I had lunch with Alison Chin, headteacher at Swinnow Primary School ,Peter Harris, headteacher at Farsley Farfield Primary School and Jackie Reid from Stanningley Primary School...

We had all been invited to The Yorkshire Band of Hope celebration event at the Loft Leeds Creative Event Space. The Yorkshire Band of Hope was founded in 1847, the same year that Armley Prison opened. The organisation is working with schools to help young people make positive choices and steer them away from the hrmful use of drugs. They have produced 'Breaking the Cycle' software which is a series of lessons designed to be used with an interactive whiteboard and is targeted at Key Stage 2 and 3. They also run 'Drug Proofing Your Kids' a six week course for parents and carers. You can find out more by visiting their website at www.ybhu.co.uk.
Chris

It's great to receive good news about our schools so I was delighted to recieve this e-mail from Cllr Brenda Lancaster...

"Hello Chris, I am e-mailing to let you know about some favourable comments about the City of Leeds School from Foster Carers in Leeds. The Foster Carers held a very successful Playscheme for our Looked After Children and said how helpful the staff were, what a super venue and how much all the children and young people had enjoyed the three week activities. Kind Regards. Brenda Lancaster"

Cllr Lancaster chairs the Foster Carers Liaison Group and it is deeply encouraging to hear about the great work they are doing and the support they have received from colleagues at City of Leeds School.
Chris

I moved on to the Headingley Experience to attend an Eco Project led by Mark Edwards, headteacher at Shire Oak Primary School...

Shire Oak CE Primary School was awarded a grant by NCSL and ENCAMS to develop a community of practice and the leadership to develop sustainable schools. Mark and his colleagues t Shire Oak CE Primary School are working with colleagues and children from St Chad's CE Primary School, Weetwood Primary School, Kirkstall Valley Primary School and Little London Community Primary School to discuss sustainability and plan a project in their own school.

It was great to see 125 children in groups looking at issues to do with school buildings and grounds, energy and water, food and drink, purchasing and waste, travel and transport, inclusion and participation, local well-being and global dimensions. The children and colleagues had all walked to Headingley, were having fair trade drinks and snacks and had brought their own packed lunch with a focus on composting, recycling and reusing. I hope that these 125 children, some of whom are in the picture with me, will become great ambassadors for the environment and sustainable schools.

This is a great project which I know my colleague Steve Ruse will be keen to connect to our developing work on sustainable schools.
Chris

I started the day at Victoria Primary School...

Alison Carrick, the new headteacher, is working on some of the key issues for her and her team: attendance, behaviour and engagement with families and the community. Alison is so enthusiastic about her new school and it's potential to further develop building on the work in the early years to become a brilliant learning place serving this interesting little piece of Leeds.
Chris

I went on to Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School to meet some of their School Council...

Vicki Stagg had invited me to the school to meet these young people, to look around and to discuss some of the problems they were experiencing with the PFI contract. It was great to meet this talented group of students and listen to them clearly articulating the things that they liked about the building, the things that simply weren't working well and the things that weren't working at all.

PFI has transformed the learning landscape here in Leeds but the success of each scheme critically depends on the quality of the partner organisations and their commitment to what we are trying to achieve. It is important to remember that in every scheme the school 'belongs' in the most important sense not to the company, not to the Council or Education Leeds but to the young people and the community it serves. It cannot be acceptable that the school isn't clean, that the toilets are not properly maintained and that the site should be covered in litter. It is also important that the building supports the delivery of the curriculum and the learning pathways we are building for our young people. We can do better than this and we must all work with the students to make the school somewhere we can all be proud of.
Chris

I moved on to Rosebank Primary School...

This is a great little primary school serving a hugely rich and diverse population. Gillian Young, the headteacher, and her talented team are doing a wonderful job particularly in the early years. The positive and inclusive culture and ethos are real strengths and this is a wonderful oasis of green space, play space and art space.
Chris

I moved swiftly on to Hillcrest Primary School to attend the Breakfast Meeting for new headteachers at the Space@ Centre...

Having been at the wrong Space@ Dirk Gilleard and I arrived late for breakfast with this group of colleagues. It was great to share some time with these newly or recently appointed headteachers and explore what it takes to build brilliant.
If we want to build brilliant schools where children and young people are happy, healthy, safe and increasingly successful we need to work to ensure that all our colleagues are happy, healthy, safe and successful and we need to model the behaviours we want to see from our colleagues and from our young people.

We are fortunate to have this great group of colleagues leading our schools and shaping the future for our children and young people. We must work with them as part of their team and as part of Team Children Leeds to release the magic.
Chris

I started the day at Little London Primary School...

It was a surprise for Jill Wood, headteacher at this great little school, who wasn't expecting me but showed me round and introduced me to some of her team. We looked at the new area based facilities being built on site and explored the garden which has grown a lot since I last visited the school. I am always impressed by Jill's enthusiasm, passion and energy which is releasing a real magic at Little London Primary School.
Chris

My colleague Rosie Denison wants to add the following element to my list of things needed by brilliant organisations...

"Hello Chris, To complete your recipe I would include: ... transparent communication promoting a culture of openess and reassurance for colleagues to be confident at all levels to release the magic. Rosie"

Has anyone else anything to add?
Chris

My colleague Linda Bowles, headteacher at Carr Manor Primary School sent us this wonderful message...



"Dear Chris & Dorothy, Just a note to let you both know that I went to the NCSL event in Leeds today that Dorothy had recommended me to attend. The invitees were a range of people from both Primary & Secondary backgrounds .........heads, NCSL people, Mark Pattison etc. The people there were either involved in leadership roles and/or succession planning. What emerged during the day was the link between growing leaders in good schools , heads being better heads because of their involvemnt "outside" the school and succession planning.


Anyway the point of my writing is to let you know that what is happening in the Primary sector in Leeds is a credit to you both. Heads have been encouraged for quite a few years now to participate in Leadership programmes like Primary Strategy Leaders, Progress Matters, sharing expertise by working alongside other HT colleagues, encouraging schools to share their expertise at middle leader level, encouraging all categories of schools to enter into a partnership whatever their "category" etc etc. Anyway just thought you needed a pat on the back for the work in Leeds. Linda"



It's greatv to have this sort of encouragement from one of our best primary headteachers.

Chris