The government is determined to launch a charm offensive to make sure heads are onside when it comes to major reforms being announced on Monday

David Hart, NAHT

In its annual report, published on Tuesday, the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) revealed that nine out of ten schools were now led satisfactorily or better.

Speaking at the National Association of Headteachers (NAHT) Conference in Birmingham, Ms Morris said improvements in teaching had gone hand in hand with rising pupil attainment at all levels.

It was essential, she said, to continue to invest in heads, deputy heads and the school leaders of the future.

School leadership college

This was why the government had created the National College for School Leadership, where heads of the future would be trained.

Estelle Morris said heads had played a significant role in a rise in standards

"I believe that head teachers have a crucial role in encouraging continuing professional development for all teachers," she told the conference.

"Development is essential in assuring the quality of teaching - a prerequisite for raising standards further."

She admitted that head teachers would be concerned about recruitment and retention problems and said the government was working to address those concerns.

'Charm offensive'

David Hart, general secretary of the NAHT, said that while the praise was welcome, the government was anxious to get head teachers backing their policies.

"The government is determined to launch a charm offensive to make sure heads are onside when it comes to major reforms being announced on Monday.

"I think heads are happy to sign up to the vision, but they will looking at the small print very closely," he said.

The Secondary Heads Association (SHA) welcomed the praise, saying it came on the back of similar comments in the Ofsted report.

"The country has largely failed to recognise that it has a successful school system on which to build in the future," general secretary, John Dunford, said.

"Head teachers all too often haven't been given due recognition for that success," he said.

But he cautioned that praise from government ministers was often couched in terms of the things heads were doing wrong and the ways in which they were to put them right.