Headteacher Manny Botwe says he’s incredibly proud and delighted to be your ASCL President. Here he shares his passion for education and leadership, and his mission to ensure a brighter future for all children and young people.

A brighter future

I am in my tenth year as Headteacher of Tytherington School, a secondary, comprehensive school in Macclesfield, Cheshire. Prior to this, I served as a deputy headteacher in South Oxfordshire. Before teaching I worked for the University of Oxford as a schools outreach officer. The purpose of my role there was to encourage high-flying youngsters from non-traditional university backgrounds to consider applying to Oxbridge. The job took me all over the country and I was fortunate enough to visit some exceptional schools doing fantastic work with challenging cohorts. This inspired me to get into teaching.

My desire to move into leadership stems from an inspirational senior leader who I can remember from my own school days. I was born and raised in Croydon, South London and attended a boys’ comprehensive. Like many of the other boys who attended the school, there was no family history of university.

One of the things I vividly remember about school is the tireless work of Mr Robson who made it his mission to ensure that we all fulfilled our academic potential. I can remember him sitting me down to help me select my A levels, getting on my case to ‘encourage’ me to get involved in the school debating club and talking me through the university selection process. I will always be grateful that he gave up his weekend to drive a minibus down to Oxford because we could not afford the train ticket to visit universities.

I’m sure we can all remember those heroes who sacrificed so much so that we could thrive. These heroic leaders exist in every school. And ASCL exists to support those senior leaders to keep inspiring the next generation.

Opportunity for all

The school I lead is very much a typical comprehensive. We are an 11–18 school with approximately 1,450 students. We serve a semi-rural community, and we have a genuine mix of students. Some students come into school running and skipping, while others find school to be a real challenge and struggle to make it through the school gates in the morning. Our aim is to give every one of those youngsters the very best possible start to life. We may not have the world’s best facilities. We have roofs that leak. Sometimes it gets very cold and, in the summer, many of our classrooms are far too warm. And some of our class sizes may be at times larger than we’d like. But where we feel we do excel is in the range of opportunities we give to our students.

Our strapline is “an ambitious school at the heart of the community”. At Tytherington, we talk about the concept of an A* student. While we want every child to leave school with fantastic grades, it matters more to us that they leave as decent individuals who are articulate, resilient, courageous and curious and have the confidence to stand up for what they believe in.

Our approach to achieving this is to provide a broad and balanced curriculum, which we hope provides everyone with an opportunity to excel in something. A particular focus for us is extra-curricular provision. For example, we run an extensive electives programme on Thursdays that provides students in the lower school with the opportunity to select a course from approximately 40 different options, ranging from photography, comic drawing to gardening.

I am incredibly proud and delighted to be your ASCL President for 2024/25. ASCL is a fantastic organisation that plays a huge role in supporting leaders to run great schools and colleges. As President, I'm incredibly lucky to witness first-hand the expert staff at ASCL who support our membership. Whether it is offering advice on tricky HR matters, supporting curriculum development or guiding us through the ever-changing educational landscape, ASCL is always there to support members.

The President has a distinctive role as the lead representative of the association’s membership at a national level. This involves working with and trying to influence a range of different stakeholders and decision makers, including government.

Building positive relationships

As a serving Headteacher, I understand first hand the pressures that senior leaders are experiencing currently. We all want to see an education system where all children and young people have access to a curriculum provision that is right for them. This can only happen if we address the challenges of inadequate funding, staff shortages, poverty, the unsustainable pressures of the accountability system, and a lack of support for young people experiencing mental health challenges. This is not an exhaustive list. A primary function of my role will be to speak truth to power about the reality of day-to-day leadership in schools and colleges. I am particularly interested in building a positive working relationship with the government so that we are seen as partners. It is only through constructive dialogue that we will achieve the very best for our children.

Despite all these challenges, I still believe that working in a school is the greatest job in the world. The great Archbishop Desmond Tutu said, “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” My presidential theme is ‘ A Brighter Future’, and I am hopeful that the new government will be receptive to working with us to co-construct a new vision for education.

We have to seize this moment to create a fairer education system. A system where it does not matter whether you are born rich or poor. A system where your chances are not defined by where you grew up. A system that embraces difference and guarantees a rich education for everyone.

The new government must work with us – boldly and ambitiously – to create a truly transformative agenda. I look forward to keeping you posted on how we get on throughout this academic year.

A primary function of my role will be to speak truth to power about the reality of day-to-day leadership in schools and colleges. I am particularly interested in building a positive working relationship with the government so that we are seen as partners.

Manny Botwe
ASCL President 2024/25
@MannyBotwe

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