This school year “promises to be pivotal for Scottish education”, the new president of School Leaders Scotland (SLS) said in her inaugural speech today.
Pauline Walker, headteacher at The Royal High School in Edinburgh, also stressed that the success of ongoing education reform will depend on prioritising the expert insight of teachers and school leaders.
Addressing the SLS annual conference in Aberdeen, Ms Walker said that success would require schools to be “responsive to the needs of every student”.
The new SLS president spoke this morning, a day after her predecessor Peter Bain - at the start of the two-day conference - had expressed frustration over “stalled” education reform, but also found reasons to be optimistic.
The 2024-25 school year “promises to be pivotal for Scottish education”, Ms Walker said, because it would be “marked by reform and an opportunity to innovate”.
But she was careful to invoke the words of Ruth Bader Ginsburg in suggesting that reform could be too fast, as well as too slow: “Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.” Ms Walker added: “This idea of incremental progress really resonates with me.”
The proposed reforms to the curriculum and the qualifications system were “essential” in “aiming for a more coherent, flexible curriculum that truly serves all of our students”, she said.
Members of SLS - who are drawn from the secondary school sector - “must continue to advocate for the importance of teachers and school leaders in shaping these policies”, she continued, adding: “After all, those who work directly with students every day have invaluable insight into what works best.”
Her comments came about two months after the education secretary Jenny Gilruth - who was scheduled to appear at the SLS conference after Ms Walker - left many key figures in Scottish education underwhelmed when she revealed that the Scottish government’s overdue response to the Hayward review would not embrace all its recommendations.
Reform ideas ‘brought to life’ this year
Ms Walker told SLS delegates that she aimed to ensure that the ideas behind reform are brought “to life” this year and “don’t just remain theoretical”.
“They need to become actionable changes that make a real difference in classrooms across Scotland,” she said. “Modernising qualifications, enhancing teacher agency and fostering a culture of collaboration can help build a system that places students squarely at the heart of learning.”
Ms Walker added that students’ needs should be “front and centre in every policy decision and reform measure”.
She also cited the theme of the SLS conference - “compassion and ambition” - and acknowledged the extreme financial pressures on education.
“As leaders, we have a chance to make people feel valued, heard and supported,” she said. “In this challenging time for our schools - with shrinking budgets and growing pressures on both staff and students - this approach is more critical than ever. Let’s support each other and protect the wellbeing of leaders at all levels.”
She added: “I am deeply optimistic about what we can achieve together. But let’s remember, I am just one voice. To make a real difference, we need to unite our voices, to collaborate, to bring our diverse perspectives and expertise to the table.”
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