I started the day early with colleagues and governors from Wetherby High School...

The school is embarking on the next stage of its development as a brilliant learning place and it was great to listen to the vision and strategies they are developing to build brilliant at the heart of the Wetherby community.
Chris

I finished the day at the Leeds Schools Music Association Festival Concert at the Town Hall...

Take two evenings in June, nearly 700 children from forty primary schools and a little bit extra from St Peter's, St Matthew's and Hovingham primary schools. Sprinkle a little bit of magic from my colleagues at Artforms and you get two incredible evening. This evening ended with 'You Raise Me Up', a brilliant finale, which received a standing ovation from an enthusiastic audience.

Thanks to Fiona Pacey and everyone involved in producing such brilliant performances from these wonderful children.
Chris

I went on to have lunch with Doug Stoup, explorer, expedition leader, climber and motivational speaker...

Doug had been in Leeds to talk to our international visitors to the Breeze Festival. He was accompanied by Monica Westin, President and Founder of the World of Hope International a charitable organisation working to bring water and hope to communities in Africa. Doug and Monica are keen to work with any schools with links with schools and communities in Africa and can be contacted through their websites http://www.wohi.org and http://www.iceaxe.tv.
Chris

It's OFFICIAL! Education Leeds is now the FIRST recipient of the ALL NEW Government standard of 'Customer Service Excellence' formerly known as Chartermark...

This has been a fantastic team effort and reflects the work of colleagues across the company who have worked very hard to embed brilliant customer service within all our services based on customer feedback and insights. The assessor said in his report that "Education Leeds was found to have a deep understanding and commitment to Customer Service Excellence. The commitment was found from senior management through to operation and front line colleagues."
Thanks to everyone involved particularly to Jenny Marshall and Liz White who have brilliantly managed the process for us and helped us secure this wonderful endorsement of our work.
Chris

I moved on to the 'Showcase and Celebration Event : Social Enterprise - the Journey so Far' at Weetwood Hall...

It was brilliant to see the work that Mike Cooper, Christine Marsden and colleagues are nurturing and supporting. Their passion, commitment, energy and hard work have created something really special which was showcased by young people from Bramley St Peter's CE Primary School who talked about their 'Events Management Company', by Woodlands Primary School who talked about their 'Community Newspaper', by Cockburn Arts College who talked about their 'Glassroom' and by Prince Henry's Grammar School who talked about their 'Fair Trade and Social Enterprise' work. These amazing young people were wonderful ambassadors and advocates for their schools and from what I saw the future of Leeds as a centre of enterprise and innovation is very safe in their capable and creative hands.
Chris

I started the day early with breakfast with the Otley and Aireborough headteachers at the Chevin Country Park Hotel...

Ros Vahey and I were having breakfast with headteachers from this talented bunch of colleagues. These breakfast meetings are opportunities for us to create space and time to share, network and reflect with colleagues on some of the opportunities and challenges facing us... and they are brilliant ways for us to get feedback and look for ways to further improve our services and support for our schools.
Chris

I missed the North Of England Teaching Awards Ceremony in Sheffield last week but Leeds schools brought home a hat full of trophies...

• Meanwood CE Primary School won the DCSF Award for Sustainable Schools;
• In the NCSL Award for Headteacher of the Year in a Primary School category distinctions went to Helen Sanderson, headteacher at Meanwood CE Primary School and Jim Vincent headteacher at the Whartons Primary School in Otley;
• In the Award for Special Needs Teacher of the Year category a distinction went to Jan Pulham from the NW SILC based at the Pennyfields site and a commendation went to Karin Scattergood from St Theresa's RC Primary School;
• In the BT Award for Teacher of the Year in a Primary School a distinction went to Siobhan Leonard from Rothwell St Mary's RC Primary School;
• In the Ted Wragg Award for Lifetime Achievement sponsored by The Innovation Unit a distinction went to Peter Woodhead headteacher at St Peter's CE Primary School;
• In the Guardian Award for Teacher of the Year in a Secondary School a commendation went to David Pearce from Roundhay School and Technology College.

