Justine Greening has announced that schools labelled “coasting” will be given a package of support rather than an enforced change in leadership, as part of her new series of initiatives published today.
In the action plan, Unlocking Talent, Fulfilling Potential, Greening wants to ensure that schools are given support at the right time “rather than simply posing punitive sanctions or structural change” when performance dips.
She pledges to provide schools identified as coasting with “coordinated support from an accredited school-led system leader” and emphasises that “enforced leadership change” will only happen in the rarest of cases.
The policy signals a radical departure from her predecessor, Nicky Morgan, who introduced laws concerning the coasting label making it easier to convert any school within the category to becoming an academy.
However, progress has been slow on the policy, with no coasting school so far forcibly converted.
School-led system leaders are the largest multi-academy trusts which work across the country supporting other trusts to improve.
Sir David Carter, the national schools commissioner, previously laid out their characteristics, including holding people to account and offering staff career opportunities across the trust.
Read more on the new ‘Unlocking Talent, Fulfilling Potential’ Action Plan:
Greening outlines social mobility action plan
What are the ACTUAL new policies in the Greening Action Plan?
Will ‘accredited system leader’ include LAs?