Brilliant Primary Schools!

“The only constant is change.” Heraclitus

I attended the Primary Headteacher Consultation Group in Nottingham today. Primary schools lie at the heart of the work we are doing with children and families and it was really rewarding to be able to spend some time with a group of headteachers who are clearly leading some great primary schools in this wonderful city.
My colleague Gill Ellis, Director for Schools and Learning and Pat Whitby, Partnership Manager, had invited me to this meeting where sGill was going to talk to the group about the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. Gill talked to the headteachers about the critical issues they needed to address in building the future together: trust, transparency, teamwork and talent. Gill has visited around eighty of the schools in the city and stressed that she was deeply impressed by the commitment and pride she had seen from colleagues who were teaching and learning in Nottingham. She explained that we cannot, in this new world of 'autonomy, trust and accountability', command and control schools, telling them what to do and expecting them to want to belong.

It was a really positive and productive meeting and the headteachers agreed that together they should develop strategies to improve learning, to support working together and to improve communication. They all recognised the need to build networks and connections that collect, validate, share and distribute best practice and help build resilience and the foundations for consistently good practice. They also understood the need to share success stories of success and learning and to be able to prove to the DfE and OFSTED, through evidence, research and outcomes, that schools in Nottingham can achieve real excellence and deliver world class outcomes. That’s what everyone wanted for every child and young person in the city, whatever their background, no matter which school they attended.

Chris