County education officer, Andrew Seber, is the new president of the Confederation of Education Service Managers.

His role will involve representing his colleagues in meetings with government ministers, senior civil servants, heads of other national bodies and a range of other organisations.

A former teacher, Mr Seber says he is keen to put forward ideas which will help professionals in the classroom and his experience with youth services, adult education, early years education and special needs makes him a strong supporter of parents, governors and communities.

"It is a privilege to be elected to a role such as this by your peers. Standards of public service are high across the country and we need to strive to achieve even more," said Mr Seber.

"It is essential that we create a culture of high achievement underpinned with strong human values.

"Councillors, school governors, parents and volunteers give up their time to public service and our professional skills and knowledge are there to help them, too."

Mr Seber said it was inevitable that there would be challenges ahead for the education service and that people would disagree about the best way forward.

"Nevertheless, standards matter more than structures and our priority must be to maximise the life chances of all learners."