Speaking at the Institute of School Business Leadership
(ISBL) conference in Cardiff’s City Hall, the Education
Secretary said:
“Teachers and headteachers need to be able to concentrate
on the roles that they are best equipped to perform,
roles that they trained for, roles that made them want to
become teachers in the first place.
“There are many things that can get in the way of this
and teachers frequently tell me about the pressures they
face due to workload.
“We have listened and that’s why, last year, I announced
funding of £642,000 for the School Business Manager
project.
“Coupled with match-funding from Local Authorities this
means that over £1.2 million is available for pilots in
eleven areas.
“The aim of the project is to help headteachers manage
their workload and focus on raising standards and school
improvement.
“The pilots are currently supporting over 100 schools
with dedicated support for headteachers and
teachers.”
“We are already seeing encouraging results with business
managers freeing up headteachers’ time by working on
areas such as HR, Finance, Audit, Facilities
Management and Procurement issues.”
The Education Secretary added:.”
“Reducing the administrative burden on headteachers is
just one of the measures we’re taking to strengthen the
profession.
“Teachers also tell me about the problems they face
teaching large class sizes. Therefore, over this Assembly
term, we will be making £36m available to reduce infant
class sizes.
“New professional teacher and leadership standards have
also been developed with the profession, for the
profession and a National Academy for Educational
Leadership is being set up to support all leaders in
education at all stages of their careers.
“These measures, coupled with our efforts to reduce
workload, form a key part of our national mission to
raise standards, reduce the attainment gap and deliver an
education system that is a source of national pride and
public confidence.”
