I moved on to Carr Manor High School...

I had been invited to the Official Sports College Launch with Brian Close, Eddie Gray and Mike Tomlinson. Brian and Eddie are two of my sporting heroes and Mike talked movingly about Jane Tomlinson and her determination, her commitment and her self-belief.

I was proud to be invited to talk at the school's special assembly. I was there at the official opening of the new building by Tony Blair and the journey Carr Manor High School has been on over the last two years has been simply remarkable. The Sports College Status marked a significant step in the journey and the recent OFSTED inspection confirmed that this is an exceptional school with a brilliant team led by an inspiration headteacher.

It was wonderful to be part of this very special event and to be seen as part of the team releasing a very special kind of magic.
Chris

Cllr Richard Harker and Dirk Gilleard and I started the day at Pudsey Grangefield School...
It is fantastic; truly a brilliant learning place shaped by Ken Cornforth's wonderful vision for learning and brought alive by a great team and some amazing young people.


This is the future and it really is world class. It was great to see how colleagues were using this truly amazing learning environment to develop responsibility for learning in young people, to coach and nurture their learners and to achieve transformational outcomes. If I was going back to teaching in secondary school this is one of the places I would want to be.
Chris

My colleague John Paxton sent me some more good news about ouir NEET figures...

"Dear Chris, Our September NEET figure is 7.61% and represents significant improvement ! Even better than August's encouraging position. The September 2007 figure was 12.7%. The September 2008 result is easily the best since NEET records began, the previous best monthly figure having been 8.2% in July 2005. Every September the number of Not Knowns rises significantly. This September we have recorded 27.19 %. The September 2007 figure was 45.0%. The previous best September NKs figure was 35.0% in 2005. These results are great ! A real tribute to the partnership endeavours and commitment. John."

These results are brilliant and complement the wonderful GCSE results. Well done to John and everyone involved.
Chris

Nina Jonsson, Deputy Head at Nya Elementar in Stockholm, sent us this after my colleague Allyn Pazienza and her team organised Nina's visit to Leeds last week...

"Hi Allyn, Thank you so much for organising the school visits in Leeds. Everyone was so pleased and so inspired after the visits. To be honest I have never heard my staff so content after a visit to schools abroad. It was brilliant in every way! Please make sure Cockburn and Morley know how pleased we were with the visits! Best Wishes, Nina."

It simply reinforces the message that what we are doing here in Leeds is fantastic.
Chris

The DCSF has today published the report on Sex and Relationships Education (SRE) in schools. They have also published the Government's response to the group's report...

The steering group’s headline recommendation is that PSHE should be made statutory and be supported by a statutory programme of study (PoS) – in order to give it increased status/priority in schools. The Government has accepted the arguments for statutory PSHE and agreed to undertake a review – headed by Sir Alasdair MacDonald – to consider how to turn the decision that PSHE should have statutory status into a practicable way forward.

Watch this space!
Chris

My colleague Hannah Lamplugh, our Participation Officer, sent me this...

"Dear Chris, I am delighted to let you know that this years Mayor for the Day competition has been a huge success. I have been working in partnership with Leeds City Council Democratic Services to support 15 schools to participate in this years Mayor for the Day competition. During Local Democracy Week, hundreds of young people voted for their favourite manifestos. The votes have now been counted and I can reveal that the winner is Sophie Cooper-Connolly from Boston Spa School. Second place goes to - Michaella Biscomb from Brigshaw High and in third place is Katrina Hendry from Corpus Christi Catholic College.

A record breaking 14 secondary schools and a SILC took part this year and we received almost 7000 votes from young people across the city. A display of all the student candidates and their manifestos will be on display at the Elmete Centre or you can read the manifestos on-line at
http://portal.leedslearning.net/collaborate/mayorfortheday. These youn people, their parents and school colleagues have been invited to have tea with the Mayor and will have a tour of the civic on 6th November. Watch out for the winner and "Mayor for a Day" Sophie who will be switching on the Christmas Lights with a mystery celebrity on the 6th November. She will be presenting her manifesto which focuses on the "new arena" to the 99 Councillors in January 2009. The majority of the manifestos focused on "green travel" and the "new arena" and we will be providing all candidates with the opportunity to come together and explore their fantastic ideas with then relevant Councillors / colleagues within Children Leeds. Regards, Hannah"

Thanks Hannah.
Chris

'Take on 11 Million Takover' Event - Friday 7 November 2008

My colleague Sara Kane who works in my Communications Team wanted me to plug this brilliant opportunity for young people in our secondary schools to takeover Leeds...

On Friday 7 November 2008 we are holding a ‘Take on 11 Million Takeover’ event and we want three students from each secondary school across Leeds to attend. The session will explain how the young people can get involved; they will be able to attend some workshops, and help to set our direction as part of ‘Take on 11 Million Takeover’ the following week. We hope that the young people who attend will become ambassadors for takeover in their schools, spreading the word among their peers and encouraging schools to take part.

If you would like your school to take part, please fill in and return the form available on InfoBase, quick code D2001, by Monday 27 October 2008 or contact Sara at sara.kane@educationleeds.co.uk.
Chris

I went on to visit Otley Ashfield Primary School...

It is a calm, purposeful and inclusive little school with a Pupil Development Centre and a Children's Centre and some fantastic grounds including a Magical Garden. The Pupil Development Centre and the Children's Centre are wonderful environments for learning and add something really special to this little school. Sybil Parker, the headteacher, and her team are doing a great job and achieving some brilliant results, particularly in literacy. I was impressed by Sybil's passion, commitment, openness and energy which is developing a culture of excellence at Ashfield Primary School.
Chris

I moved on to the fifth Stephen Lawrence Education Standard Awards at Space@Hillcrest...

It was another of those highlights that bring real magic to my week. You simply had to walk into Space to feel that you were somewhere very special with colleagues who shared a commitment, passion, and belief in all our children and young people. Colleagues who share a determination to develop respect, tolerance and understanding across every community in our city.

During the morning, while I was at the celebration, we had brilliant inputs by young people and colleagues from Brigshaw High School, Hunslet Moor Primary School, Pudsey Primrose Hill Primary School, Wortley High School and Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School... and it was FANTASTIC!

It was a real priviledge to be at the celebration and to present awards to some innovative, creative and wonderful schools and early years settings. Our team were there usual brilliant selves and I hope that we will have some pictures soon.
Chris

I started the day with Andrew Hodkinson at West Oaks SILC...

Andrew was talking to me about their plans to develop 'excellence through innovation' using the Trust model to further develop their offer. It was wonderful to listen to a colleague who has such high expectations and the aspirations to build world class provision for all our children.
Chris