National Organisation to improve Education Specialists’ advice launched
An organisation which has been developed to establish national quality standards for education specialists who support schools has been officially launched in York.
The Association of Education Advisers (AoEA), is the brainchild of Les Walton, CBE, who has advised numerous cross-party governments on education policy as well as working at the highest levels in the public sector as a Head Teacher.
The establishment of this sector-led Association of Education Advisers addresses the need for quality and consistency of advice. It is a membership and accreditation organisation that intends to provide a gateway for school and college leaders who wish to be education advisers or develop their skills to a higher level. Those who are presently working as education advisers are also encouraged to participate.
More than 80 delegates from multi-academy trusts, teaching school alliances, local authorities and private sector organisations attended the launch event to hear how the organisation will operate and how it will ensure quality within the sector.
High level speakers including Ian Mearns MP, who sits on the House of Commons Education Select Committee and Malcolm Trobe CBE, Deputy General Secretary for the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) gave a view on the national picture, while Lesley Powell CEO of the North East Learning Trust, Graham Soles of the Consilium Learning Trust and Eric Halton of Hampshire Local Authority spoke about the need for quality advisers within their organisations.
AoEA, which is a not-for-profit body limited by guarantee, has received widespread encouragement from national education leaders such as Sir David Carter, National Schools Commissioner, Peter Lauener, Chief Executive of the Education and Skills Funding Agency and Lord Agnew, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the School System as well as professional representative organisations such as ASCL, FASNA, NAHT and NGA.
Les Walton said: “A modern education system requires advice and support that is independent and of a consistent quality, irrespective of changes in government policy. Education advisers also need to be able to demonstrate the impact of their advice.
“What the AoEA will do is to ensure a range of professional, credible and authoritative advisers by providing staged assessments firstly to review professional competency and personal capacity and this will lead to accreditation at Associate or Senior Associate level.”
Malcolm Trobe CBE, Deputy General Secretary of ASCL, said: “As a leader of a school or college, keeping all the plates spinning can be tricky and sometimes requires external support. Advisory support can help by looking at a problem from a different angle. This happens in business all the time, but not so often in education. I think the AoEA is an excellent idea and think it has a key role to play in ensuring educational institutions can access the highest quality advice.”