Throughout 2018, I’ve spent time in many, many schools in every part of the country. I’ve seen some exceptional, wonderful and remarkable work going on. Jaw-dropping and inspiring stuff. Magic, even.

In the North West, I saw a school where deprivation was no barrier to ambition, even though 75 per cent of its pupils were in receipt of the pupil premium. The school simply exuded ambition and success. Innovative behavioural polices and interventions along with a great curriculum mean disruption is in retreat and learning outcomes are on the up.

In a West Midlands special school, the students had created their own catering company to test their learning and build confidence. The NAHT headteachers’ union held a meeting there and the students provided for all our needs. The delivery was outstanding. The obvious pride the students had in their achievement was only to be matched by the pride their teachers clearly felt for them. 

In London, I saw 2,000 headteachers, mainly NAHT members, protest on the streets of Westminster. They took the time to show up and make their voices heard, standing up for schools and the children they educate. 

There is no bigger or more important job than school leadership.

The task is simple to describe: to create the best conditions within which schools can succeed. In doing so, children will receive the very best education possible. It is not party political, but it is the duty of school leaders to ensure that the machinations of the political system deliver what is needed, whichever party happens to hold the reins.

As we move into what will surely be a tumultuous year ahead, there is plenty of strong and stable leadership to be found in our nation’s schools, even if there seems to be precious little of it on display among our politicians.

That for me is the defining characteristic of 2018. The climate schools work in has never been tougher, yet standards have never been higher. That is testament to calm resolve and determination.

Contrast this with Westminster, where the climate is also just about as tough as it could be, but standards seem to have taken a turn for the worse. While the policymakers fruitlessly bellow at each other about Brexit, their cacophony has all but drowned out the domestic agenda.

This weekend, the chairs of six influential committees of MPs warned that Brexit was sucking the life out of government. The burning injustices that the prime minister spoke of in July 2016 will just have to burn a little longer, it seems.

Setting the pace

In our sector, valuable work on mental health, careers and recruitment, to name but three, have all made slower progress or have narrowed in scope because of the B-word; in health and social care, where we know schools desperately need to see reform and investment, long-term plans have stalled.

That said, the sluggishness of Westminster has presented an opportunity for organisations such as the NAHT to set the pace in certain areas. And that is as it should be. We have done much in recent months to highlight the funding crisis in education and put forward a progressive agenda for school accountability.

The Brexit debate has meant that school leaders have stepped up, spoken up and filled some of the void left by the political class. We will continue this work next year. 

The chairs of the select committees say in their letter that “rather than continuing to drag out the Brexit process for months more, we must bring it to a close if we are to prevent serious damage to our country”.

Now, the NAHT does not hold a position on Brexit, but I am not convinced that “bringing it to a close”, just because it has dragged on for such a long time, is the answer.

‘Honesty is paramount’

We’ve been watching this drama unfold for quite some time, and I’d rather someone came along and wrote a decent final act than just switched off all the lights. In schools and colleges, we are in the business of securing stable futures for the young people we work with. That must be the focus for Westminster now.

In 2018, we have seen what happens when the business of government becomes gridlocked. In 2019, we must see the more constructive side of our political leaders. We need to see as much energy and determination devoted to the domestic agenda as we have seen for Brexit. Above all else, honesty is paramount.

No MP should be happy with policies that mean less real-terms funding available for schools and colleges, or fewer opportunities and more uncertainty for young people.  

Politicians in Belfast, Cardiff and Westminster need to look beyond the traditional, narrow and short-term measures of success provided by one data set or another. Instead, the nation needs them to look long into the future. 

Today’s pupils are the people we’ll be relying on in the future to make a success of, or repair the damage from, the big political decisions that are upon us now.

The one gift they should take for granted from us is a first-class education. Let’s make sure they get it.

Paul Whiteman is general secretary of the NAHT