I moved on again to see Simon Flowers, headteacher at Carr Manor High School, to talk about the challenges and opportunities we face...
It is great to be able to spend time at Carr Manor with Simon and to walk around the school and see the total transformation that has happened under Simon's passionate, dynamic and determined leadership. What has been achieved by the team at Carr Manor is evidence of what is possible with great leadership, a strong and relentless focus on teaching and learning, behaviour and standards, coaching and relationships and an unshakeable belief in what is possible. It was a great session which really helped me think about the areas we need to explore and manage as we build the team around the child, the team around the family and most importantly the team around the school as we reinvent, re-imagine and renew children's services here in Leeds.
We agreed that above all at times like this we need to talk more, to share more, to network more, to celebrate more and to continue to build on the brilliant work we have been doing together to ensure that every child and young person is happy, healthy, safe and increasingly successful... whatever it takes.
Chris
Wednesday, 16 June 2010
I moved on to join a meeting of our Performance Management and Information Team...
They are a great team of colleagues whose work lies at the heart of so much of what we do here at Education Leeds helping to shape our culture which is about coaching, conversations, reflective practice and continuous improvement. We need to ensure that the current political, leadership and budgetary challenges we are all facing don't distract us from our relentless and uncompromising focus on schools, children and outcomes.
Chris
They are a great team of colleagues whose work lies at the heart of so much of what we do here at Education Leeds helping to shape our culture which is about coaching, conversations, reflective practice and continuous improvement. We need to ensure that the current political, leadership and budgetary challenges we are all facing don't distract us from our relentless and uncompromising focus on schools, children and outcomes.
Chris
I started the day at the 'Showcase and Celebration Event: Social Enterprise Flying High!' at the Holiday inn at Garforth...
I had been asked by my colleague Christine Marsden, who is our curriculum development manager at the education business partnership in our school improvement service, and her colleagues who are developing social enterprises in our schools which meet the needs of local communities and provide real opportunities for our young people to run small businesses. We need to encourage and support our children and young people to be creative, imaginative and entrepreneurial an to give them the skills, attitudes and belief to succeed in the constantly changing world of work.
It was brilliant to see the young people so enthusiastic about their work which included an art gallery, button beads, super saints journal, ration shop, flash 'n' snap, ginger enjoyment, fruit saloon, treatz for you, helping hands and young talent coaches. The young people also had the opportunity to see Oakley Pilotille, one of our Schools Got Talent winners from Farnley Park Maths and computing College, dance and to listen to Sabirul Islam, a young social entrepreneur, motivational speaker and bestselling author. I know Christine will let me know the winners... so watch this space.
Chris
I had been asked by my colleague Christine Marsden, who is our curriculum development manager at the education business partnership in our school improvement service, and her colleagues who are developing social enterprises in our schools which meet the needs of local communities and provide real opportunities for our young people to run small businesses. We need to encourage and support our children and young people to be creative, imaginative and entrepreneurial an to give them the skills, attitudes and belief to succeed in the constantly changing world of work.
It was brilliant to see the young people so enthusiastic about their work which included an art gallery, button beads, super saints journal, ration shop, flash 'n' snap, ginger enjoyment, fruit saloon, treatz for you, helping hands and young talent coaches. The young people also had the opportunity to see Oakley Pilotille, one of our Schools Got Talent winners from Farnley Park Maths and computing College, dance and to listen to Sabirul Islam, a young social entrepreneur, motivational speaker and bestselling author. I know Christine will let me know the winners... so watch this space.
Chris
Tuesday, 15 June 2010
This morning I was invited to the Leeds Special Educational Needs Market Place Event at the Civic Hall...
I was invited by my colleague Angela Bernard-Ferguson who works for our brilliant Parent Partnesrhip Service. The event was funded by Children Leeds Aiming Higher for Disabled Children and was co-ordinated by the Parent Partnership Service. It was a brilliant celebration of our work and the teams who work so hard to make a real difference for some of our most special children and their parents and carers.
