I started the day at Allerton Bywater Primary School...

I haven't been for a while and I wanted to go to thank Margaret Moyles, our consultant headteacher, who has been doing a brilliant job since the school was placed in Special Measures by our friends at OFSTED. I also wanted to thank the staff team who are really making a difference in this great little school.

I arrived to see the fantastic breakfast club which was buzzing and then I was taken into the hall for the first Wake Up and Shake Up of the day... this is a school that takes things seriously and does Wake Up and Shake Up twice a day! The session was fabulous and the children, supported by students from Brigshaw High School, had a really energetic and enthusiastic work out.

I had a quick walk around the school and met some of the team. The building is bright and attractive, the learning environment is brilliant and the children are great. This isn't a school in Special Measures anymore; it's somewhere with real potential where Margaret and her team are releasing a very special magic.
Chris

If like me you weren't nominated for a Spirit Award this year not to worry...

You can still come to the party on Friday and forget about OFSTED, National Strategies, EYFS, DCSF, CVA, APA and unwind for a brilliant Christmas. It's only £10 for the best night of the year!

I hope to see you there.
Chris

I heard about this new scheme yesterday at the Healthy Leeds launch...

The DCSF and the Department of Health want to encourage us all to eat well, move more and live longer. Which is where Change4Life comes in. It aims to help families and it’s really important to our childrens' futures. But apparently it’s also going to be fun! As the movement starts to grow, there will be plenty of brilliant things to get involved in and we are being encouraged to badge up our programmes as Change4Life. The programme will include local events and activities, magazines and tasty recipe ideas, amongst many other things. You can find out more and register at http://www.nhs.uk/Change4Life.
Chris

My colleague Vanessa Huws Jones, Primary School Improvement Partner Coordinator/Adviser sent me this really wonderful piece of writing...

" I wanted a perfect ending.
Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle and end.
Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next.
Delicious ambiguity. "
Gilda Radner, 1946-1989

That line 'Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next' is simply brilliant and captures for me the way I face the future. Thanks Vanessa.
Chris

I started the day at Parklands Girls High School...

I was there to see Helen Lane, headteacher, and to talkk about the progress the school was making. It was encouraging to see the real focus Helen has brought to the school around achieving the National Challenge targets next Summer with Year 11. Helen also asked me to briefly meet her team at briefing to wish them all a Happy Christmas and thank them all for their hard work this term.
Chris

And finally, I attended the Hunslet Hawks Learning Centre 'Playing for Success Celebration Evening' at the John Charles Centre for Sport...

It was a fantastic evening celebrating children from Middleton St Philips, Middleton St Mary's, Clapgate, Low Road and Windmill Primary Schools. The Parkside Suite was packed with young people and their parents, carers and teachers.
Chris

I then moved on to the East SILC for a production of 'Santa Who?' performed by children and colleagues from the Oakwood Pupil Support Centre...

The young people aided by Dr Who performed a story which took us from Christmas in Bethlehem to Chistmas on the trenches in World War One to Christmas in the Future and back again in search of Santa. It was a fabulous celebration of what these children can achieve when given the opportunity and brilliantly supported by colleagues and young people from 2Engage.
Chris

I moved on to the VI team Christmas party at Keirkstall St Stephen's Church Hall...

It was wonderful to see the team with their precious children and their parents, carers and brothers and sisters playing together and celebrating Christmas and another brilliant year.
Chris

I was delighted to see that Whitkirk Primary School won the YEP Xmas Carol Factor...

Congratulations to the brilliant choir and to their fantastic teacher Catherine Sunderland who produced their winning entry 'Journey to Bethlehem'.

Chris

I started the day at the launch of the Physical Activity Strategy...

Active Leeds : A Healthy City 2008 - 2012 sets out to address the challenges we face here in Leds with ensuring that everyone has a healthy and active lifestyle... important because it is the key to maintaining and improving our health and well-being. The Strategy looks at four aspects:

• Active Living;
• Active Travel;
• Active Recreation;
• Active Sport.

We need to carefully consider the Chief Medical Officer's recommendations that children should be active for 6o minutes every day and adults should be active for 30 minutes five days a week. Clearly we need to do more because there is a frightening increse in the number of overweight and obsese children as we move through the primary years. In reception 20% are overweight and 9% are obese. By the end of Year 6 the figures have increased so that 33% are overweight and 18% are obese. We also know that once a child moves into adulthood it is very very difficult to get out of the cycle of being overweight. So we need to look carefully at how we can ansure that every child does 60 minutes of moderate activity everyday with at least twice a week this inclding activities to improve bone health, muscle strength and flexibility. We also need to ensure that most of us engage in 30 minutes of moderate physical activity most days of the week.

Chris