The Scottish education system is a complex and confusing place. Many teachers spend years in blissful ignorance of all the various players who have an influence over what happens in their classroom. This is, they think, stuff that only senior leaders need to be aware of.

But I believe that everyone benefits from knowing the system and their place in it. Trying to figure it all out can be especially difficult for those new to the profession and fitting the pieces of the jigsaw together takes a little time. That’s exactly what I try to do every year for all our school newbies - not just probationers and student teachers (although they do need an overview in order to reach the Standard for Full Registration). Sometimes I accidentally miss bits out and I’m relatively sure that I never manage to complete the whole picture, but I do try to provide a good introduction for those getting to grips with the profession.

So, here it is: my guide to what’s what in Scottish education - beginning, of course, with you at the centre.

Leading roles

After that, no matter whether we like it or not, things start to get a bit hierarchical. You have a line manager - often nowadays a faculty principal teacher (FPT) but possibly a subject principal teacher. I explain that the latter may soon be a relic of past times but, having been one myself, it’s a relic I’m quite fond of. Loving my subject and being in charge of developing that love in pupils, working with staff similarly besotted by geography and figuring out new and innovative ways to enthuse young people was a fantastic start to my promoted career.

FPTs are very useful in terms of ensuring consistent behaviour of pupils and completing admin tasks across departments, but I can’t help thinking we’re missing a trick with the lack of a layer of management underneath responsible for curriculum development in individual subjects. Am I being anachronistic? I also lament the reduced career-progression opportunities lost through removal of subject PTs but - not wanting to start on too negative a note for those at the beginning of that careers - I gloss over this and keep open their hope for the future.

Next in line are the school deputes and then the headteacher - but back-up is important, so I talk about the janitorial and office staff. It may be a cliché, but these really are the folk who run the school. Be very nice to them, because on cold days janitors are the only people who can locate a heater, while admin staff are the ones to step in and save you if you’ve forgotten to do your photocopying five minutes before S5 arrive.

Crucial assistance also comes from the pupil support department with its guidance teachers, ASN (additional support needs) teachers, pupil support assistants and children’s services workers (not to mention back up from social work, disability specialists and youth action teams). Treat them with the same respect you would kings and queens of yore and make sure it’s your classroom where they feel safe and wanted and it is you for whom they will volunteer their services to come and help.

Moving outwards, the importance of the local authority cannot be underestimated - and not solely because it supplies the pay cheque every month. Even with recent cutbacks there should still be some council staff left who have the potential to make things easier for you when the going gets tough. There will, perhaps, be an area education officer to help take the heat when difficult situations arise; quality improvement officers (QIOs) and strategic managers interpreting policy for the benefit of teachers and pupils; ASN officers who may be able to help with the work going on in the classroom and, above them all, a director of education who may be hands-off or hands-on but will, to a certain extent, determine how national policy is implemented at school level.

The final players influencing action at a local level are wild cards in the guise of parents and councillors. Both can be incredibly useful but come with their own agendas, be they short-term electioneering or specific thoughts on additional support needs or the apparent academic capabilities of their own children - which don’t always match the reality.

Regardless, treat parents and councillors well: they can be powerful allies in putting forward the needs of the school.

On to the next level and we hit a bit of a PR problem. For the past couple of years, when I have mentioned the RICs (regional improvement collaboratives) to our newbies, I have invariably been greeted with blank faces. Considering the importance attached to them by the Scottish government and, increasingly, the potential they seem to have for driving forward improvement in education, I am surprised more is not being made of them in university teaching. I leave things with a brief overview, describing what the RICs are doing and how it will affect them - while also explaining that the Northern Alliance is not actually a villainous empire from Star Wars but a RIC covering a huge expanse of Scottish mainland and islands. RICs have the potential to provide resources and guidance to improve practice in the classroom, and I also explain that, at the very least, they may well provide career-development opportunities for staff in the future if they develop the pathways that have been promised (for practitioners at many different stages in their careers) in recent statements from the Scottish government.

Above the RICs, we come to the real big hitters in Education Scotland, advising the Scottish government and interpreting the policy decision, keeping an eye on the quality of learning and teaching through Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (HMIe - why the small “e”, I am always asked) and providing training in leadership through the recent incorporation of the Scottish College for Educational Leadership. Whether all these different facets of education should be held within the one body is a source of debate but, for the moment, that is where they lie.

In ultimate control, of course, is the Scottish government and, to give him his full title, the deputy first minister and cabinet secretary for education and skills, John Swinney. Having defined education as one of the key measures of their success as a government, the importance of having one of the SNP’s foremost politicians as the driving force behind educational reform should not be underestimated.

Supporting actors

So, most of the main players are now displayed, but we’re still only on the right hand side of my increasingly complicated A2 diagram. There are many more on the periphery who deserve an honourable mention.

Can I really say the General Teaching Council of Scotland (GTCS) is a peripheral player? Probably not. The probationers I am talking to are only too aware of the influence the organisation holds over their future as they aspire to the Standard for Full Registration. Once this is accomplished, it is doubtful many practitioners will think of the GTCS too often - except in April, when the membership fee is deducted from their pay and the times when its magazine pops through their door. Later on in their careers, it may be that reference to the standards will become important again - on a positive note when they are looking for a promoted post and need to look at the requirements for educational leadership and management (but let’s hope not on a more negative one if their performance is being analysed against the job requirements in front of a fitness-to-teach panel).

I tell all staff, new and old, to ensure that they are members of a union, and I have had a number join up straight after my chat, taking advantage of the lovely offers available during the first years in the job. I outline what’s available: the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS); Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association (SSTA); the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) and Voice. I make no recommendations except to say that membership of one could be invaluable, especially if staff are ever faced with any kind of allegation or disciplinary issue.

Finally (almost), the universities and teacher training institutions are worth a mention, despite still being very fresh and clear in the minds of my audience. Then there’s the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA). This can take the form of a brief overview of our qualifications system or a long-winded rant about lack of accountability and workload for teachers resulting from continual changes to exam systems, etc.

I should also, of course, mention the specialist education media, or what’s left of it. The increasing dominance of unsolicited opinions on social media and the bias and lack of critical analysis inherent in the broadsheet newspapers means the good folk at Tes Scotland need to be praised and highlighted for continuing to provide independent news of all the good things happening in Scottish education.

And there we have it. This isn’t an Oscar speech, but my apologies to anyone I have missed out. As with most things in education, there is always room for some improvement.

At the end of all this, staff are left with a complicated diagram of the people and organisations that will affect them as they go through what will hopefully be a long and happy career. In these complex times, it is important they know they are not, and never will be, alone - that they form a vital part in a huge system, with the single aim of improving the lives of our children and young people.

John Rutter is headteacher at Inverness High School

This article originally appeared in the 15 November 2019 issue under the headline “The cast list of Scottish education”