I visited Parklands Girls High School today...

Liz Bisson, the headteacher, and her colleagues have recently been given a notice to improve by our friends from OFSTED largely on the basis of standards and low contextual value added. Liz was very positive and incredibly complimentary about the work that Marcia Harding and colleagues from the School Improvement Service have been doing at the school following the inspection. Liz recognises the challenge thrown down by OFSTED and what it means to be one of Ed Balls 638 schools across the country stuck below the new floor targets. She also recognises the need to move quickly to address the issues the inspection team had raised.

The challenge for us is how do we help Liz and her colleagues who work in one of the most deprived areas of Leeds and are delivering some excellent care and support, some excellent teaching and some great sixth form provision. We need to be more creative, develop our intelligence and target our support where it can really help and really make a difference and we need above all to listen.
Chris