This was the fourth of these wonderful events I have attended building on the work of the North West SILC Parents Forum in 2007. It was deeply encouraging that we had four times as many parents and carers booked into the event during the day and that the scale and scope of the partnerships on display and the involvement of the statutory, charitable, third sector and voluntary providers had grown and developed since last year.
I was also asked to introduce the choir from the South SILC who sang to us all and were simply brilliant! These events reflect and underline colleagues passion, commitment, energy, enthusiasm and hard work for our special children and their parents and carers. Thanks to Angela and everyone involved for making it such a special and memorable day.
Chris
I was invited by my colleague Angela Bernard-Ferguson who works for our brilliant Parent Partnesrhip Service. The event was funded by Children Leeds Aiming Higher for Disabled Children and was co-ordinated by the Parent Partnership Service. It was a brilliant celebration of our work and the teams who work so hard to make a real difference for some of our most special children and their parents and carers.
This was the fourth of these wonderful events I have attended building on the work of the North West SILC Parents Forum in 2007. It was deeply encouraging that we had four times as many parents and carers booked into the event during the day and that the scale and scope of the partnerships on display and the involvement of the statutory, charitable, third sector and voluntary providers had grown and developed since last year.
I was also asked to introduce the choir from the South SILC who sang to us all and were simply brilliant! These events reflect and underline colleagues passion, commitment, energy, enthusiasm and hard work for our special children and their parents and carers. Thanks to Angela and everyone involved for making it such a special and memorable day.
Chris
Monday, 14 June 2010
I went to the Official Opening of Beeston St Luke's Catholic Primary School's new nursery before half term and while I was there I met Laura Hodgkinson who is one of the Kidz Klub Leaders here in Leeds. I received this e-mail from Laura today...
"Hi Chris, We met just before half term at the opening of St Lukes Nursery. I am one of the Leaders at Kidz Klub Leeds and you asked me to send you some information about our charity and the work that we do across inner city Leeds. I have attached our annual report and another report that says a little of what we do. Since both these reports were written we have started a new club in Middleton. Our Thursday night event is held at Middleton Primary and is open to all primary aged children in the area. Each week we visit every child at home, as we do for 1300 other children across the city who attend our other clubs. It's great to be in this new area and the work is being received really positively. In the autumn term we are have been asked by people across the Armley/ Bramley area to launch a club there. We are really looking forward to working with the community and especially the schools in this area. I hope that the information that i have sent is informative and useful. It would be wonderful you could visit us at a club or see some of the work we do in inner city schools. Many thanks Laura."
The Kidz Klub Annual Report highlights the fact that "in the UK today 1 in 3 children live in poverty. That’s 4 million children. In the 5th richest country in the world, that’s a shameful truth. Leeds Central Ward has among the worst proportion of children living in poverty in the UK. Poverty affects the life chances of the children, families and communities of those it comes into contact with. In the areas where Kidz Klub is active rates of crime, unemployment and drug use are high, and aspirations and opportunities are low. This is the daily reality for thousands of children living in inner-city Leeds."
"Hi Chris, We met just before half term at the opening of St Lukes Nursery. I am one of the Leaders at Kidz Klub Leeds and you asked me to send you some information about our charity and the work that we do across inner city Leeds. I have attached our annual report and another report that says a little of what we do. Since both these reports were written we have started a new club in Middleton. Our Thursday night event is held at Middleton Primary and is open to all primary aged children in the area. Each week we visit every child at home, as we do for 1300 other children across the city who attend our other clubs. It's great to be in this new area and the work is being received really positively. In the autumn term we are have been asked by people across the Armley/ Bramley area to launch a club there. We are really looking forward to working with the community and especially the schools in this area. I hope that the information that i have sent is informative and useful. It would be wonderful you could visit us at a club or see some of the work we do in inner city schools. Many thanks Laura."
The Kidz Klub Annual Report highlights the fact that "in the UK today 1 in 3 children live in poverty. That’s 4 million children. In the 5th richest country in the world, that’s a shameful truth. Leeds Central Ward has among the worst proportion of children living in poverty in the UK. Poverty affects the life chances of the children, families and communities of those it comes into contact with. In the areas where Kidz Klub is active rates of crime, unemployment and drug use are high, and aspirations and opportunities are low. This is the daily reality for thousands of children living in inner-city Leeds."
