Mike Welsh, Vice President, NAHT
We would like to thank the Secretary of State for giving his time amongst a very busy schedule of events, to come here and talk with us – one of the world’s leading school leader associations.
We would also like to thank the series of Governments, particularly since 2000, for their investment in our education service.
We expect that he and any successors will want to ensure that the 46% of those resources that actually makes its way into schools will be retained as absolutely essential expenditure in any coming public sector financial restraint.
We hear of your desire to reduce the central diktat of command and control over every school and classroom. The ACSL Bill – possibly the last major piece of educational legislation in this parliament - provides clear evidence that this aspiration remains totally ineffective in practice.
Secretary of State, we ask that you recognise that we have won the educational argument on KS2 Assessment and the replacing of this by sharing with parents validated teacher assessment, and national sampling, as the way forward.
We are willing to work with you to achieve this, but please do not test our resolve on this issue.
Finally, we also ask that you now begin to focus on the word, Trust. School leaders have led the way with their staff teams in raising standards. SAT’s/possible ‘son’ of SATs/ the ACSL Bill/ more structural change/ and further quangos, are getting in the way of developing the creative thinking skills this country needs.
We request you accept this on behalf of all our children, and trust us with their futures.
Thank you, Ed Balls, Secretary of State, for joining us today.
