Over half term I've been to two of my favourite places...Edinburgh and Oxford... to recharge the batteries, to relax and unwind and get ready for the challenges ahead.

Before the break, I did a brief presentation to the whole team involved in the Building Schools for the Future programme and another at the North East Area Management Board's 'Primary to High School Transfer' event. I went to Whitkirk Primary School to see Sheila Davenport and the Barnardo's Willows Young Carers team in action and to Brigshaw High School to see Kippax Ash Tree Primary School launch their Stephen Lawrence Education Standard with the 'Mighty Zulu Nation'.

I went to the South Leeds CLC to see the first judging of the 'Formula Schools' event where students from seven Leeds High Schools design and build a radio controlled racing car to compete at Silverstone! I also went to the 'Investors in Pupils' conference in Wakefield where young people from Blackgates Primary School and Boston Spa School were brilliant advocates and ambassadors for this fantastic programme.

The week before half term we were being assessed for the Customer Service Excellence Award which replaced the Chartermark Standard. We will find out the result of our assessment over the next couple of weeks, but in a week when the Education Leeds VI Team achieved the VI Quality Mark, the first team in the country to achieve this award, and we discovered that we are one of the four final nominations for the international Carl Bertelsmann Foundation Prize, we are as always expecting the best.

Whatever you do this week, remember that we have a lot to live up to and be your brilliant best.
Chris.