The current government does not understand “the value of school leadership”, a union leader will claim today.
Paul Nowak, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), will say the job of school leaders has been made “far harder” by the government.
Addressing the annual conference of the NAHT school leaders’ union on Friday, Mr Nowak will call for a government that “respects” headteachers.
In a speech to hundreds of school leaders in Newport, Wales, the TUC general secretary will say: “Every child deserves a good education.
“This takes leadership, and we are all grateful to headteachers, assistants, deputies and school business leaders for the incredible job they have done leading schools through difficult times.
“But their job has been made far harder by this Conservative government. School buildings are falling apart, pay has been driven down and teachers are being driven out.”
Value of school leadership
He will add: “The Tories just don’t understand the value of school leadership.
“Since 2010, pay for headteachers has been slashed by 20 per cent, and that is pushing good leaders out of the profession.
“We can’t go on like this. We need a government that respects school leaders and invests more in our schools so every child can flourish.”
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT, said: “We’ve been clear in calling for a series of restorative pay rises for school leaders after more than a decade of real terms pay cuts.
“We have evidenced beyond doubt that a real recruitment and retention crisis exists. Teacher pay is too low and workload too high - it is beyond reproach.”
Mr Whiteman is also due to give a speech at the union’s conference on Friday afternoon.
Delegates are set to debate motions on issues facing schools - including funding, recruitment and retention - over the two-day conference.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Headteachers across the country are doing an excellent job, day in, day out, ensuring pupils have a world-class education, and they are rightly among the highest 10 per cent of earners in the country.
“At secondary school, heads can receive a total package of well over £130,000.”
DfE workforce data for 2022-23 shows that the median pay of a state school headteacher was £70,831.
In state schools, the median salary of nursery and primary heads was £67,668 and for secondary heads, it was £97,255.
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