It has been stated that ‘within education, across phases and across continents, the policy context impacts decisively on shaping institutional environments’ (Bell and Stevenson 2005, p.7). From a global perspective, education can be regarded as the key to a nation’s success or failure. Within Scottish education, this philosophy is echoed by John Swinney, Deputy First Minister and Education Secretary who states that, ‘every child growing up in Scotland, regardless of their background, should have an equal chance to succeed’ (TES, 2018). However, the definition of success within education can be open to interpretation and can be viewed differently in policies across the globe. Before policies are adopted and validated by a school community their key principles, pedagogies and content should be examined in order to evaluate the benefits for all children and young people.

For school communities to decide or interpret the content of local educational policy, it is essential that global and national policies are considered. The ability to exhibit up to date and extensive knowledge of education policy is a significant and recurrent theme in the General Teaching Council for Scotland Standard for Leadership and Management (2012). By effectively developing and engaging in this element of strategic leadership, a successful Headteacher can ensure the well-timed and relevant transference of global and national policy into local school context. It can also be said that a Headteacher’s ability to critically analyse policy is crucial, they should be able to use their knowledge and understanding of their local context to evaluate the effectiveness of policies. Effective Headteachers should also have the skills and confidence to decide whether policies should be delivered as they are or adapted to suit the needs of local context. As set out in the General Teaching Council for Scotland Standard for Leadership and Management (2012) a Headteacher should be able to ‘judge wisely and decide appropriately’ (2012, P. 9). Careful consideration should be given to the policy source, its influences and key drivers. Furthermore, it should be noted that political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legislative drivers can all adopt a changing level of priority at any one time and it is imperative that Headteachers demonstrate sound understanding of them. Global drivers such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNICEF, 2004) and Learning for All (World Bank, 2011) continue to be key influential forces in policy formation. Likewise, legal drivers such as The Children & Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 and Getting It Right for Every Child: National Practice Model (Scottish Government, 2012) remain at the forefront of decision-making processes made by a Headteacher. Policy drivers can be diverse, multi-layered and complex and many policies and initiatives can be in existence calling for consideration and implementation at any point in time.