A CULTURE OF EXCELLENCE!

"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." W. B. Yeats

If you read the McKinsey Report, analyse the PISA data and listen to people like Ken Robinson it is increasingly obvious that, while recognising what has been achieved over the last ten to fifteen years, we need to do more to ignite and inspire our colleagues and our children to become brilliant learners. The challenge is how we do it and how we create passionate and compassionate learning places. Those of us who have seen it happen, and know how to do it, need to work together to share ideas and strategies and to continue to think team and to build co-operative, collaborative approaches that inspire young people to really understand what they are capable of, to dispel the nonsense about genius and to help them reach their extraordinary potential. 

WE MUST DETOXIFY SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY!

"The assessment and accountability system is toxic because it gives one voice the power to dominate over the others, terminating the discussion, leaving people feeling bruised because they have not been engaged. It does this because it was designed in response to a breakdown in trust between education professionals, policymakers and the wider public. The system was failing, people said, and it was the fault of the professionals. Therefore, it was necessary to set the judgements of inspectors against those of students, staff and other school stakeholders, and to make their judgements the grounds for executive action against schools."
DETOXIFYING SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY by James Park

TELL ME, WHAT IS IT YOU PLAN TO DO WITH YOUR ONE WILD AND PRECIOUS LIFE!

I love that quote and the simple idea of unique and special nature of each and everyone of us. Working with colleagues in wonderful schools constantly reminds me that we need to create opportunities where we personalise and craft the curriculum to release that magic in our colleagues and our children. Someone asked me again the other day where the quote came from. It's from this wonderful poem by Mary Oliver...

A WHOLE NEW MIND!

We need to stand back and think about the skills, knowledge and understanding our children and young people need to thrive and succeed in the increasingly complex world we all live in. If you haven't read 'A Whole New Mind' by Dan Pink you have missed a great book that looks at how we have moved from an agriculture age through an industrial age to an information age and are now entering a conceptual age.

FAITH, FAMILY AND FRIENDS!

We should all remember that when it comes down to what really matters... 

...it's faith, family and friends that make life worth living!

EVERY SCHOOL A BRILLIANT SCHOOL... WHATEVER IT TAKES!

We need to find ways to celebrate, share and network excellence and constantly learn from what works! We need to develop a coherent systemic approach to help every school become a great school and we need to develop learning leadership. beautiful systems and intelligent accountability!

HAPPY SUNDAY... REMEMBER TO SMILE, LAUGH AND SING!

BE HAPPY!

Found this on-line and it sums up the things that matter!

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON!

We all live in a world of constant change; of constant criticism, negativity, reviews and inspections and we all need to wear the t-shirt.... 

NOTES TO THE HURRYING MAN!

I struggle to understand why everyone is in such a hurry all the time. We all constantly rush from one appointment to another place with little regard or care for anyone else; jumping traffic lights, ignoring the needs of others and pushing past people without looking or caring. I don't understand why it is but it appears that no-one seems to have any time or patience anymore and I was reminded of this wonderful poem by Brian Patten, one of the Liverpool poets.

CHARACTER MATTERS!

We need to develop skills, character and knowledge to enable our children and young people to compete and succeed. These are the NEW Mr Men and Little Miss characters (with apologies to Roger Hargreaves)

THE SKILLS THAT MATTER!

I was in Sheffield again today working with colleagues looking at how we develop the skills, character and knowledge to enable our children and young people to compete and succeed.

LET'S FIND ANOTHER WAY!

We are in real danger of creating a negative and destructive culture where bullying, command and control and high stakes testing are seen as the only way to achieve excellence. Those in control dismiss anyone who disagrees with them as the 'enemies of ambition' despite evidence from the best performing systems across the world which reinforce the need to nurture, develop and support learning leadership, beautiful systems and intelligent accountability.

TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

The solutions to all the problems facing educators the world over are out there somewhere. No one is wrestling with a challenge, an opportunity or a problem that someone somewhere hasn't already solved.

TOGETHER

SHARE, NETWORK AND LEARN: PASS IT ON!

