Dear Ms Morgan,

I have a governors’ meeting coming up , and I wanted to produce a report on the recent White Paper for them to discuss.

I have looked at the White Paper in some detail and have some questions to ask. Firstly, may I provide you with some context. I am headteacher of a high-performing, large primary school in a socially deprived area. We consistently produce high data scores, and progress, as you would expect, is also at a very high level. Our last two Ofsted reports have labelled us outstanding.

We pride ourselves on being fully inclusive, and meet the needs of our special educational needs and disability children. We provide a diverse curriculum aimed, we believe, at the needs of our children. We are oversubscribed and have a good governing body made up almost entirely of parents.

Therefore, I have some questions.

• In the White Paper, you talk about a “shared vision” for this country’s education. I wonder who you have shared this with? I can’t remember these plans being in the Conservative manifesto. Is it just dogma?
• Your colleague Nick Gibb, the schools minister, has stated that academies are “simply better for pupil, parents and teachers”. Could you please share the evidence base for this?
• It is repeatedly stated that “excellence is at the heart of this paper”. What are you going to say to those who already achieve excellence?
• The White Paper does say that those who achieve great outcomes will be encouraged to expand their reach. What if schools in this position do not want to be encouraged? It actually requires enormous effort to get to this point, and any additional work may affect detrimentally the excellent schools. 
• I was also interested to read that there will be a greater proportion of graduates in teaching, and yet academy headteachers can continue to employ teachers regardless of whether they have achieved accreditation. I do need some clarification for this, please. Given that you want us all to become academies, it doesn’t seem to make sense.
• With respect to the deployment of 1,500 teachers and middle leaders into the most challenging areas by 2020, I ask: where are they all going to come from? I am sure you have been informed that there is a little recruitment crisis at the moment.
• With respect to access to quality CPD, am I right in thinking that this will be delivered by out-of-work local authority employees?
• It would also seem that multi-academy trusts are the way forward. Will there be any curb on the salaries of the CEOs of these MATs? If not, are we facing another fat-cat fiasco at the expense of the children in our system?
• With respect to governance of schools: will you please send someone to visit all the schools to explain to parent governors, and parents in general, that they are not as important as they once were?
• Lastly, can anyone help me to understand where the capacity will be found to enable all schools to become academies by 2022? Will it be the out-of-work local authority employees again?

You have insisted that there will be no U-turn. As you have stated, “I want to be clear that there will be no pulling back from that vision. There is no reverse gear when it comes to education reforms.”

Well, as a very experienced headteacher, I offer two observations. Firstly, I cannot see this as a vision for our education system. And, secondly, start practising your reversing skills.

Yours sincerely,

Colin Harris

Colin Harris is headteacher of Warren Park Primary School in Havant, Hampshire

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