A maintained school headteacher has been appointed as a 鈥榮chool leader adviser鈥� to education secretary Bridget Phillipson. Andrew O鈥橬eill, headteacher of All Saints Catholic College, in London, will take up the role on a 12-month secondment from Wednesday. The Department for Education told Schools Week O鈥橬eill will bring 鈥渇rontline expertise directly into the heart of policy-making鈥�. 鈥淓xceptional school leaders drive high and rising education standards, and Andrew will provide crucial sector insights as we continue to deliver against our Plan for Change mission to break down barriers to opportunity and deliver excellence everywhere, for every child,鈥� a government spokesperson said. 鈥淭his role will help us break the link between background and success by supporting underperforming groups 鈥� including white working-class children 鈥� and raising standards across all schools.鈥� O鈥橬eill was appointed after an open recruitment process. The DfE said he was the strongest candidate, pointing to a 鈥減roven track record of school leadership excellence, system-level insight and innovative approach鈥�. 鈥淗e brings extensive experience across school improvement, special educational needs, data analysis and innovation.鈥� The civil servant role was advertised with a 拢125,000 salary. The job advert states the 鈥渘ew鈥� secondment offered a 鈥渦nique opportunity for an experienced school leader to contribute directly to policy development and sector engagement鈥�. The former government had similar roles advisory roles, originally titled as a 鈥渢eacher in residence鈥�. The job advert adds the new adviser will work closely with 鈥渃ivil servants and education leaders on key priority projects in areas such as raising standards and delivering RISE universal priorities, promoting best practice, and supporting schools to achieve excellence鈥�. They will help develop strategies to promote 鈥渉igh and rising standards and create a self-improving sector in key areas of policy鈥� and 鈥減rovide insights into effective engagement approaches for teachers, headteachers and school staff across the sector.鈥�. O鈥橬eill will also be tasked with identifying the 鈥渒ey challenges schools face and contribute to solutions through peer review, networking, and mentoring鈥�. O鈥橬eill was crowned secondary headteacher of the year at the 2022 Pearson teaching awards. He has also created an online school analytics platform called Lighthouse, set up a group to give maintained schools a policy voice and is a member of the Headteachers Roundtable group. His school has also had national media attention over initiatives such as lie-ins for teachers and longer school days. O’Neill has also spoken publicly in favour of Labour’s schools agenda, including the academy reforms.
Veronica Walker 2 June 2025 This is all very positive , but what If you have a trust whose secondary school continues to provide poor results, has high staff turnover and poor retention. The latest review left by an interviewee for a senior job made damning statements about the recruitment process? Why isn鈥檛 anyone interested in true Trust accountability and meeting the needs of our children in education ? The government thinks it knows what鈥檚 needed but have they actuallly Listened to students and staff? I think not.