What our members ask of the incoming Secretary of State for Education

Last week, we sent out a survey to our Member Schools to find out what they want from the new Secretary of State for Education. We received 100 responses from schools across the country and here's what they said:

1. Give teachers more trust, balance and agency
Empower teachers with the autonomy to make the best decisions for their children

2. Provide more evidence based support and resources
Ensure schools are kept up to date with evidence based resources that work, and increase funding for basic classroom materials as well as high quality, representative books

3. Fund accessible continuous professional development - to help retain as well as recruit teachers
75% of teachers we asked said that school supported development through regular CPD would encourage them to stay in their profession.

Feedback included:

"Please prioritise funding for resources. We are encouraged to provide children opportunities they might not get otherwise yet this is becoming less possible due to the lack of funding and lack of new resources. I often buy things out of my own pocket, as do many colleagues. We can’t be expected to resource our classrooms every year out of the goodness of our hearts."

"Value a creative approach towards English not just the teaching of grammar / spelling& structure. Trim down the curriculum so that there is room for reading and writing for pleasure, which all feels so squeezed out."

"Ensure that ongoing professional development in Literacy is available to all practitioners in the primary sector so that all stakeholders understand how literacy underpins the whole curriculum."

"The funding for schools means that we are not able to give the children all the opportunities that they deserve. SEND children are being failed with huge waiting lists for specialist schools and funding not being provided to mainstream schools to help provide the required provision."

"Trust teachers. Think about the enjoyment of reading and writing as that will get the best results in the long term."