One of Scotland’s most prominent headteachers has accused the Scottish government of risking an escalation of the headteacher recruitment crisis by offering unpromoted teachers bigger pay rises than school leaders.
Today, in his address as outgoing president of School Leaders Scotland (SLS), David Barnett, head of Elgin Academy in Moray, will say Scotland needs to be “very concerned” about headteacher pay.
The number of applications for headteacher posts is already “relatively small” and “sometimes worryingly so”, Mr Barnett will tell the annual conference of SLS - which represents secondary heads - in St Andrews.
However, the “very divisive” pay deal, which offers larger pay bumps to teachers than school leaders and was decisively rejected in trade union ballots this week, would further narrow the gap between promoted and unpromoted posts, “providing even more disincentive to consider a career in school leadership”.
Heads’ salaries had also been hit by the Scottish government’s decision not to raise the 40 per cent tax-band allowance, Mr Barnett will add.
Financial incentives to become a headteacher
He will call for a “clear financial incentive” to take on headship, saying that while people might not come into teaching for the pay, they needed to be properly rewarded for taking on a “pressurised position”.
In a transcript of his speech, Mr Barnett said: “We need to be very concerned with regard to remuneration of headteachers. We often hear it expressed that we weren’t attracted into the profession by the financial rewards. This is true, but clearly we are all here to make a living.
“To accept a school leader’s role, particularly that of a headteacher, is to accept that you are taking on a highly responsible, rewarding but pressurised position. There needs to be clear financial incentive to make sure that we are maximising the number of applicants to these posts.”
He said that “we cannot accept a situation where colleagues in different roles in the system are awarded different percentages of pay rise”, as this is “very divisive and, in effect, closes the differential between promoted and unpromoted posts, providing even more disincentive to consider a career in school leadership”.
He added: “Despite the rhetoric, are the [Scottish] government and [local authorities body] Cosla sending out a message that they do not value school leaders?”
Mr Barnett will also question how schools could continue to meet pupils’ diverse additional support needs with fewer members of staff, when some young people’s needs “can only be met with one-to-one support”.
However, he said it was “a huge privilege” to lead a school and see the young people within it “grow and develop and to know that you have had some influence on that”.
A secondary school was “an extremely vibrant place”, he added.
“There may be daily frustrations but also daily joys,” Mr Barnett said.
This year, Scottish teaching unions are pursuing a pay claim of 10 per cent. The offer from the Scottish government and council umbrella body Cosla was based on a 3 per cent increase, plus further rises for unpromoted teachers depending on the stage of their career.
A report into headteacher recruitment published earlier this month stated that reviewing headteacher pay should be a “key element” in the effort to increase the number of applicants for posts.
