Education Secretary vows to introduce academy-style reforms for all schools

The new Secretary of State for Education has told his department that he wants to “offer all schools the chance to enjoy academy-style freedoms so that heads and teachers across the country can be liberated”.

In an email to civil servants, seen by Children & Young People Now, Michael Gove said he wanted to refocus the department on its core purpose of supporting teaching and learning.

The minister wrote: “School reform will be our priority but schools only succeed when society is strong, which is why we will also strengthen and reform children’s services.

“We want to ensure the direction of our reform programme is clear. In the weeks ahead, I want us to offer all schools the change to enjoy academy-style freedoms so that heads and teachers across the country can be liberated. This will be the focus of the legislation we hope to bring forward later this month.”

Gove said the government would also work to:

• allow charities, parents and teachers’ groups to open a new generation of small schools with smaller class sizes
• introduce a new pupil premium that will ensure funding is targeted to the most deprived pupils
• give schools greater freedom over the curriculum
• radically reform the exam system to allow schools to offer a wider range of qualifications, and
• give more powers to teachers to ensure higher standards of discipline.

The minister acknowledged that the programme of work would be “challenging” against a backdrop of a tighter fiscal climate, but added that “an exciting journey” lay ahead.