Kidz Klub is a Christian charity and is a unique organisation which reaches young people at their clubs, at home and at school. It has developed a reputation for great work and the Kidz Klub’s Schools Work continues to expand amid glowing praise and high demand from schools. Organisations like Kidz Klub will continue to help us shape provision and support in the new children's services arrangements where social enterprise, volunteering and charities will play an increasingly important role. You can find out more about Kidz Klub by visiting their website at https://portal.leeds.gov.uk/portal/portal/cn/Education%20Leeds/Webmail.
Chris
Later this afternoon I met Colin Bell, the Principal at the South Leeds Academy...
Colin wanted to talk about the relationship Academies here in Leeds have with Education Leeds and we agreed that as we build the new children's services arrangements and the new Academies programme develops this will become an even more important relationship. I am particularly grateful to Colin and his colleagues at the South Leeds Academy who have achieved something quite remarkable over the last four years. Colin's leadership, in particular, has transformed provision as we moved from two failing schools with massive problems of underachievement, low expectations and disaffection to a position where we have a wonderful newly built learning environment where young people are more positive and optimistic and we are close to achieving the Government's magic 30% achieving 5A*-C grades at GCSE including English and mathematics and around 70% achieving 5A*-C grades at GCSE or the equivalent.
The challenge now is to continue to build on this real success story; to build on what Colin and his team have achieved to create the foundations for a really outstanding school to serve this complex community... whatever it takes!
Chris
Colin wanted to talk about the relationship Academies here in Leeds have with Education Leeds and we agreed that as we build the new children's services arrangements and the new Academies programme develops this will become an even more important relationship. I am particularly grateful to Colin and his colleagues at the South Leeds Academy who have achieved something quite remarkable over the last four years. Colin's leadership, in particular, has transformed provision as we moved from two failing schools with massive problems of underachievement, low expectations and disaffection to a position where we have a wonderful newly built learning environment where young people are more positive and optimistic and we are close to achieving the Government's magic 30% achieving 5A*-C grades at GCSE including English and mathematics and around 70% achieving 5A*-C grades at GCSE or the equivalent.
The challenge now is to continue to build on this real success story; to build on what Colin and his team have achieved to create the foundations for a really outstanding school to serve this complex community... whatever it takes!
Chris
I moved on again to visit Holy Rosary and St Anne's Catholic Primary School...
I had been invited to talk to Kathryn Carter, the headteacher at this brilliant little inner city primary school, and Robin Smith, deputy chair of the committee the school has established, about the development of a ground breaking and unique maintained Cathedral Choir School in this little primary school. The brilliant project is hugely ambitious and offers us an opportunity to build something that will bring a real sense of hope about the future to this richly diverse multi-cultural community. Kathryn and her colleagues want to continue to build on the success they have achieved at Holy Rosary and St Anne's Catholic Primary School and use music and singing to reach the parts other initiatives haven't been able to reach.
Chris
I had been invited to talk to Kathryn Carter, the headteacher at this brilliant little inner city primary school, and Robin Smith, deputy chair of the committee the school has established, about the development of a ground breaking and unique maintained Cathedral Choir School in this little primary school. The brilliant project is hugely ambitious and offers us an opportunity to build something that will bring a real sense of hope about the future to this richly diverse multi-cultural community. Kathryn and her colleagues want to continue to build on the success they have achieved at Holy Rosary and St Anne's Catholic Primary School and use music and singing to reach the parts other initiatives haven't been able to reach.
Chris
I moved on to visit the South SILC where Pam Barrett, Katie Cass and their colleagues are releasing a very special magic...
The South SILC has been transformed since my last visit and Pam and Katie's passion, commitment, determination and hard work has really made an extraordinary difference as evidenced by the recent OFSTED judgements which identified the South SILC as a good school with outstanding features. I was really impressed by the improvements that have been made to the building and the bright, attractive and stimulating learning environment that the team have created despite the real challenges the building presents. It was wonderful to walk around the SILC and meet some of the team and some of the children who are so wonderfully provided for at this brilliant learning place.
