YORK head teacher John Tomsett has a way with pithy sayings. Here is one that neatly sums up much of what is wrong with the way schools in Britain are run today: “One of the problems is... we are stuck in five year cycles of elections, governments and politicians which doesn’t give us long enough to do things that really make a difference to children.”

In other words, Mr Tomsett is politely saying to education secretary Michael Gove and other politicians like him: stop interfering and let us get on with the job we’re trained to do.

Constant interference by politicians is one of the curses of modern education. Now Huntington School head Mr Tomsett and 11 other heads from the non-party political Head Teachers Round Table group have launched their own reforming educational manifesto.

Its ten key proposals include a measure to stop politicians constantly changing the measures by which schools’ and teachers’ performance is monitored. “The accountability system continues to suppress rather than unleash the creative energy of teachers,” the manifesto says.

Other proposals include introducing a national baccalaureate framework to bring order to the often bewildering range of qualifications; a proper professional development programme for teachers; better support for parents of children aged under five; and a new framework for school inspections.

These are sensible, properly thought-out measures. If he really cares about educational standards in this country, Mr Gove would do well to listen to these experts, instead of constantly tinkering in the hope of short-term electoral popularity.