Heads to be empowered with new professional development standards

The publication follows a review of the 2004 standards carried out last year by Dame Dana Ross-Wawrzynski and other leading members of the profession, with the aim of defining guidelines applicable to all headteachers in the current educational landscape.
    
According to the Department for Education, the new standards will "empower and inspire heads, drive aspiration, promote excellence and reflect the greater decision-making powers heads now enjoy".
    
Announcing the standards at the Education the government Forum on 19th January, Education Secretary Nicky Morgan said: “At the heart of our plan for education - at the heart of all great education systems - are great teachers and great teaching. But strong leadership in all our schools is absolutely crucial and a key part of securing the best outcomes for pupils. We already have many talented headteachers driving forward our programme of improvement and ensuring young people are prepared for life in modern Britain.
    
“That is why we want to champion these dedicated professionals who regularly go the extra mile for our children by providing them with aspirational standards of excellence that will support them to get the best of their staff and pupils.”
    
The report’s author, Dame Dana Ross-Wawrzynski said: ”I am delighted as chair of the review to be able to announce the launch of the revised national headteacher standards. The review was a process which gave headteachers a genuine opportunity to review and set their own professional standards.
    
Russell Hobby, General Secretary of the National Assocation of Head Teachers (NAHT), said:
It is important that headteachers and school leaders have a set of professional standards relevant to the modern state of the role. These highly aspirational standards will provide a solid foundation for professional development and dialogue. They also state proudly to the world what heads stand for and how they hold themselves to account.
    
The Education Secretary has also welcomed a review by Sir Andrew Carter into initial teacher training (ITT). The report highlights that more needs to be done to ensure all trainees receive some core grounding in the basics of classroom management and subject knowledge.
    
In response, the government is to commission an independent working group made of expert representatives from the sector to develop a core ITT framework.
    
The Teaching Schools Council will also be tasked with developing a set of national standards for mentors, while the Get Into Teaching website will provide more information on ITT.

Download National Standards of Excellence for Headteachers - click here