THERE'S STILL NO MONEY!

With the election less than four weeks away, headteachers and governors understand that no-one will be offering increased public expenditure over the next Parliament and that the era of school budgets being protected is well and truly over.

We need a strategic plan that builds on and draws from the evidence, the research and what we've learned about school improvement and that can be financed within the shrinking schools budget. We must also stop grumbling about things, recognise how fortunate we are and get on with it!. We should welcome the removal of the bureaucracy we've all struggled with, welcome and positively engage with the reviews of so many aspects of provision and practice, welcome the increased challenge and competition we face on a fair and equitable basis, network, share and learn from the very best practice we can find wherever it is, ensure that we harness new technologies and join cooperative and collaborative networks so that every school's resources can be focused and targeted on the journey ahead.