The new education secretary Kit Malthouse has been accused of taking “cheap shots” at the state school system, the TES reports.
Heads’ leaders spoke out in a letter to Mr Malthouse following his speech to the Conservative party conference yesterday (Tues, Oct 4), where he suggested some schools were “hanging onto mediocrity”.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the ASCL union, and its president, Evelyn Forde, wrote to Mr Malthouse saying the Government should be “moving heaven and earth” to ensure that schools “can keep doors open” rather than taking “frankly appalling…cheap shots”.
Privately-educated Mr Malthouse said in his speech that he wanted the government to be “much more assertive about intervention and standards” and that education needed “constant pressure” in order to “drive it forward”.
“We need to reflect on the fact that there is nothing quite as persistent as people hanging on to mediocrity,” he added.
The union says that close to 90 per cent of schools currently carry a “good” or “outstanding” Ofsted rating, despite the “extreme pressures” faced by leaders, teachers and support staff.
ASCL also highlighted data from a recent survey, highlighting an array of reasons why staff are being driven away from schools.