Isn’t it time we had a revolution? How many more insults will the primary sector take until someone stands up and says “enough”?
We appear to have: a new chief inspector trying to out-Woodhead Woodhead; another half-baked report on the merits of large classes; a sustained attack on primary standards; reinspection of schools that have been (legally) deemed “outstanding”; recruitment to primary headship that has been chronically difficult for years; and a Department for Education that thinks it knows all about every school through multiple sets of dodgy data.
Michael Gove has promised to set schools free. We should take him at his word and begin to forge a new professional ethic that is confident, assured and positively self-critical.
Demoralisation of the teaching workforce is no way to raise standards. So come on, then - what are we going to do about it?
Mick Brookes, Former general secretary, NAHT.