Consultation on draft Head Teacher and Training Standards (Scotland) Regulations

3. Purpose, Scope and exemptions

The draft regulations specify the education and training standards needed before teachers can be appointed to Head Teacher posts in education authority and grant-aided schools. The regulations provide that only those persons who have achieved the Standard for Headship may be appointed by education authorities and managers of grant-aided schools as Head Teachers (regulation 2(1) and (2)). The regulations define "the Standard for Headship" as meaning the professional standard awarded to a person by the GTCS in terms of the GTCS's functions under the Public Services Reform (General Teaching Council for Scotland) Order 2011 if satisfied that the person meets the requirements in the General Teaching Council for Scotland Registration and Standard Rules 2014 (rule 7.1.3) (links to documents in Annex C).

However the regulations aim to be practicable and allow for a degree of flexibility for the employer if, for example, a temporary appointment is needed. During the passage of the Education (Scotland) Act 2016 through Parliament, education authorities asked that the regulations were drafted in a way that gave education authorities and managers of grant-aided schools the flexibility to manage complex school staffing arrangements. Therefore, the draft regulations will exempt certain categories of appointment of persons to the role of Head Teacher at these schools.

Regulation 3 provides for exemptions from the general requirement in regulation 2 that only persons who have achieved the Standard for Headship may be appointed by education authorities and managers of grant-aided schools:

• Regulation 3(1) provides that the general requirement does not apply to a person appointed as a permanent Head Teacher of a school by an education authority, manager of a grant-aided school or an independent school on or before 1 ^st August 2019. It also has the effect of exempting any person that has been a Head Teacher of such schools at any point before 1 ^st August 2019, but who are not in post on that date.
• Regulation 3(2) provides that the general requirement does not prevent persons who do not hold the Standard for Headship being appointed to the Head Teacher role at education authority and grant-aided schools on or after 1 ^st August 2019 on a temporary basis (provided the appointment does not exceed 24 months). This also has the effect of allowing the authority to appoint a Head Teacher on a temporary basis on more than one occasion, again provided the temporary appointment(s) do not exceed 24 months.

The draft regulations are intended to come into force on 1 August 2019 and are not retrospective. It is considered that commencing the regulations on 1 August 2019 gives sufficient time for education authorities and grant-aided schools to plan for future Head Teacher appointments within their wider workforce planning functions. The "Into Headship" programme has an annual intake and takes approximately 18 months to complete. As stated above, the draft regulations will not affect the status of current Head Teachers and those that have been in a Head Teacher post previously in their career and their ability to move between posts across Scotland will not be reduced. The effect of the regulations on categories of teachers is described below:-

Categories of teachers who are within the scope of the regulations (those who must have achieved the Standard for Headship)

• teachers being appointed to their first Head Teacher post within education authority/grant aided schools in Scotland on or after 1 ^st August 2019;
• teachers appointed on an acting/temporary basis to a Head Teacher position at such schools on or after 1 ^st August 2019 if their appointment is for a longer period than 24 months, and
• teachers based outside Scotland being appointed to their first Head Teacher post in Scotland on or after 1 ^st August 2019.

Categories of teachers who are out with the scope of the regulations

• Head Teachers employed in education authority/grant aided schools on a permanent basis before 1 ^st August 2019;
• Head Teachers employed in education authority/grant aided schools on a permanent basis before 1 ^st August 2019 who move to another Head Teacher post between and within education authorities;
• Head Teachers appointed before 1 ^st August 2019, seconded to a non-Head Teacher position;
• education authority employed staff who were formerly in a Head Teacher post on a permanent basis before 1 ^st August 2019
• a person who was formerly employed as a Head Teacher in Scotland before 1 ^st August 2019 but who is not currently working in the Scottish education sector.