I
said to , there are some
really innovative suggestions in the report authored by
Professor Mick Waters and others. What we do
know is that good leadership is key to a successful
institution, and he has interesting things to say about
how we can deploy our very best leaders in the system to
raise standards. Of course, in other countries,
high-performing education countries, the human resource
management of the teaching workforce is dictated from the
centre and, indeed, not just headteachers but individual
teachers are assigned schools to work in by the
Government. Now, of course, I wouldn't want to set all
the hares running this afternoon by suggesting that
that's where we're heading, but there are some
interesting proposals in Mick Waters's work. Of
course, we will be looking to respond to those formally,
and any response that we make as a Government will be in
collaboration with the sector itself, including both the
National Association of Head Teachers, which I will
be meeting on Friday, as well
as the Association of School and College
Leaders and other people with an
interest in this area.
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