Education staff are now ‘frontline fighters’ as ‘dark forces of hate’ mobilise within society, the incoming president of school leaders’ union NAHT will say in his maiden speech today.
Dave Woods will also take aim at Ofsted, which he will describe as ‘by a very long margin the worst example of an inspectorate across our nations’ and ‘a driver of misery’.
Addressing hundreds of fellow school leaders at the union’s annual conference in Belfast at 3.55pm this afternoon, Friday 1 May, Mr Woods will say:
"The world stands at a precipice, with the ‘dark forces of hate’ mobilising and organising all around the world seeking to turn communities against each other, rather than working together for common solutions."
But Mr Woods, who is head teacher at Beaconsfield Primary and Nursery School in Southall, west London, will signal that the more than a million-strong school workforce offers hope.
He will add: ‘All of you here embody that sense of hope in your daily work as you show energy, enthusiasm and perseverance, seeking only to improve the lives of those in your care, despite what can seem at times to be insurmountable challenges.
"Conference, this next period of time is setting out the pieces for future battles that we will have to face together. Battles that will require us to stand strong, to stand for what is right and not what is convenient, to hold firm against the forces of hate that would try to destroy the hope we cling to, by turning society inwards on each other.
"All of us in education are now frontline fighters standing up for decency, respect, civility and the rights of all to live free from discrimination. It was Nelson Mandela who said, ‘Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.’ His words are a powerful and potent reminder for us today of our mission and vocation as we stand against those who seek to splinter and divide our world."
Mr Woods, who grew up in Sydney, Australia, will describe how he found teaching via an eclectic mix of roles including ink pad maker, fork-lift truck welder, cocktail bar mixologist and mobile DJ.
After moving to the UK, he worked in some of London’s ‘more challenging, sometimes forgotten areas’, including at one point being welcomed as a class’s 65th teacher in a year - showing him the difference he could make on a daily basis.
Mr Woods will welcome the return of Sure Start in the shape of the government’s new family hubs and the potential of some of the ambitions in its Schools White Paper.
He will sound a clear message that politicians must ‘listen to and trust the leaders in our schools’ and invest in schools to deliver ‘a world class education system, a leading and cutting-edge economy’.
He will add: "This investment is needed to throw off the yoke of endemic poverty, shattered dreams and wasted ambition that has resulted from 14-plus years of imposed and forced austerity."
Responding to those who say our education system should be more like that in Finland, he will highlight how education spending as a proportion of GDP fell to ‘a miserly 3.9%’ in 2019, which he will describe as ‘utterly shameful’.
He will say: ‘Even now with a modest increase we are at just 4.1%, still lagging well behind Finland, which has consistently invested between 5 and 6% on education for the last 25-plus years.”
Mr Woods will deliver a strong message on accountability – again drawing on comparisons with Finland, which he will point out has no formal inspectorate system and does not rank schools in tables.
Describing Ofsted as ‘by a very long margin the worst example of an inspectorate across our nations’, he will add:
"Ofsted would try to have us believe that they raise school standards and that now they will also improve inclusion. Colleagues, we all know the truth on this – they do nothing of the sort. It is all of you, here, committed, dedicated, tireless school staff who improve standards and achievements despite the interventions of Ofsted, ministers and bureaucrats.
"Ofsted is nothing more than a driver of misery, a raiser of stress levels and a compounding factor in increased workloads, premature retirements, and sadly, as stated by courts, a danger to safe working conditions for school staff."
Mr Woods, who will take over the reins as NAHT’s president in September, will conclude by saying: "We must move on from these old, failed notions of a ‘confrontational’, ‘done to’ model laced with threats, harassment and intimidation of school leaders through league tables, increased formal testing and an unloved and unwanted inspectorate system.
"If governments choose a different path, a better path of engagement with us, then there is no limit to our possible joint ambitions."
Mr Woods has chosen Remembering Srebrenica as his charity partner for his presidential year. It comes after he took part in a moving visit to the site of the horrific 1995 genocide in Bosnia in which more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were murdered.
Explaining the choice ahead of his speech, he said: "We see the rise of hate speech, far-right rhetoric and blaming of ethnic and religious groups all over western society at present. It is vital and important that as NAHT president, and having seen the consequences of this in Srebrenica, that I work to support these aims to educate against hate and campaign to prevent actions leading to future genocides."