The solutions to all the problems facing educators the world over are out there somewhere. No one is wrestling with a challenge, an opportunity or a problem that someone somewhere hasn't already solved. In schools and colleges across the globe talented colleagues are releasing the magic, sharing their passion and inspiring future generations of teachers, classroom assistants, doctors, nurses, cleaners, accountants, lawyers, administrators, entrepreneurs, cashiers, bankers, journalists, academics, politicians and every other job and profession you can think of! The future of our world sits in classrooms everyday and our job is to develop the knowledge skills and character they will need to create a better, brighter and more successful world. AND we simply need to share, network and learn to make the extraordinary commonplace.

By the way don't believe those pessimistic negative voices that say that change takes forever and won't change anything. Let's start now and share what works! Share one great idea with a thousand others and you'll end up with a thousand ideas coming your way that will change the way you think, the way you work and help you release the magic.

WHY NOT SHARE THIS WITH A FRIEND?

WORK MATTERS!

Why do you do what you do at work?

What really, really matters to you?

What makes you get out of bed in the morning?

What motivates or inspires you at work?

What inhibits or demotivates you at work?

How do we create a culture of excellence? A culture where everyone goes the extra mile to achieve that bit of magic. A culture where everyone cares about the business and everyone feels a sense of ownership. A culture where everyone is trusted, empowered, valued and respected for the unique contribution they make. A culture that is rooted in developing those unique talents alongside core skills, character and higher level skills. 

ST MARTIN'S PRIMARY SCHOOL

I visited a brilliant primary school on Guernsey yesterday morning. I had been invited by Cate Mason, the headteacher at St Martin's Primary School, to visit the school on one of my trips to the island and it was wonderful to meet Cate and some of her team and see what they are doing to release the magic!

HAPPY SUNDAY!

REMEMBER TO SHARE, NETWORK AND LEARN AND THANKS FOR LISTENING!

It’s amazing that the blog has reached colleagues in the United States, Russia, Germany, France, New Zealand, India, Indonesia, Austria, Romania, Philippines, Sweden, Poland, China, Canada, Ireland, Singapore and Australia as well as colleagues all over the UK this month.

CREATING REALLY GREAT SCHOOLS AT THE HEART OF EVERY COMMUNITY!

Following my visits to some great schools I was thinking again about what it takes to build brilliant...

What are the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that makes up a great school?

GETTING TO GOOD!

The OFSTED "Getting to Good' report sets out how schools have developed their practice and moved from satisfactory to good to outstanding. It identifies some key issues school leaders and their teams need to consider as they work together to create a learning team focused on excellence. 

TOWARDS A FAIRER AND MORE HUMANE APPROACH TO ACCOUNTABILITY!

"The assessment and accountability system is toxic because it gives one voice the power to dominate over the others, terminating the discussion, leaving people feeling bruised because they have not been engaged. It does this because it was designed in response to a breakdown in trust between education professionals, policymakers and the wider public. The system was failing, people said, and it was the fault of the professionals. Therefore, it was necessary to set the judgements of inspectors against those of students, staff and other school stakeholders, and to make their judgements the grounds for executive action against schools."
DEMOS Report: DETOXIFYING SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY by James Park

COACHING MATTERS IF WE WANT GREAT SCHOOLS!

Our colleagues and our children and young people are unique, talented and creative. We start every day, very week, every month, every year with such enormous possibilities and such enormous potential. And yet we all know that the current education system which is driven by a command and control culture and steeped in blame, mistrust, irrelevance, seems to bore so many, disengage so many and fail so many. Where does it all go wrong?

CULTURE MATTERS!

We must create a culture in our schools where we break down the walls and the barriers which limit personalisation, curiosity and creativity and stubbornly maintain the status quo and limit our opportunities to make that step change in outcomes.

We must network, learn and build on the magic, the wonder and the real excellence in the system and challenge the things that don't work. If we want to build brilliant learning places we need to develop a culture where we welcome feedback and help everyone in the school workforce to continuously update their knowledge and skills and have opportunities for good quality professional development.

SUCCESS IS ALL ABOUT TEAM!

Research clearly shows that the leadership of schools can have a hugely positive impact on the educational outcomes of young people... but success is all about TEAM!

