School leaders will urge education secretary Nadhim Zahawi to listen to the profession to avoid repeating the government’s “mistakes and U-turns” in education policy over the past year.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, will use his speech to its annual conference today to urge the education secretary to hear from “the real voices in education” rather than the “usual suspects who tend to give government ideas an automatic thumbs-up”.

He will warn that the mistakes in education policy during the Covid pandemic have happened because government has not listened to the profession.

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Mr Whiteman will also say that the government’s rhetoric on “levelling up” and the importance of education must be backed up with action.

And he will urge Mr Zahawi not to “exhaust school leaders’ goodwill”  by making engagement with the profession “nothing more than window dressing”.

His plea will come in a speech on Friday at the union’s conference in London.

Plea for new education secretary Nadhim Zahawi to listen to teachers

Mr Whiteman also will highlight the “false and damaging narrative” that he says some policymakers have used amid the pandemic that suggested teachers were “lazy”.

And he will call out previous criticism of school leaders and teachers.

He will say it was wrong to have claimed “that school leaders and teachers spent far too much time making sure the disadvantaged were fed…that too much time was spent ensuring that the vulnerable were safe”.  

Mr Whiteman will also call for the government’s goals for education recovery for children who have missed out on schooling to be more “ambitious”.

In June, the government’s own education recovery commissioner, Sir Kevan Collins, quit with a stinging condemnation of a new £1.4 billion recovery package after he had recommended around £15 billion be invested.

Yesterday, when challenged over the funding put into helping children, Mr Zahawi pledged that pupils will catch up with the schooling they missed during Covid-19 by the end of this Parliament.

In his speech to school leaders, Mr Whiteman will say: “Whilst I am encouraged by the language of levelling up, the language that no child should be left behind and the language of just how important education is, I am continually left disappointed that the rhetoric is not backed up by action.

“I won’t quickly forget, nor will I fail to remind those in power, of the false and damaging narrative some of them used. Some sought to paint a picture of lazy teachers and lazy school leaders in the middle of the pandemic.

“When actually you, and your colleagues, were working as hard as anybody else in the front line. That was poor judgment. Poor leadership.”

The school leaders’ union chief will say the profession “stands ready to work” with the new education secretary, but it must be listened to.

Mr Whiteman will add: “Please don’t exhaust what is left of our goodwill by making that engagement nothing more than window dressing. We have a moment now that we can choose to grasp.

“By genuinely working together, we can achieve much-needed change.

“The mistakes and U-turns that characterised the last year and a half almost always came down to a lack of proper consultation with the profession.”

Mr Zahawi is due to address the union’s conference in London on Saturday.

Ahead of the education secretary’s appearance, Mr Whiteman will say: “It would not be right for us to hold him personally responsible for the mistakes of the past. We will all be keen to hear his vision for the future.”

Mr Whiteman will also highlight concerns about school funding, the public sector pay freeze and the challenges of teacher recruitment and retention.

On Wednesday, prime minister Boris Johnson promised a “levelling-up premium” worth up to £3,000 to encourage talented maths and science teachers to work in areas of the country where they are needed most.

On the policy, Mr Whiteman will say: “It’s time to lift the burden of unnecessary and disproportionate high-stakes accountability systems. £3,000 to encourage maths and science teachers into difficult areas is an idea.

“But unless you lift the burdens, any progress will be short-lived. We would have told you that, prime minister, if only you had asked.”

Schools ‘relying on parents to buy textbooks’

Mr Whiteman will also make a warning over the fragility of school finances.

He will say: “What worries me is the fragility of our education systems. In every phase and sector, leaders tell me how close to the wind they have to sail every day,” he will say.

“Here are just three examples. A headteacher in Staffordshire told me: ‘We have to restrict the number of educational school trips because we can’t subsidise them if parents can’t afford to contribute. We have had to make the difficult decision to restrict the use of TAs.’ 

“A headteacher right here in London said recently: ‘We have had to cut back on our wellbeing and mental health support by not renewing our Place2Be counselling service. We have also had nine members of support staff leave and have only replaced two.’

“And in Devon, where our current vice-president works, I had this from a local leader: ‘You would expect an essential like reading books to be provided by the school. But no - to afford these, parents and the local community have to constantly fundraise.’

”‘So, although parents are sending their children to a state-maintained school, they are still footing the bill. That can’t be right.”

Mr Whiteman will warn that one in four school leaders predicts a deficit budget in 2021-22 based on current funding levels.

And he will add:  “I’m looking at the politicians whose job it is to work to improve the lives of their constituents.

“And I ask, how much more evidence do you need before you wake up to the funding crisis blighting our schools?”