Well, what an amazing experience!!

I’ve spent the last few days with the most remarkable and inspirational people from both Apple and school leaders from the UK.

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I’ve better understood the philosophy and ethos that drives one of the world’s largest companies and I have tried to understand how it impacts upon our children and families in the north of England.

I have concluded that our collective vision for our children and young people is really, really secure. We have core beliefs that permeate through our schools and organisations that value each and every individual.

I have felt privileged to work alongside some of our country’s best leaders. They all share a commitment to excellence.

Today we have developed our thinking in relation to innovation and how to ensure we, as schools, develop practice within the classroom. I am so enthused with the need to develop our schools’ technological solutions – not because I think that our children need to use electronic devices but because they are going to be a fundamental component in our children’s lives in the future. We are living in a technological world, whether we like it or not!!

I’d like to thank SSAT for the opportunity to come to the USA and experience a ‘WOW!’ moment. I’d like to extend an invitation to Apple to come to the North West to see how our schools go about educating our children and young people. Most importantly, I’d like to centre on the issue of everyone learning. Our mission statement, since our inception, has been ‘Learning Together, Learning for All, Learning for Life’. I’ve spent the last few days living that mission statement….and loving every second! Every day has the potential to be a learning experience.

I remember a number of years ago, our teams went to Cincinnati to seek out the very best worldwide practice in supported internships. Look at what we’ve achieved since – Bridging the Gap, Future Finders and our employment strategy. I would envisage that this trip will drive forward a technological revolution. Let’s be creative, let’s be radical, let’s embrace technology, let’s utilise the power of electronic devices to empower learning.

I’ve a long journey back home tomorrow but I’ll come into school on Monday morning with a renewed energy. Apple employees say they have the best jobs in the world – not a chance! Come and work alongside us and we’ll make a difference (as my grandmother used to say) with knobs on!

Have a great weekend,

Graham

You can find the latest from Graham’s visit here