Every parent wants their child to have the best start in life, school standards are therefore an emotive issue. Many people tell me they want some issues to be taken out of politics. Why can’t we just agree on the best way to run our schools so that time is not wasted on debates? However access to an excellent education remains a political issue because school gives life chances to children, no matter what their background. School can set our expectations for life and help us get the qualifications that open those first doors.

There is a lot of consensus in education however there are judgements to be made based on values. One judgement that the Tories have made in England is that they want to allow groups to set up schools where there is demand – free schools. They want to apply the market to education where the market will not bring the best for chances for children. If we want to give every child the best start in life our structures need to reflect this priority. The impact of free schools is to concentrate money and resources into a few smaller schools, just like the Tories’ assisted places scheme which Labour abolished in 1997. Resources need to be targeted where they are needed most.

With Labour’s famous mantra of ‘education, education, education’ ringing in my ears I started training to be a teacher in 1999. It wasn’t just empty rhetoric, labour were delivering on their promise. I had a £6000 training salary, teacher pay increased, thousands more teaching assistants were employed and I benefited from extensive leadership training. I saw schools rebuilt and refurbished with investment boosting the quality of teaching and used to spread good practice. I worked in inner city schools for 12 years and saw first hand the difference a Labour government made.

David Cameron today made a speech saying that he would make schools improve, he has said every child deserves a good school. I agree. However his suggested approach is simplistic and based on dogma.

I have worked in four comprehensive schools. One was an academy, three were local authority run. What made the best schools great was not the type of school they were but the quality of the leadership and the quality of teaching. Having consistently good teaching in every class, every day is tough. As every teacher knows we are not consistent within our own classroom let alone across a school.

In England Tristram Hunt is right to focus on the need to have qualified teachers. Here in Wales, through the Wales Challenge the focus is on improving the standard of teaching and leadership.

The prime minister says he will replace some headteachers, but what is really needed is a drive to prepare the next generation of headteachers for a job that changes lives. To do this we need to once again invest in teaching and professional development. Leaders are not born they are developed and encouraged.

Education should be pushed up the agenda. School leadership and the quality of teaching are where are priorities should be.

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Mari Williams is parliamentary candidate for Cardiff North and former deputy headteacher. She tweets @Mari_Williams.

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Photo: athena.