In the news

Extra rewards

ASCL defended proposals by Ed Balls in April to extend the pay scale for headteachers who lead more than one school.

In the Daily Mail and the Times, John Dunford predicted that heads could earn between £180,000 and £200,000 at the top of the new scale.

However, he added: "This is about more than pay - and it is about more than heads. For a head to take on more than one school, there must be highly capable and experienced senior leaders who can 'act up' and share delegated responsibility. Therefore additional rewards for other school leaders and for the school itself, as well as higher salaries for heads, should be introduced in any new system."

Pregnancy targets

Following reports in the media that schools would be required to keep records on teenage pregnancy, obesity and drug use, ASCL sought to reassure schools that these plans were not imminent.

John Dunford was interviewed on the BBC News while Brian Lightman appeared on Radio 5 and LBC radio in London.

In the Guardian, John was quoted as saying "The new inspection framework will include wellbeing, but this has to be delivered in partnership with other authorities." He added that it was for local authorities, rather than schools, to lead on the Every Child Matters agenda and that "it's absolutely essential that this agenda is not dumped on schools."

The media reports were based on a leaked discussion paper presented to a working group of which ASCL is a member. ASCL will continue to state loudly and clearly that schools cannot be held principally accountable for pupil welfare, although there should be mechanisms to recognise schools' contributions to improving students' wellbeing.

For more on ASCL's position on this, see John's article A question of trust.