John Camp has, by his own admission, “never left school” - he has spent his entire career embedded in the education system, working his way up to become the leader of The Compass Partnership of Schools. Now he’s taking on the challenge of leading one of the most prominent education unions in the UK.

Camp will be the first president of the Association of School and College Leaders from a primary background. Here he talks about his inspirational teachers and how his school days showed him the “potential for something different in the future”.

1. Who was your most memorable teacher and why?

I have two. The first one is from primary school, who first fired my interest in being a teacher myself. I came from what would now be considered a “disadvantaged background” - single-parent household, very low income - and she was the first teacher to really instil in me that sense that I could do and I could be.

The second one is my A-level sociology teacher. She really helped me craft my voice and made me fall in love with the art of writing.

2. What were the best and worst things about your time at school?

I loved everything about school. Teachers were heroes to me. I loved listening to them, and the ones I really connected with were those who told really compelling stories and really brought the subject to life. I could see in school the potential for something different in the future and that’s why I connected with it. 

I found the transition from primary to secondary school really difficult. I think it’s because I loved primary school and I felt so much a part of that smaller community...so I found that the transition to the big sprawling comp school was a big change and emotionally really difficult. 

3. Why do you work in education?

School made me feel empowered. I loved school, so it’s natural that I carried on working in it. I’ve never left school - from degree to PGCE to school, I’ve always been in the institution. I’m completely institutionalised!

I was the first person in my family to go to university and the first person to enter a profession. Without those teachers I’m sure that wouldn’t have happened.

Education is transformation and I wanted to be part of that. I wanted to be able to support other children like me.

4. What are you proudest of in your career?

I run a multi-academy trust, Compass, and I’m really proud of that. I’m really proud of all the people in that organisation who work day in, day out to deliver a great education, and I’m really proud of what we stand for - ambitious and optimistic education for all young people.

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I’m also really proud to have become the president of the Association of School and College Leaders. I sense that achievement but I also sense that responsibility, being the first president of ASCL from the primary and special school sector.

5. And what do you regret?

I have a tendency to worry about things that haven’t happened yet. My regret is linked to that because it can stop you from enjoying the moment.

I am sure there are many things that I haven’t absorbed enough of and taken time to sit back and reflect on in the way I probably should. I don’t celebrate the good things enough because I don’t want to invite the bad things.

6. What are the best aspects of our school system?

We have such a broad spectrum of schools that all do things slightly differently, and I love that - I think that’s a real strength of our system.

We’ve got a really good education system. It’s not perfect and there are lots of things we continue to work on, but it’s a good system. That’s because the people in it are driving day in, day out to make improvements.

7. And what about the worst?

I believe the worst part of the system is the punitive accountability levers that are completely out of balance and place unreasonable levels of stress on schools. Schools absolutely have to be held to account, but now is definitely the time to make it a healthier, more developmental process.

Reducing an inspection of a school to one word is just unhelpful, and it is time to move beyond that. It would be much better to have an inspection system that has a much more helpful narrative report that identifies the strengths and the area of development in every school.

There’s also work to be done about the way that we assess children, the way that data is used to assess schools.

Exams are important and hold a very important place in our education system but I think we need other ways as well of supporting children to make sure that they leave education with a set of outcomes to show what they can do. 

8. If you became education secretary tomorrow, what would be the first thing you would do?

I would build a case for an appropriate funding settlement for education based on the true cost. 

I would remove the expectation for schools to contribute to the one-on-one tuition funding and just allow them to use the funding to fund their tuition. I would also stop the defunding of Btec.

I would passionately advocate for the early years. We know that if children have access to really high-quality preschool and Reception and early year provision, it has a profound impact on them.

9. Who has made the biggest difference in education in the past 12 months?

For me, it is the way leaders across the systems - organisations, unions, special associations - came together and advocated for a better settlement for people working in schools.

I think that was incredibly powerful and demonstrated how, when it is appropriate and right, you can collectively put a case and get the evidence needed to demonstrate the real profound impact on schools and their ability to deliver for children.

10. What are the most important lessons you’ve learned from doing this job?

The great thing about being the president is that you’ve been the vice-president beforehand, so you learn a lot - it’s a really great apprenticeship model, actually.

There are great leaders in all corners of our great nation and I get to meet lots of them, whether they are in secondary education, further education, special education, early years, pupil referral units. 

Wherever they are, the common binding factor is this determination to achieve better things for young people.

John Camp was speaking with Cerys Turner