BRILLIANT!

As someone who is always learning, I always ask myself questions after visiting brilliant schools; places whose learning journey has been simply amazing.

• What are the team doing to release such magic? 
• What is it that makes this school so fantastic? 
• What can we learn from what is happening here? 

I visit loads of great schools and it is always brilliant to visit an outstanding school and see what the team have achieved and find out how they have done it. Over the years I have had the pleasure and privilege to work with so many teams who have taken control of the learning agenda and transformed their school - building something really extra-ordinary. The young people are always an amazing advert for these schools; confident, positive, polite, respectful and well-behaved. Other things also stand out; the atmosphere and learning environment is fantastic; relationships are wonderful and the learning is simply amazing! 

So what do these schools do that others miss out on?
The answers... they all have....

• passionate and committed leadership;
• an inclusive learning culture;
• highly focused, consistent and beautiful systems;
• great teaching and learning teams;
• clear values and beliefs driving all aspects of the work of the school;
• a focus on excellence, high standards and positive behaviour;
• outstanding teaching and learning;
• a commitment to intelligent accountability;
• positive, attractive and stimulating learning environments;
• high expectations of everyone; and 
• a commitment to hard work!

This are some of the characteristics of a brilliant school where great teams led by a passionate head teachers are doing an incredible job and building something really amazing.
Chris