The development of the new children's services arrangements provides us with an opportunity to re-imagine, re-engineer and remodel our special needs provision around these SILC centres of excellence. We know that we must continue to further develop the SILCs with strong and dynamic leadership and governance to reach out and connect with partnership provision in mainstream schools across the city based on the outstanding provision we have already established at Windmill Primary School and Rodillian School.
Chris
The South SILC has been transformed since my last visit and Pam and Katie's passion, commitment, determination and hard work has really made an extraordinary difference as evidenced by the recent OFSTED judgements which identified the South SILC as a good school with outstanding features. I was really impressed by the improvements that have been made to the building and the bright, attractive and stimulating learning environment that the team have created despite the real challenges the building presents. It was wonderful to walk around the SILC and meet some of the team and some of the children who are so wonderfully provided for at this brilliant learning place.
The development of the new children's services arrangements provides us with an opportunity to re-imagine, re-engineer and remodel our special needs provision around these SILC centres of excellence. We know that we must continue to further develop the SILCs with strong and dynamic leadership and governance to reach out and connect with partnership provision in mainstream schools across the city based on the outstanding provision we have already established at Windmill Primary School and Rodillian School.
Chris
I started the day early with Leadership Team looking at how we find the in year cuts that the DfE have asked Leeds to make...
We all recognised that many of these grants were coming to an end next year but the DfE decision to cut our Area Based Grant by over £5 million, a 24% cut this year, means that we must find around £2 million from the Education Leeds managed budgets before the end of this financial year... another huge challenge to us all as we build the new children's services arrangements here in Leeds.
Chris
We all recognised that many of these grants were coming to an end next year but the DfE decision to cut our Area Based Grant by over £5 million, a 24% cut this year, means that we must find around £2 million from the Education Leeds managed budgets before the end of this financial year... another huge challenge to us all as we build the new children's services arrangements here in Leeds.
Chris
Sunday, 13 June 2010
My colleague Jim Hopkinson who heads up our Youth Offending Service in Leeds sent me this bit of good news...
"Dear Chris, I am delighted to be able to bring you news that, in the Queens Birthday honours announced today, Bob Baird, our Youth Court Manager has been awarded an MBE for services to youth justice in Leeds. Bob has worked for social care settings within Leeds City Council for 25 years, mainly in Youth Justice. Bob has been with Leeds YOS since its inception 10 years ago, and has worked across various teams in our service, including as the manager who set up our Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme, our North area operational team and currently the Court Team. The reason behind the success of Leeds YOS is our staff who consistently go the extra mile to impact on the lives of young people, their families and victims and thereby make Leeds a safer place for all its citizens. Bob Baird epitomises this ethos. Time and time again Bob has gone beyond the call of duty for young people in Leeds. I am sure you will join with me in congratulating Bob on this thoroughly deserved recognition. The Leeds YOS team look forward to hearing about his visit to the palace later in the year. Regards, Jim."
"Dear Chris, I am delighted to be able to bring you news that, in the Queens Birthday honours announced today, Bob Baird, our Youth Court Manager has been awarded an MBE for services to youth justice in Leeds. Bob has worked for social care settings within Leeds City Council for 25 years, mainly in Youth Justice. Bob has been with Leeds YOS since its inception 10 years ago, and has worked across various teams in our service, including as the manager who set up our Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme, our North area operational team and currently the Court Team. The reason behind the success of Leeds YOS is our staff who consistently go the extra mile to impact on the lives of young people, their families and victims and thereby make Leeds a safer place for all its citizens. Bob Baird epitomises this ethos. Time and time again Bob has gone beyond the call of duty for young people in Leeds. I am sure you will join with me in congratulating Bob on this thoroughly deserved recognition. The Leeds YOS team look forward to hearing about his visit to the palace later in the year. Regards, Jim."
It's great when colleagues who have gone beyond the call of duty and made a real difference for young people are awarded in this way. Congratulations to Bob whose honour reflects the work of the brilliant team he belongs to.
Chris
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