I spent this afternoon in Manchester at a Tom Peters session organised by the London Business School...

The session called 'Excellence Always' was at the Comedy Club in Manchester and it was refreshing to hear Tom Peters again although he was older, angrier, more tired and less focused than the last time I saw him.

The message however was the same... what's important in a business, in a council or in a school is the people. When it comes to our priorities we should put our colleagues first, second, third, fourth and fifth. The key messages to remember are:

• listen;
• ask colleagues 'what do you think?';
• say 'thank you';
• smile;
• say 'sorry'; and
• manage by wandering about!

But if you have been reading my blog for a while you knew all this anyway!

Chris

Dr. Bill Pullen

3.7.61 - 20.8.09

Our colleague Bill Pullen, died very suddenly after a short illness on Thursday August 20th. Bill's funeral took place on Tuesday 1st September in Scotland, where he was born. Bill took up the post of Headteacher at Farnley Park in September, 2005 after being Deputy Headteacher at Benton Park School. Bill was one of those colleagues who could take your breath away; a giant of a man with a charismatic and friendly style and he will be sadly missed by us all... Farnley Park, West Leeds, Leeds and the world of education and learning have lost a remarkable human being and the world is a sadder and less special place without him.

Our thoughts as an educational community are with his family and friends at this terribly sad time.

Chris

"Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “Press On” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race."
Calvin Coolidge

The new year has started under a huge dark cloud with Bill Pullen's death but looking back over the last year, our eighth year here in Leeds, we have to remember that we have had another great year with some extraordinary successes...

Just look at what our best primary schools, secondary schools, SILCs and PRUs have achieved over the last year and simply imagine what we could achieve together if everyone was as passionate, as committed and determined, as prepared to go the extra mile and as focused and as excellent as the most inspiring and exceptional colleagues in the best bits of Education Leeds and in those outstanding schools.

I know that I say this every year but these next few months are critical for Education Leeds and Children Services as we approach the a new set of opportunities and challenges with the new OFSTED Framework, 21st Century Schools, the National Challenge, more DCSF initiatives, even more focus on standards, safeguarding and with more Academies rolling across the learning landscape; a learning landscape where money is going to be increasingly tight and with local and national elections likely to bring even more change and challenge.

We must continue to challenge each other; to clearly articulate our goals and our roles and make belonging to Children's Services, Education Leeds and the learning team here in Leeds a vibrant, exciting and dynamic part of our lives. I’ll try to get to as many schools, centres, team meetings and talk to as many of you as I can to listen to your views and to get your advice, help and support for the next stage in our journey to excellence, our journey to world class.

Just don’t let anyone tell you that it can’t be done!

Chris

I have been doing this for a long time and, after yet another Summer, I am more and more convinced that our continued success depends on how brave we are prepared to be in an increasingly interesting world...

We need to lead by example, to get rid of the fear and to work hard to continue to build brilliant. Building brilliant is all about creativity, imagination and talent. It is all about experiments, pilots and trying things out to see if they work. Above all we must

• keep calm;
• go on offensive.
• engage and involve everyone;
• move all our energy and effort to the front line;
• experiment and try things out;
• make things up as we go along;
• get some things wrong;
• get some things right;
• cry a little; and
• laugh a lot.

Whatever it takes we must develop, create and build BRILLIANT!
Chris

The blog will again go quiet for a few days while I continue to get rid of the knots, unwind, relax, recharge and get ready for yet another brilliant year here in Leeds...

I hope everyone out there manages to do the same. And remember when you are out there... think team, think family, think about the things that really, really matter and hold hands and stick together.

Take care. Chris

"Life isn't measured by the number of breaths we take but the moments that take our breath away."

Today I must write the saddest lines and I am really sorry to tell you that Bill Pullen, Headteacher at Farnley Park High School, our colleague and friend died yesterday. Bill was one of those colleagues who could take your breath away; a giant of a man with a charismatic and friendly style and he will be missed by us all. I can see him now, standing in my doorway three weeks ago, smiling at me before the holidays. We don't currently know anything about his funeral but I know your thoughts, like mine, will be with Bill's family and friends at this terrible time.

We have lost a colleague, a friend and a champion of learning and young people. We have all been priviledged to know Bill and his death is a sad, sad loss to education and learning in Leeds. Chris

I met with Jancis Andrew, our new Head of Attendance, today...

Jancis is a breath of fresh air. She is bright, talented and gorgeous and will bring new ideas and new energy to our work on improving school attendance. Her understanding of the need to see improving attendance as part of a holistic approach to school improvement is really refreshing. We are doing all the usual things to improve attendance and now need to think creatively and imaginatively about why some of our young people and their families don't see regular school attendance as important.

We certainly live in interesting times.
Chris

We are on the edge of a radical and important transformation but one that may be lost unless we are very careful...

More than ever we need schools to connect more powerfully with young people, their families and the communities they serve. The research suggests that a great school can achieve great things but it's impact on a child's life only amounts to around 12-15% of the child's success. A great family and a great mum has a massively more important and influential role accounting for up to 30% of a child's success. And surprisingly a great community, an aspirational community, also matters hugely to a child's success. Sadly, while it helps, going to a great school is not the only answer to the problems we face and we must recognise that the answers to the real challenges we all face in raising standards and achieving world class outcomes for our children lie in tackling poverty, deprivation and poor parenting and in building equality and equity at the heart of everything we do.

Happy to discuss.
Chris

Language and attitude are such powerful determinants of how we think, how we act and how we behave...

When you are talking about a child, a colleague, a friend, an athlete, a dancer, a school, a place or anything else and you hear the word ordinary what do you think? You probably think of words such as average, dull, boring, plain, common, and satisfactory. You're probably not thinking of an ordinary colleague or an ordinary place because they simply aren't that important or that memorable.

So what do you think of when you hear the word extraordinary? Words such as amazing, wonderful, talented, gorgeous, outstanding and brilliant come to mind. You're probably thinking of an individual or a particular place that fits the description: a personal hero, a partner, a child, a friend, a great school, a great restaurant, an incredible footballer, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist, a great poet, or your favourite place.

Sadly many people believe that if you are like most of us, ordinary people with ordinary jobs, that you have no hope of ever achieving success or doing something extraordinary: something that really makes a difference. It's not true. You are a unique and extraordinary individual with incredible potential and the difference between being ordinary or being extraordinary is not skill, the difference is attitude!
Chris

We certainly live in interesting times with schools increasingly moving centre stage and the end of national prescription and national control...

We need to re-imagine and redesign learning for this new age:

• to re-think and understand that more is better;
• to re-think and connect our learning places with other provision;
• to re-imagine our spaces for learning building on creativity, imagination and enterprise;
• to develop collaborative and team based approaches at the heart of what we do;
• to build learning webs, learning hubs and learning satellites since small is beautiful;
• to re-think teaching and formal learning to maintain excellence and academic rigour;
• to develop learning as informal and fun to connect with young people's interests and potential;
• to create learning places that young people love and shape to better meet their needs;
• to create learning places where young people have high self-esteem and feel in control of their own learning.

It's all about brilliant learning in brilliant learning places!
Discuss.
Chris
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