The deputy First Minister is set to announce £4.5m of investment in a bid to support head teachers across Scotland.

In a speech outlining the Government's vision for Scottish education, John Swinney will reveal a new training scheme for head teachers and a partnership with the Hunter Foundation to create head teacher leadership academies.

The Scottish College for Educational Leadership will run the Excellence in Headship scheme for existing head teachers backed by £400,000 of Scottish Government funding a year for four years.

School heads will learn skills in "leading system change" and "organisational effectiveness" as part of the course, which includes an international exchange programme to learn from peers in other countries.

The Government will invest £2m in the next four years along with £1m from the Hunter Foundation in the leadership academies, run by social enterprise Columba 1400.

Speaking at Queen Margaret University, Mr Swinney is expected to say: "Effective school leadership is key to the success of schools. As a result, it's vital we invest in our head teachers and support them to deliver superb schooling for children in Scotland.

"I am delighted to announce that Excellence in Headship is now open for recruitment, backed by £1.6m of Scottish Government funding over the next four years.

"In addition, the Scottish Government, in partnership with the Hunter Foundation, will support leadership academies delivered by Columba 1400 which will benefit 320 head teachers in its first year.

"The head teacher role is challenging but hugely rewarding and I want to support teachers to take the step to headship while also committing to supporting head teachers already in post."

Sir Tom Hunter, chairman of the Hunter Foundation agreed Scotland's schools needed "great leadership".

He said: "The pace of change in the world of work is an incredible challenge for our school leaders and teachers - 65% of our young people joining primary school this year will go to jobs that don't even exist today.

"So rightly we need to invest more in supporting our school leaders and that's why we are delighted to be investing £1m alongside the Scottish Government's £2m into world-class school leadership."

The announcement comes as the Government is holding a review on how schools are run, with proposed changes including head teachers being handed new powers and more control over decisions, and funding moving from councils to schools.