SORRY, I HAVE BEEN AWAY!

I am sorry that the blog has been quiet this week but I have been moving into my new home! I have no landline, no internet and no broadband! I am doing my best to respond to e-mails and stay in touch. Hope to be back soon!

REMEMBER: "It is best to hold hands and stick together."

After my session yesterday at York St John, I was thinking about the things that really matter...

"All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sand pit at school. 

RELEASING THE MAGIC AT YORK ST JOHN UNIVERSITY!

I was at the York St John ITE Partnership NQT Conference 2014 this afternoon…

MADE IN SHEFFIELD GOING FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH!

I was in Sheffield this week for two breakfast meetings with the employers and the schools involved in the Cutlers' Made in Sheffield scheme. We wanted to review the progress we have made and to look at how we continue to develop the work we have been doing. 

WHAT WORKS?

Everyone who cares about learning, closing the attainment gap and achieving world class outcomes for all our children and young people should look at the evidence and read the EEF Toolkit of Strategies to Improve Learning.

ANOTHER DAY IN SHEFFIELD!

I was over in Sheffield again this morning for the Cutlers' Employers breakfast meeting.  The Cutlers' Made in Sheffield Programme is developing at a pace. The scheme started with plans for one school in the engineering and advanced manufacturing sector. We currently have nine schools and the two Sheffield colleges working with us across six employment sectors with over 300 student ambassadors. Next year the scheme looks likely to have fourteen schools and two colleges working across ten employment sectors with over 700 students ambassadors and with the potential to reach around 20,000 students!

HOW DO WE BUILD BRILLIANT?

It is strange that so many people believe that you create great schools simply by wheeling in the 'best' headteachers, changing the school name, refreshing the governance and sacking half the staff.

SMALL STEPS CAN CHANGE OUR LIVES FOR THE BETTER!

Research suggests that we can change and become happier and healthier just by taking small steps which can change our lives for the better. So always remember that we need to be persistent, disciplined and work hard for as long as we possibly can and we need to stay connected with friends and colleagues. And we need to volunteer and give to others whenever and whatever we can.

WHAT IT TAKES TO BUILD BRILLIANT!

I have been to some incredible learning places recently. In Leeds, Sheffield and across the country, brilliant colleagues, working in schools and classrooms, are releasing the magic and delivering world class outcomes, often against the odds. 

We know what it takes to build brilliant... it's alive and well in so many places.

FIRTH PARK ACADEMY'S CULTURAL AMBASSADORS!

I visited Firth Park Academy in Sheffield again this morning to attend a session with stakeholders and partners working in the cultural sector.

LET'S MAKE THE EXTRA-ORDINARY COMMONPLACE!

I visited some great schools today and I don't know about you but I find it deeply depressing that the UK education system has one of the highest levels of variation in pupil outcomes of the world's industrialised economies, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

OLD FRIENDS AND BRILLIANT COLLEAGUES!

I was in Leeds today and met up with some wonderful old friends and brilliant colleagues. 

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF GREAT LEADERSHIP

I am always talking about great leadership and it is interesting to read Maurice Elias take on the subject. Maurice Elias is Director of the Social-Emotional Learning Lab at Rutgers and this is a truncated version of his brilliant article...

HAPPY SUNDAY!

"For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin -real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life."

Alfred D'Souza

21st CENTURY SKILLS

We need to persuade the powers that be that the future is only going to be secured if we develop a 21st Century Learning Framework to drive our learning landscape. A framework built on 21st Century Skills as well as subjects.

THE CUTLERS' 'MADE IN SHEFFIELD' PASSPORT TO EMPLOYMENT

The Cutlers' 'Made in Sheffield' approach has at its heart the Cutlers' "Made in Sheffield" Passport to Employment. This is a mean of recognising and celebrating young people's achievement of eighteen basic, core and key skills.

THE ONTARIO SKILLS PASSPORT

The Ontario Skills Passport was developed after conversations with employers and identifies the essential skills that enable people to perform tasks required by their occupation and other activities in their daily life. Importantly, these skills provide people with a foundation for learning other skills, and enhance their ability to adapt to change.

THE LIFEWISE CENTRE

I had a great day today, at the Lifewise Centre working with the Cutlers' "Made in Sheffield" Ambassadors on another day of their training programme.

MADE IN SHEFFIELD

I had another great session this afternoon at Stocksbridge High School in Sheffield with colleagues from the four schools and Sheffield College who are working together on the Cutlers 'Made in Sheffield' Project!

RADIO LEEDS INTERVIEW!

I was interviewed on BBC Radio Leeds yesterday morning following the publication of OFSTED's report on the effectiveness of school improvement in Wakefield... which they judged as inadequate!

SET YOUR GOALS AND TARGETS!

We all know that setting goals and personal targets is a vital tool for anyone who wants to achieve anything. It gives us our long-term vision as well as helping with our short-term motivation…

HAPPY SUNDAY!

It's a sad reflection on the world that happiness is in such short supply and that so many people are searching for it. I realised a long time ago that happiness is a state of mind not somewhere you get to if you have more money, more possessions and a bigger house and car.

ANOTHER GREAT TERM IN SHEFFIELD!

I really enjoyed being in Sheffield again last term working with some great colleagues as we continued to refine and develop the Cutlers' Made in Sheffield Programme.

THERE IS A BETTER WAY!

It would be an interesting approach if you could create great schools simply by changing the name, the governance and the leadership team, but it flies in the face of the evidence and the research.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I hope that everyone who reads my blog has a happy, healthy, safe and successful 2014 and that it brings you and those you love and care about, peace, fulfillment and all the things you really, really want. Most importantly love what you are doing and simply be happy! And always remember that when it comes down to it the only things that really matter are faith, family and friends!