DETOXIFYING SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY: The Case for Multi-Perspective Inspection

It is increasingly obvious that the current OFSTED inspection approach is toxic and not fit for purpose. My visits to schools in York, Leeds and Sheffield have shown me that we have created a monster that has a corrosive and destructive affect on schools and distorts how local authorities work and support their schools. I have argued for a long time that we need learning leadership, beautiful systems and intelligent accountability and, in this DEMOS report, James Park argues that the current model of accountability is profoundly toxic and is failing to achieve its stated goal of improving education. It sets out an alternative regime, which would allow all children to achieve their potential, while ensuring the quality of education in schools is of a high standard.

IMPROVING SCHOOLS!

"Children and young people have only one chance of a good education....

We need to work together to make sure all schools are good schools.

This booklet is designed to help schools... learn from what works." 

Sir Michael Wilshaw

GREAT SCHOOLS MATTER!

My personal vision of a GREAT SCHOOL has been shaped over the last fifteen years in York, Leeds, Sheffield, Nottingham and Lincoln by my visits to so many brilliant learning places where talented colleagues go that extra mile to release the magic. This isn't a headteacher thing but a whole school community thing where everyone has a shared vision that is deeply routed in the belief that all children and young people matter, are cared for 100% of the time and will achieve brilliant outcomes if they have the attitudes, skills and understanding. This doesn't of course mean that all children and young people will be learning the same things, in the same way, and at the same time. Schools must be centres of innovation, creativity and imagination where a commitment to equity, fairness and justice prepares children and young people for life and work in the global and conceptual society of the 21st century.

Chris

TRUST, AUTONOMY AND ACCOUNTABILITY!

Education is a passionate enterprise built on the interaction between human beings: teachers, students and parents.

SHEFFIELD AND PROJECT-BASED LEARNING!

"One of the major advantages of project work is that it makes school more like real life."

Sylvia Chard, University of Alberta

I had a great day yesterday in Sheffield and spent the day with some brilliant colleagues...

LEARNING, LEARNING, LEARNING!

We are constantly criticized in the media, by politicians, by businessmen and by parents and carers who rightly are concerned about underperformance and underachievement at all levels in the education system. However, I have spent the last seventeen years of my professional life working in some amazing places trying to ensure that every school I have worked with is a great school.

CHAMPION, CHALLENGE, NETWORK AND ENCOURAGE!

Interesting times! But don't despair because what I have learned over the last twenty years and through working with extraordinary colleagues and extraordinary schools in North Yorkshire, York, Leeds, Nottingham, Sheffield and Lincoln provides us with a framework for delivering brilliant schools and brilliant outcomes for every child and young person and every community!

HAPPY SUNDAY: "Always believe!"

GREAT SCHOOLS ARE MAGIC!!

When you walk into a “great” school as I have done so many times over the last fifteen years, you see the golden threads of excellence that weave their way through everything the school does and raises these brilliant learning places into a special category... MAGIC!

INTELLIGENT ACCOUNTABILITY!

Do we really believe that headteachers, teachers and schools will only do their job properly if they are constantly criticised, tightly directed and carefully monitored? Do we really believe that a significant and increasing minority of headteachers, teachers and schools are performing so poorly that they need to be identified, publicly shamed and removed from their roles? OR do we really believe that headteachers, teachers and schools are generally well intentioned and professional in their work, but that they need to have continuous challenge, support and guidance about what they are doing?

REMEMBER IT'S NOT THE CRITIC WHO COUNTS!

“You can program yourself to be positive. Being positive is a discipline … 
and the more adversity you face, the more positive you have to be. 
Being positive helps build confidence and self-esteem”

Rick Pitino, University of Louisville Head Basketball Coach

Whatever the critics and the sceptics say education and learning has been transformed over the last 15 years and our successes are everywhere; not just the GCSE/Level 2/Key Stage results but the attendance and exclusion figures, the latest OFSTED analysis, work on healthy schools, work on developing the arts and music, work developing PE and school sport, work on tackling racism, work on inclusion and equity and much, much more. So many colleagues in so many schools have done a simply brilliant job... and always remember when it comes to judging our successes and failures...

GUERNSEY HEADTEACHERS!

I met a great group of headteachers from schools across Guernsey and Alderney this morning and talked to them about the keys to brilliant...

PERSISTENCE, DETERMINATION AND HARD WORK MATTER!

I have argued for a long time that there is no such thing as genius and I see that the results from the Human Genome Project strongly suggest that genes explain only 5-10% of intelligence.