When addressing school leaders at the ASCL NI annual conference, held today at the Crowne Plaza in Belfast, he will say: “Looking back over the past year, the education landscape has changed significantly and we are in a very different place. We have a blueprint for positive change in the form of the Independent Review of Education, which must be implemented in full – not through a cherry-picking exercise.

“However, it would be remiss of me not to mention the many challenges still faced by you as school leaders. There is always the worry of balancing the budget and securing the necessary funding for the year ahead. Recruitment is not getting any easier – in fact it’s becoming more challenging. I’m in the very privileged position to support many of you when you face particularly difficult situations – both personal and professional. Unfortunately, this doesn’t show any signs of letting up.

“We find ourselves in a place where change is afoot. We have an Independent Review which offers a roadmap to meaningful change, a relatively new Minister, new leadership in various education organisations, the rollout of a new inspection framework. We need to work together – across the sector – to get these things right. We need to do it efficiently – one working group instead of two or three across various organisations. We need to be solutions-focused and prepared to make difficult decisions where necessary.

“As ASCL celebrates 150 years, our theme this year is ‘Leading Together’ – it’s about collaboration, joined up, strategic thinking, and a common purpose. The need to work together hasn’t changed over those 150 years, and neither has our common purpose of doing the absolute best for our children and young people.”