I’m going to make my blog short and sweet this week.

After my mid-week rant (about school finances – again) I’ve decided to dedicate today’s blog to our school leaders.

I’ve managed to get to a number of our Internal Management Boards this week.

These boards allow the school leaders to present the progress that our young people are making.

Progress can take many forms; it may be academic progress, it may be personal progress, it may simply be centred around attendance.

The most pleasing aspect of attending these boards, and a constant theme across them, was the fact that all our schools place the children and young people at the heart of their developments.

When staff present data to the Internal Management Board that tells us we are not having a desirable impact, our school leaders respond with amazing consistency. They always explore other options that might be available. I love the fact that they are bold leaders who are prepared to take calculated risks.

I heard some amazing examples at Spring Brook of how our pathways, horticulture in particular, are having a really transforming effect on our older learners. Similarly, I was involved in discussions exploring different delivery models and extensions to our curriculum offer with our Key Stage 1 and 2 teams at Spring Brook.

So well done and thank you to all our heads and deputies. It can be quite lonely at times. Sometimes you guys only deal with the things that aren’t going well. Please remember that in your schools, most of what happens is absolutely brilliant.

Have a great weekend,

Graham

You can find all Graham’s previous blog entries here