Pepe Di’Iasio wants to kick off his tenure as Association of School and College Leaders general secretary on an optimistic note.
But when your own school has buckets under leaking ceilings and a £500,000 SEND funding black hole, it’s tricky to remain upbeat.
The head of Wales High School in Rotherham will take over from Geoff Barton next month – and he’s got his work cut out.
The government has signalled school teachers will get a miserly pay rise in September and two teaching unions are already holding preliminary strike ballots. Staff in colleges across the country meanwhile continue their battle for fair pay through their own strikes, with the gap between them and their school counterparts sitting at £9,000.
