Uncertainty about the affordability of future pay rises will cast \u201ca cloud\u201d as school leaders gather for the ASCL annual conference, its general secretary Pepe Di\u2019Iasio has said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Department for Education (DfE) last week predicted<\/a> that schools will have around \u00a31 billion of \u201cheadroom\u201d over the next two years, meaning they could afford staff pay rises of 2.7 per cent over two years.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n It said schools must \u201crealise and sustain better value\u201d in budgets to create further headroom and make a 6.5 per cent rise over three years manageable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But speaking to Schools Week <\/em>ahead of the annual two-day conference, Di\u2019Iasio described the idea of headroom as \u201cnonsensical\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere will be some schools who have more than the 2.7 per cent headroom, and the vast majority who haven’t,\u201d the former school leader said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dozens of ASCL members have told him they \u201ccan\u2019t manage\u201d such a rise, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat will be something that is worrying school leaders right now,\u201d as they await the report of the school teachers\u2019 review body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think that will be what is at the front of everyone’s minds. It’ll be a cloud over the conference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The pay decision will also impact schools\u2019 capacity to deliver the government\u2019s white paper reforms, Di\u2019Iasio added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The National Education Union is carrying out an indicative ballot to gauge if members would be prepared to strike over the proposal for an unfunded 6.5 per cent rise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ASCL is not yet considering a similar ballot. \u201cI would prefer to consider [that] once we know what the parameters are,\u201d Di\u2019Iasio said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAt the moment it\u2019s a cloud, but we don\u2019t know whether it\u2019s going to be a raincloud, or if some sunshine might break through.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Di\u2019Iasio feels the white paper has \u201clanded really well\u201d, and members broadly view the planned reforms as \u201csensible\u201d. But they now need clarity on implementation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur members are saying, \u2018so how are we going to realise that plan? What does it mean for me?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n ASCL is working with the DfE and members to clarify timeframes, and how to prioritise reforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Di\u2019Iasio said most pushback had come around ministers\u2019 expectations for all schools to join or form trusts. But members have a spectrum of views.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some trust leaders feel it does not go far enough, while some running standalone academies or council maintained schools feel it is the wrong move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat probably means that they have got it just about right,\u201d Di\u2019Iasio said of the proposed reforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DfE experts involved in writing the white paper will hold surgeries at the conference to answer leaders\u2019 questions. Di\u2019Iasio welcomed the approach, saying the past six months have shown the department\u2019s \u201creal determination \u2026 to listen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Education secretary Bridget Phillipson will make a keynote speech this morning and Di\u2019Iasio will interview her, \u201creflecting on the last 18 months and looking forward to the next 18.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ofsted chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver will also address leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Di\u2019Iasio said members were generally \u201cpleased\u201d with how new Ofsted inspections have been carried out since they were launched in December \u2013 broadly finding them more collaborative, while bringing more pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But leaders say the timeframe of inspections is \u201cincredibly challenging\u201d, Di\u2019Iasio said. \u201cIt puts incredible pressure on school leaders, particularly on SENCos and those leading inclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also highlighted \u201cfears around [inspections] being too data-driven and too predetermined on some key points of data.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Schools Week has reported on concerns around how schools are compared against national averages for both \u2018achievement\u2019 and \u2018attendance and behaviour\u2019 under the new framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leaders have also raised serious concerns about the merging of \u201cattendance and behaviour\u201d into one judgment area. Oliver recently said the decision \u201cbothered\u201d him and he was \u201cwatching\u201d the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Di\u2019Iasio takes to the stage to address the ASCL\u2019s conference at the ACC in Liverpool tomorrow morning, he will walk on to Olivia\u2019s Dean\u2019s hit \u2018Nice to Each Other\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His key message will be on \u201cthe idea of kindness\u201d, and will be directed to everyone, including parents, the workforce, politicians and sister trade unions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It comes as an ASCL survey, released today reveals the negative impact of parent behaviour on school leader wellbeing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of more than 1,700 members surveyed, 90 per cent had experienced rude or disrespectful behaviour, and 60 per cent verbal abuse or threats, while 57 per cent had experienced hostile or defamatory comments on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe theme of the white paper is about everyone coming together to do their very best for all young people,\u201d Di\u2019Iasio said. \u201cI want us to remember in doing that that we need to be kind to one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe may not be able to do everything that we want to do \u2013 or that perhaps one sector wants us to do \u2013 straight away. But at the heart of what we’re trying to do is a professionalism and a genuine sense of kinship.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ‘I think that will be what is at the front of everyone’s minds. It’ll be a cloud over the conference’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":314902,"featured_media":243166,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[324],"post-theme":[2425],"class_list":["post-243185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-funding","post-theme-school-funding"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\tOn the white paper<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Ofsted concerns<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Be kind to one another\u2019<\/h3>\n\n\n\n