Pictured above: Fleur Sexton

A leading education provider has sympathised with the plight facing headteachers and their staff after policy changes came under scrutiny at a national industry conference.

The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) met in Manchester for the first time since Michael Gove was appointed Secretary of State for Education.

Among the topics discussed were Gove's plans to implement an independent review of teaching standards, the English Baccalaureate benchmark and how funding cuts could mean that schools have to make as many as 20 per cent of their staff redundant.

The English Bac - which measures how many pupils achieved five GCSEs at grade C or above in English, maths, a language, a science and either geography or history - was a particularly contentious point with ASCL members given that it is not actually a qualification in itself and schools were being judged on it without any knowledge or prior consultation. 

And Fleur Sexton, joint managing director of Coventry-based training firm Progressive Educational Tools (PET) - which has awarded over 7,000 GCSE equivalents through its intensive intervention courses - believes headteachers have every right to feel aggrieved.

She said: "I agree in theory with the thinking behind the implementation of the English Baccalaureate as I feel it could really help to increase students' employability as they reach school leaving age.

"However, by introducing the system retrospectively, the teachers have had no idea that they were supposed to be aiming for such a benchmark and the ultimate result is that children who could have reached this level have not. 

"I can see why headteachers have been angered by this because they take a lot of pride in doing the best for students at their schools and they have been prevented from doing this due to this method of implementation."

As well as the English Baccalaureate there is also controversy regarding Gove's plans to weed out underperforming staff and the threat of redundancy for 20 per cent of school staff.

"I think Gove does have some good ideas with regards to improving standards of teaching but the teachers need to be consulted," added Sexton, who is a qualified teacher with over 15 years' experience.

"There should be a lot more consultation with teachers on matters such as this as they are the ones on the frontline and they know what works and what doesn't.

"Education is not about finding one system for everyone but doing your best to cater to individual needs, this is where methods such as vocational pathways can be useful and this has been overlooked somewhat. 

"There need to be clear, concise targets. There are huge demands placed on teachers at the moment and the vast majority do a fantastic job, working incredibly hard as they seek to make a difference in the lives of young people.

"Any funding cuts would be a huge blow because you need to keep teaching techniques fresh and to do this you obviously need money.

"In the 15 years PET has been operating we have seen a host of changes which we have had to adapt to. 

"For example, at the moment we are moving back towards GCSEs and languages to work in line with the changes Gove is introducing, having previously focused on this area before languages were removed from the curriculum in 2004.

"This is what needs to happen across the industry but teachers are already being stretched to their limit so to say that 20 per cent of staff will be made redundant is very worrying.

"Teachers' work tends to be extremely undervalued, which is wrong. We have amazing teachers in the UK who help young people achieve their potential on a daily basis and in their own time and their good work should be celebrated and encouraged as much as possible."