Education Secretary Kirsty Williams has thanked school business managers from across Wales for their role in reducing headteachers’ workload.
This was published under the 2016 to 2021 administration of the Welsh Government
Speaking at the Institute of School Business Leadership (ISBL) conference in Cardiff’s City Hall, the Education Secretary said:
“Teachers and headteachers need to be able to concentrate on the roles that they are best equipped to perform, roles that they trained for, roles that made them want to become teachers in the first place.
“There are many things that can get in the way of this and teachers frequently tell me about the pressures they face due to workload.
“We have listened and that’s why, last year, I announced funding of £642,000 for the School Business Manager project.
“Coupled with match-funding from Local Authorities this means that over £1.2m is available for pilots in 11 areas.
“The aim of the project is to help headteachers manage their workload and focus on raising standards and school improvement.“The pilots are currently supporting over 100 schools with dedicated support for headteachers and teachers.”
“We are already seeing encouraging results with business managers freeing up headteachers’ time by working on areas such as HR, Finance, Audit, Facilities Management and Procurement issues.”
The Education Secretary added:.”
“Reducing the administrative burden on headteachers is just one of the measures we’re taking to strengthen the profession.
“Teachers also tell me about the problems they face teaching large class sizes. Therefore, over this Assembly term, we will be making £36m available to reduce infant class sizes.
“New professional teacher and leadership standards have also been developed with the profession, for the profession and a National Academy for Educational Leadership is being set up to support all leaders in education at all stages of their careers.
“These measures, coupled with our efforts to reduce workload, form a key part of our national mission to raise standards, reduce the attainment gap and deliver an education system that is a source of national pride and public confidence.”