Carly Chynoweth

Last but not least, the minister: Vernon Coaker MP, Minister of State for Schools and Learners.

Well, technically he is only last in my list of transcriptions; at the event itself he was second-last. I left his speech until the end because there's quite a lot of it, although I suspect it can probably be boiled down to a few main points, viz.: he was delighted to be there; heads and schools have heavy responsibilities for the future and do a great job; the new school report cards that are being piloted and consulted upon (hmm, surely it's actually people being consulted about the cards rather than...aargh. If I start worrying about jargon now I won't finish anything) at the moment will do lots of things that heads and parents want/need; and he's not really keen to talk detail about what will happen if proposed union boycotts of KS2 Sats go ahead.

Ok. So, that summary is what stuck in my head after 40 minutes of talking and questions. Now I'm going to turn to my notebook to see what the written record shows.

Thank you, you're fabulous.

Vernon* started by telling the audience that he was delighted (two "delighted"s and one "privileged" within the first minute) to be there before praising the National College for all its good work. "I wish when I had been aspiring as a school leader myself that somebody like the National College had existed," he said.

He referred back to some of the points that Toby made about leading and educating in a time of change, then did some back-patting by drawing listeners' attention to the poll (mentioned in an earlier post) that found that parents think head teachers are just fab, thank you very much, although not quite as fab as Armed Forces officers.

"That [popularity] does not just happen," he said. "It's because of your ability time after time to inspire pupils, teachers, parents and indeed communities alike. It epitomises what is best about public service." Well done everyone, top marks for both effort and attainment.

Goodbye red tape, hello cash.

We know that heads hate red tape, Vernon said; that's why we've spent the past 12 years taking steps to address the issue. For example, there are growing numbers of school business managers about the place who can take over a lot of non-educational management tasks, leaving heads free to concentrate on school leadership. "Heads are now freer to lead their schools and tackle the big-ticket items rather than box-ticking," he said.

Oh, and he also said that salaries for both teachers and heads have increased considerably, and that standards are being raised across the country (he quoted a bunch of statistics about improvements and grades at this point) thanks to the hard work of schools and heads.

But, despite all this good work, there's no room for complacency - there's still more to do. Let's cut more red tape, give teachers and heads more time to do their jobs. "[And] local authorities and governing bodies still need to do more to reduce these workloads, particularly among primary school heads," he said.

Federate, good times, come on!

(I hope you realised that the previous sub-heading should be sung to the tune of "Celebration"; wouldn't make much sense otherwise, I suspect).

There's a lot of great things being done but still more to do when it comes to federation, extended schools and community leadership generally, he said. "Over time this evolution towards a more outward-looking brand of leadership will give you a far greater say over local services," Vernon said. "You will be leading and inspiring local communities, not just schools."

He spoke about the way in which schools could be - and are being -  catalysts for change within communities. "We will make it easier for schools, heads and governing bodies to take on those wider roles," he added. This means extending the power for them to start new schools or academies.

Behaviour.

"How do we support heads to make sure they're not spending all their time managing poor behaviour? How do we make sure that parents take their own responsibilities in this area seriously?" he asked.

Helpfully answering his own question - after reminding us that there was a lot already being done and that the "overwhelming majority" of schools are doing fine and, look, here are some stats to demonstrate it, but don't let them distract you into thinking that there isn't more to be done, because there is, satisfactory simply isn't good enough when it comes to behaviour - he nominated the new home-school agreement as an important tool in this area.

These agreements will outline parents' rights and responsibilities, he explained; they will be expected to sign them each year and will face sanctions, including parenting orders, if they flout them. There are no plans to pick on parents who try hard but struggle.

School report cards.

"This will provide a single, clear and prioritised set of outlines against which achievement can be measured," he said. "They will make it easier for heads to gauge their own school's performance...parents and teachers will have the report card to measure how well the school is doing." Straightforward online school profiles with the report card information means no more searching for Ofsted reports or comparing data - the answers will all be in one handy place.

The cards will cover not just academic performance but pupils' emotional resilience, parental satisfaction and all sorts of other things. He did go into some of the detail but I drifted a little at this point, so jump on to Google if you want to know more about the ins and outs of just what's proposed. The gist of it is that the minister expects them to be a useful way of helping heads to drive up standards.

More pressure.

Like almost everyone else, Vernon seemed keen to tell head teachers that if the world goes to pot it's their fault.

I mean, he didn't say it in those words, and he didn't show a video of a poor struggling polar bear or a western world grappling with terrorism or anything like that, and he did tend to focus entirely on positives and opportunities rather the possibility of doom, but I am pretty sure that was the subtext.

What he actually said was: "You are the key to our schools, to the future of education. No task is more important than that...The future depends upon the thousands upon thousands of children in all the individual schools in your hands."

See? Pressure.

Next up, the Q&A session.

Frankly, the answers went pretty much along the lines you'd expect, so I am going to paraphrase and condense as much as I can.

Q: Does the government value the education of the whole child, and if so, why does it place so much emphasis on academic achievement?
A: It does value the whole child; that's why it plans to bring in school report cards covering loads of different areas. "Of course academic achievement is absolutely essential, exam results, how well someone does in reading and writing" (he repeated versions of this statement several times to make sure we understood just how seriously he takes academic achievement) ... "but alongside that what the report card is actually doing is if you look at the different categories on the..." (here there is a lot more about report cards, the importance parents place on not sending their children to schools full of bullies, etc).

Q: What's the future of KS2 Sats?
A: They are going to happen in English and maths next year, not sure if in May or June. There will be sample tests in science. The government is consulting about what happens after that.

Q: Does the government's emphasis on federations and creative leadership risk diminishing the role of the head within a school.
A: No, not at all, Vernon said. He also reassured listeners that federation is an option, not something that will be forced on regions; he described it as a tool that could be very valuable and useful but that would only be used where it was both appropriate and wanted.

Q: When will heads' salaries reflect their responsibilities?
A: "I'm not sure I am best placed to talk about salaries at the moment," the minister said, to some laughter. He then spoke about how salaries had already been raised for heads and teachers and said that those who took on extra responsibilities, such as for a federation, could get extra money on top of their regular wage.

Q: ...actually, this was more someone making a point than asking a question. The end result was the minister saying that he couldn't say that the government was going to abolish KS2 Sats.

Q: What will happen if, as seems likely, the NAHT and NUT boycott the KS2 Sats tests next year?
A: The minister didn't really answer the question but did say "we have made it clear that we will have KS2."

Q: That's not an answer. (Technically, that wasn't really a question, but you get the spirit of it).
A: "It is difficult to know exactly what the situation will be. We are obviously discussing things about this. All I can say to you is that our intention is for KS2 to happen. I know that does not answer the question in the way you want me to."

Q&A: About behaviour and special needs. Unfortunately I lost track of the question somewhat, but Vernon responded by promising that the government will legislate to make sure that there are minimum standards around the country for people who are outside mainstream education.

Q: How can we know what Ofsted wants from us when it comes to standards when the goalposts keep moving?
A: This is an issue that gets raised with the minister quite a lot, he said.  "My commitment is that I will speak to Christine Gilbert about that because if schools are making significant progress and achievement is being raised...we need to ensure that that is properly reflected in the Ofsted judgment." Note that he wasn't saying that Ofsted was changing its standards but that he will take a look at the issue in more depth.

Right, I'm done here. Goodnight.

*Using his first name feels odd to me, too, but NAHT publication style is to do this with everyone.