School leaders must take a lead in pressing for swift education reform, an annual gathering of secondary headteachers was told today.
The new president of School Leaders Scotland (SLS), Peter Bain, also called for those responsible for reform to “listen more intently” to headteachers.
Mr Bain warned, too, of the dangers of going over old ground with fresh rounds of consultation, 10 days after education secretary Jenny Gilruth marked the start of consultation on the Education Reform Bill.
Mr Bain, who is executive headteacher of Oban and Tiree high schools, said that education reform would be the “key focus” for SLS over the next 12 months, and he called on school leaders to make their voices heard.
“We must be brave and assert our views based on our knowledge and experience more fully, to more people, across a wider array of organisations and agencies who shape education,” he said, adding that: “I hope that you will help us not merely to nudge the system but to shape the future of Scottish education.”
Addressing the annual SLS conference, this year held in Aberdeen, he said that the Scottish government and other national education bodies should “listen more intently to those of us most experienced in educational leadership”.
Heads influencing education reform
Mr Bain had already addressed the Scottish Parliament’s Education, Children and Young People Committee on Wednesday along with other secondary heads, where they shared their views on the potential impact of education reform on the curriculum.
He was the school leaders’ representative on Professor Louise Hayward’s review of qualifications and assessment, and he contributed to other reviews, including the 2023 Withers report on skills and the 2022 Muir report on the future of national bodies such as Education Scotland and the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA).
He said there was a widely shared view among colleagues in schools and other education experts that “we need to adopt many - if not all - the recommendations made in the reviews once they’ve been teased out by implementation groups”.
Mr Bain added: “My view, shaped by the views of SLS members, is that we need to move forward with the recommendations in each report sooner rather than later.”
He feared that “the longer we delay, the more of our children continue to go through an education system that is not best placed to provide for their needs and desires”, and called on fellow school leaders to “urge [that] we move forward at pace”.
Mr Bain said that “almost everyone in school leadership and educational academia” wants the next stage of consultation “to be about the ‘devil in the detail’ - not rerunning the initial consultations”.
In June, Ms Gilruth paused education reform, saying that teachers needed more time to share their views. Mr Bain underlined how important it was for school leaders to take part in any further consultation.
He said: “The cabinet secretary, being new to the post, sensibly, at the time of her initial appointment, asked for a wee breather, to take stock of where we are, and that led to more consultation papers issued on day one of the new term.
“In case anyone has missed it, there are more questionnaires out now on the future of the SQA. There are also civil servants still asking questions about aspects of Education Scotland reform. I would urge you all, answer everything asked from you - no matter how busy you are.”
