This afternoon I went to Carr Manor Primary School for the launch of Black History Month here in Leeds...I had been invited because the brilliant 'Primary Colours' team were working in the school and releasing their usual magic with the children. Primary Colours was set up by Marcia Hutchinson and is one of the leading providers of high quality, culturally inclusive resources, helping schools to embed cultural diversity within the curriculum. The team includes Creative Director Pete Tidy, Shazia Azhar, Katherine Platt and John Ashton.

It was great to be back at Carr Manor Primary School and to see how the school continues to develop its brilliant provision through the Children's Centre, the extended services work and the focus on real excellence. Linda Bowles is an inspirational headteacher and she has developed and nurtured a quite exceptional team of talented, brilliant, gorgeous and wonderful colleagues. You just have to walk the school to see that they are releasing a powerful and wonderfully rich curriculum mixture focused on literacy, numeracy, ICT, the arts, sport, personal and social education and rooted in a great learning environment, fantastic relationships and a real understanding of what really matters; quite simply, primary provision at its brilliant best!
Chris

I started the day at the Primary Newly Qualified Teachers Induction Welcome Event at the Village Hotel...

My colleagues Kathryn Atkins, from our Primary Advisory Team, and Rachale Dearns, from our Hunman Resources Team, had worked really hard to set up this day for the 150 young, talented and gorgeous teachers who have joined our primary schools and SILCs this term. It was inspiring to be able to talk to so many young colleagues starting their learning journey here in Leeds as members of simply wonderful primary and special school workforce. It's like being in a school assembly and looking at the talent, the potential and the magic and again you wonder what we can't achieve together here in Leeds.
Chris

I met Vladimir Moskovan and Roel Rhoner again this afternoon...

They came to my office with Lydie Zukalova, Jodie Driver and Jenny Hill to talk about how we can continue to build on the relationship between Brno and Leeds. It was great to talk about the Dalton approach the schools use in Brno and Utrecht and our approach to coaching, personalisation and pathways. We agreed to work on a Comenius bid to support this work and look at having a conference here in Leeds to continue to build the relationships and the learning.
Chris

I started the day at Rawdon Littlemoor Primary School...

It's a fantastic school which was built as part of the ten schools PFI project five years ago and still looks great. Shelagh Henderson, headteacher, and Arthur Rawnsley, Chair of Governors, were there to meet me and to show me their school. Shelagh and her talented colleagues are doing a great job and have created a brilliant learning environment for their children. It was a wonderful start to the day.
Chris

This evening I had dinner with colleagues and friends from Brno in the Czech Republic...

Jenny Hill, my colleague, and I spend wonderful 48 hours in Brno, the Czech Republic's second city after Prague, in May 2007. This evening I was reunited with Vladimir Moskovan, Headteacher at the Chalabalova Scola in Brno, and Roel Rhoner, from the University of Utrecht, who I first met in Brno during that visit. It was great to be able to spend some time with these wonderful colleagues and the other visitors from Brno who had spent a brilliant day at their partner schools here in Leeds; New Bewerley Community Primary School, Valley View Primary School, Allerton CE Primary School and Tranmere Park Primary School. Their passion, enthusiasm, commitment and magic shone through our evening together as they laughed and talked about their day here in Leeds and the magical practice they had observed in their partner schools.
Chris

This afternoon other colleagues attended the launch of 'Building Brighter Futures in Leeds', the new Leeds Children and Young people's Plan 2009 - 2014...

The Plan sets out our approach to improving outcomes for all our children and young people. The document outlines our progress since the last plan was published in 2006 and establishes the ten areas where we need to work in partnership to drive up standards and secure better outcomes.

• improving outcomes for our looked after children;
• improving attendance and reducing persistent absence from school;
• improving early learning and primary outcomes in deprived areas;
• providing places to go and things to do;
• raising the proportion of young people in education or work;
• reducing child poverty;
• reducing teenage conceptions;
• reducing the need for children to be in care;
• strengthening safeguarding;
• enabling integrated working.
  

The Plan makes it clear that over the next five years we will work to make sure that all children and young people:

• are safe and secure;
• are safe and supported in stronger communities;
• are helped to narrow the gap;
• are thriving and learning;
• are safe and supported in stronger families;
• enjoy life and have places to go and things to do;
• make the right choices;
• make a good start; and
• are supported by excellent integrated working.
  

These are ambitious statements but we all know that everything we do needs to be good or better and there can be no exceptions. We all believe that the children and young people of this great city are its future and have extraordinary potential. It is also important that we recognise that our parents and carers, our communities and our partners want every school and all our provision to be brilliant... whatever it takes.
Chris

I moved on to an Emergency Planning Session with the Council's Corporate Leadership Team...

The session led by Roger Carter, the Council's Chief Emergency Planning Officer, and Tim Pouncey, Chief Officer, Audit and Risk and looked at how we strategically manage major emergencies like the swine flu pandemic, floods and other catastrophes.
Chris

i started the day with our Leadership Team looking at our three year financial strategy...

The budget situation looks interesting as we face tighter public spending and the Government's intention to continue to move to place the money with schools to purchase the services and support they need to drive up standards and outcomes. This is right and means that schools will be increasingly shaping and owning the services we currently provide. It means that we need to ensure that we all understand the real cost of everything we do and ensure that all the services we continue to provide are outstanding.
Chris

My colleague Steve Clark, Headteacher at Whitkirk Primary School sent me this message at the end of last week...

"Hello Chris, Just a quick note to alert you to an item on tv this evening that might be of interest. Calendar on ITV is showing an item about two of our pupils who have worked with the Willow Young Carers team. As I know you know, the Willows team does a fantastic job of raising awareness about the lives of young carers and they spent a whole day with us here at Whitkirk recently, allowing all children to understand what it means to be a young carer. The Calendar cameras were here on Tuesday filming some of our children and I have just learned that they are showing it tonight. Tune in and you should see some of our young stars in action!
Best wishes, Steve."

Willow Young Carers is a wonderful organisation reaching and supporting some of the young carers in Leeds. Whitkirk Primary School has pioneered some of this work and it is wonderful to see their work being given such coverage and recognition.

Chris

Our visitors from Sweden told me about 'The World's Children's Prize for the Rights of the Child' which is a bit like the Nobel Prize but goes to a child...

The WCPRC strengthens the voices of children and young people, promotes their ‘humanitarian growth’ into global citizens, and helps them to demand respect for the rights of the child. Students from all over the world work with the WCPRC, which is the world’s largest annual education and empowerment process for the rights of the child, democracy, the environment and global friendship.

The WCPRC was founded by Swedish organisation Children’s World, but it is open to all schools and organisations all over the world.You can find out more by visiting their website at www.worldschildrensprize.org.
Chris