The NAHT has welcomed a report which aims to drive up teaching quality but questions whether re-labelling so-called ‘coasting’ schools is the way to achieve it.
Commenting on the report by The Royal Society of Arts, Russell Hobby, general secretary of the NAHT, said rising expectations mean the benchmark of what constitutes an ‘average’ school inevitably changes. Fiddling with labels can therefore be a distraction from encouraging all schools to perform better across the board.
Mr Hobby said: “We certainly agree that the quality of teaching is at the heart of school improvement and that we need to help schools focus on this. It is the only thing that really matters in the end. We do have to question whether a 20 per cent pay cut will help attract the best into the profession.
“We welcome the recognition that support must accompany challenge: the goal is to improve schools not to critique them for criticism's sake. Context is not an excuse, but where extra work is required it must be recognised.
“Let's not waste any time playing with labels - the goal posts change all the time and the inspection process is inconsistent - let's just help every school on its journey to being great."
