In December 2023, ASCL held a Presidential Dinner with Bridget Phillipson, the Shadow Secretary of State, and Catherine McKinnell, the Shadow Schools Minister. We touched on some of the long-term policy proposals set out in a number of our recent policy papers, including our:
- Blueprint for a Fairer Education System
- Proposals for the Future of Inspection
- Manifesto for the 2024 General Election
- Proactive submission to Labour’s proposed Curriculum and Assessment Review
Our discussions focused around the three biggest current challenges in education, according to our members:
- the recruitment and retention crisis
- the widening disadvantage gap
- the ever-expanding expectations on schools and colleges
We were heartened by Bridget and Catherine’s engagement with these proposals, and by Labour’s desire to work with the profession to tackle these challenges.
We recognise, however, that some of our proposals will take time and money to implement, and that there is also a place for some quick wins, which could make a significant difference to our members and the communities they serve, and which could be implemented in advance of the longer-term proposals at no, or relatively low, cost.
This document suggests twenty such quick wins. It should be seen as supplementary to the four documents mentioned above. Some of these suggestions draw on the proposals in our previous documents, where these could be implemented either immediately or within the first few months of Labour coming into power; others are new.
Read our report here