Susan Lewis says schools can no longer rely on head teachers alone

Susan Lewis told the Wales Education Conference in Cardiff schools can no longer rely on head teachers alone.

Ms Lewis said schools need staff to be more flexible, more resourceful, and more creative.

She spoke as Education Minister Jane Davidson said the Welsh baccalaureate was going from "strength to strength".

The fact that someone has done that course doesn't mean they are then going to progress to be a head teacher Brian Lightman, head of St Cyres, Penarth

Ms Lewis told the conference that many young people succeeded.

But she went on: "The system still fails too many.

"What happens to them along the way tells a story about the changes that are needed and the challenges ahead."

Ms Lewis said teaching had to be more about enabling young people to learn "how to learn".

She said schools could no longer rely on head teachers to single-handedly drive forward improvements, and that the pressure on them could explain why it was becoming harder and harder to fill senior posts.

"What we need are more leaders in our schools, not just one," she said.

However, the Welsh Assembly Government has said there is no shortage of head teachers in Wales.

It has said that by July, more than 1,000 people will have been trained to perform the role.

But Brian Lightman, head teacher of St Cyres Comprehensive School in Penarth, and vice-president elect of the Association of School and College Leaders, told BBC Radio Wales the assembly government's view was "dangerously complacent".

"Over 1,000 people have trained to do that course, but I've seen people who have been heads of department who have been allowed to do that course and they're simply not ready to lead schools," he said.

"The fact that someone has done that course doesn't mean they are then going to progress to be a head teacher," he added.