Meanwood CE Primary School will now go on to the national finals of the Teaching Awards to be held in London on October 19. Good luck to Helen and her fantastic team.
Chris

My colleague Richard Boughey our Service Delivery and Transformation Manager within the Information Management team has joined in on the conversation about the RM Asus Minibook...

"For me the Asus Eee PC has always been a pointer to the future rather than a solution. My view is that these lower cost solid state devices will make an impact on all of us over the coming years.
At this point I normally talk about satellite navigation devices and the impact that mainstream retailers have on prices and ubiquitous usage – imagine talking to the board of Psion in the 90’s about your idea to introduce personal satellite navigation devices sold for £100 odd in high street retailers. In 2003 Psion’s Mark Gretton joined a small Dutch PDA software company, TomTom, run by former Psion Computer MD Harold Goddijn. As chief technology officer, Gretton assembled a team of former Psion engineers to create its first hardware products. In fiscal year 2006, TomTom reported revenues of €1.36bn making a net profit of €222m.

Again imagine high street retailers selling low cost laptops, and personal devices like the Eee PC for a price point around £100 (or maybe even 2 for 1!). I have been working with schools for a year or so talking about this and the impact it will have on all of us but clearly from Peter’s perspective we’re not reaching enough schools quickly enough – this is something that has been said to me before and I really do try to reach as many schools as possible.

You’ll see other devices coming along very quickly over the summer; there’s the HP 2133, Dell’s producing one, the Elonex One, the MSI PR210, and the Acer Aspire to name a few. I agree with Peter that this new class of low cost device provides as many challenges as it resolves. Try changing the default language on an Eee PC…

The enthusiasm that Chris and others have for these devices comes from their immediacy; they are closer to mobile phones than traditional computer technologies. As Andrew has mentioned, there are many programmes out there looking at the impact and use of these and many other devices; the BSF heads have been working with RM about the Eee PC’s since January and we’re looking forward to sharing this work across the city. You can also attend the RM conference on the 8th July and join the workshop showcasing "…some of the excellent outcomes following the use of new technology in some of our BSF schools. Equipment such as Play Station Portable (PSP), games consoles and minibook computers have been used in a variety of ways to engage our youngsters and improve their learning". Richard"

It's great to have this debate about ICT and the potential it has to revolutionise teaching and learning. Any further contributions would be very welcome.

Chris

I finished the day at the Gypsy, Roma, Traveller Achievement Awards Ceremony at the Civic Hall...

These awards were planned as part of the first national Gypsy, Roma, Traveller History Month and provided an opportunity for us to celebrate the winners of the Gypsy, Roma, Traveller History Month Poster Competition and to recognise the personal and academic achievements of some of our young people from these communities. This recognition of talent and potential will help us continue to build confidence and self-esteem as well as developing understanding of the culture, traditions and heritage of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.

The evening included wonderful music and dance by Romipen, a gypsy ensemble from Slovakia, and two powerful inputs by Jess Smith and Sheila Stewart, internationally renowned Scottish storytellers, authors and singers. The awards were presented by international Roma artist Ferdinand Koci whose wonderful work is on display at the Leeds Central Library with our poster award winners.

It was another brilliant evening celebrating the work Peter Saunders and his colleagues have been doing to promote the culture, heritage, traditions and achievements of the Gypsy, Roma, Traveller communities both here in Leeds and on a national stage.
Chris

I moved on to Blenheim Primary School to see Mo Duffy, the headteacher, and her colleagues and children...

The school has made real progress since my last visit with improvements to their building and their foundation stage provision. I was impressed by Mo's focus and passion and by her brilliant children; particularly the Year 6 children who were rehearsing for their Summer Concert performance and shared a little bit of magic with Mo and I.
Chris