The Chartered College of Teaching has a new mission statement:

Empowering a knowledgeable and respected teaching profession through membership and accreditation.

I’m delighted that it is already at the heart of everything we do.

It is hard to believe that we are in our seventh year of membership. Over that time we have built a strong and committed professional community, at all career stages. Teachers, leaders and mentors have grown their expertise through our professional learning and accreditation pathways to Chartered Status. We continue to grow our CPD offer for individuals and for whole school communities.

Evidence clearly shows that the quality of teaching is the most important in-school factor for student achievement, particularly for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. We also know from the research that teachers who work in more professional environments are more effective, and that high quality professional development is key to the creation of positive learning cultures in schools. By developing CPD pathways for members we offer opportunities for individuals to develop their professional knowledge. Our group membership helps build learning communities in schools and across MATs.

But there is more to being a member of the Chartered College. We also invite our Members and Fellows, and particularly those with Chartered Status, to share your expertise and to help to grow the whole profession. You are already knowledgeable, and it is exciting to see so many people wanting to continue to develop that knowledge. You are already respected by the communities you serve, even if it is hard sometimes to feel that respect from those in power and in the press. But times are changing, and the importance of education is once again becoming a key part of our national debate. I remain committed to the view that those who make the big policy decisions need to speak, and more importantly to listen, to you.

And so, our mission is to empower you, through your professional community, to be the best you can be in the classroom. To grow and support your colleagues – those you work with and those in the wider profession. And to use your expertise and your knowledge to make a difference across the education system, a difference that will improve education for all the children and young people you teach.