KEEP THE FAITH!

I have been thinking about some of the schools I really love in Leeds and the challenges they are facing in this new world of Academies and Free Schools.
Schools like Holybush Primary School, Little London Primary School, Victoria Primary School, Parklands Primary School and Hovingham Primary School. We know that the new OFSTED Framework, which will be used from January, will continue to raise the bar and will increase the pressure on the schools serving some of the poorest and most disadvantaged communities. We all know that regardless of other factors, children and young people from the most disadvantaged homes make the least progress at school. Over the last fifteen years a range of policies and strategies have attempted to address this problem. These have included interventions targeting:
• all schools;
• schools in deprived areas;
• underachieving groups of young people;
• how schools are organised, led and managed;
• communities and families.

We all know that great schools can lessen the impact of poverty and disadvantage on children’s progress. Schools are limited by factors beyond their control but we must be optimistic about what schools can achieve and talk up and celebrate the positive impact schools like Holybush Primary School, Little London Primary School, Victoria Primary School, Parklands Primary School and Hovingham Primary School are having in their communities. We must also constantly learn from successful interventions about how schools like these can have even greater impact on childrens' life chances in future.
Chris