What is the number one issue affecting education that all political parties should agree on? Is it curriculum, funding, accountability or something else? And why? Here, ASCL members share their views.

New dimension?

Too many accountability reforms

One of the most topical issues engaging debate amongst leadership teams during the first two terms of this academic year has been the ever-changing landscape of external accountability.

This period has seen a ‘knee-jerk’ amendment to the way in which GCSE early entries are incorporated into performance measures and, as I write this, I am just wading through the most recent update to the subsidiary guidance published by Ofsted – an update that comes only four months after its previous version was launched. Effective external accountability will be an essential part of any successful education system.

A shared consensus of what makes for effective external accountability and more importantly, the measures that underpin it would go a long way to guard against the angst that many school leaders are feeling in trying to plan for and incorporate such reforms.
Gareth Burton
Deputy Headteacher, Cheltenham Bournside School & Sixth Form Centre, Gloucestershire

Education shouldn’t be party-politically-driven

That we are asking what political parties should all agree on identifies the current problem with education!

Any successful education system is (and should be) high-stakes; we are talking about the life-chances of future generations. The problem is that it has become party-politicallydriven and reactive, subject to the vagaries and whims of politicians with short-term goals.

The recent decision to change accountability measures because of concerns about a minority of schools’ early entry practices and the subsequent back-tracking on the history curriculum are emblematic of an act-now-think-later, high-handed and esoteric approach that is destructive and also a scandalous waste of time, resources and opportunities.

If we could all agree that changes that will impact on the life-chances of young people are underpinned by an unfaltering commitment to social justice and that decision-makers operate outside the control of politicians we might have an education system we can be proud of.
Patsy Weighill
Headteacher, Bilton School, Warwickshire

Education needs a clear purpose

The key issue affecting education at the moment is that there is no clear, nationally agreed, purpose to it!

Every week there seems to be another call in the media for something extra to be put into the school curriculum: computer programming, personal finance, cookery, swimming, enterprise, reciting poetry, Latin, history dates, capital cities, more religious knowledge, citizenship, healthy eating, increased fitness levels, road safety, vocational learning, apprenticeships, foreign languages, the arts... the list goes on.

The government speaks of wanting schools to “focus on those core skills that employers really want, because that is what is going to help our children get jobs when they leave school”.

Then, in the next breath, Michael Gove calls for primary pupils to be able to recite poetry. I’ve nothing against poetry! However, very few employers ask for it to be recited as part of their interview process.

The government should make it clear what education is for, or, alternatively, stop criticising us when we make curriculum choices to best meet the needs of the children in our own schools.
Ben Warren
Headteacher, Summerhill School, West Midlands

Government must stop interfering

I am concerned that government interference is hindering schools from dealing with the most disruptive students in an appropriate manner. Our school’s reputation is good and in the past we have not tolerated poor behaviour.

We are very proactive and have strategies in place for dealing with students who choose to misbehave. There comes a point sometimes where a school hits a brick wall and cannot help a child.

Some of these students go on to seriously disrupt the learning of others and cause staff a lot of unnecessary stress. A number of these students become totally out of control but we are now penalised if we try to exclude them temporarily or permanently from our school community for the benefit of others.

I feel that in some cases health and safety are being compromised by keeping these students in school. Other students perceive that they are getting away with their behaviour and the culture then spreads to others.

The government is asking the impossible when they expect us to keep some of these students in mainstream education. It is extremely difficult to get students into alternative provision and the quality of the alternative provision is often very poor.
(Name supplied)
Business Manager, North west of England

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