VISION AND COACHING MATTER!

The trouble with the release of the PISA results this week is that everyone jumps on the data and we start an endless blame game with politicians, unions and officials jumping up and down about the failings of their schools, their teachers, their governments, past and present!

HOW THE WORLD'S MOST IMPROVED SCHOOL SYSTEMS KEEP GETTING BETTER!

In 2010 McKinsey & Company published ‘How the world’s most improved school systems keep getting better’ which analysed twenty systems from around the world and examined how each has achieved significant, sustained and widespread gains in student outcomes. The report provides a really important toolkit to help develop brilliant learning... learning leadership, beautiful systems and intelligent accountability.

If you want to read the report visit the McKinsey website at http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/transforming_education

HOW THE WORLD'S BEST-PERFORMING SCHOOL SYSTEMS COME OUT ON TOP!

We need to develop more evidence based approaches to improving teaching and learning. I have been re-reading ‘How the world’s best performing school systems come out on top’, which McKinsey & Company published in 2007 and which examined the common characteristics of high-performing school systems. The report identifies the elements needed to achieve real gains in student outcomes. The report is a great read and provides a really great toolkit to help develop brilliant learning.

If you want to read the report visit the McKinsey website at http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/transforming_education

WITHOUT VISION!

It has been a deeply sad ending to another strange week...

FORGE VALLEY COMMUNITY SCHOOL

I visited Forge Valley Community School with Mike Garnock-Jones yesterday and met with David Bowes, the Executive Headteacher, to discuss the fact that the pilot phase of the Cutlers' Made in Sheffield programme was ending and we wanted to review, evaluate and further develop the work we have been doing.

TEN MESSAGES FROM PISA!

The more I read the PISA results the more I see that there are some really important messages which we need to use to help us guide and shape future provision.

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM PISA 2012! LEARNING LEADERSHIP MATTERS

"High-performing systems tend to align policies and practices across all aspects of the system, they make them coherent over sustained periods of time, and they see that they are consistently implemented. Perhaps the most important outcome of world-class school systems is that they deliver high-quality education across the entire school system so that every student and every school benefits." Andreas Schleicher

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM PISA 2012! INTELLIGENT ACCOUNTABILITY MATTERS

"High performers have also moved on from administrative control and accountability to professional forms of accountability and work organisation. They support their teachers in developing innovations in pedagogy, in improving their own performance and that of their colleagues, and in pursuing professional development that leads to stronger education practice. The goal of the past was standardisation and compliance; now, top performers enable teachers to be inventive. In the past, the policy focus was on providing education; in today’s top school systems, it’s on outcomes, shifting from looking upwards in the bureaucracy towards looking outwards to the next teacher, the next school, about creating networks of innovation." Andreas Schleicher

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM PISA 2012! TEACHERS MATTER

"And nowhere does the quality of a school system exceed the quality of its teachers. Top school systems pay attention to how they select and train their staff. They watch how they improve the performance of teachers who are struggling and how to structure teachers’ pay. They provide an environment in which teachers work together to frame good practice. And when deciding where to invest, they prioritise the quality of teachers over the size of classes. Not least, they provide intelligent pathways for teachers to grow in their careers."Andreas Schleicher

STOCKSBRIDGE HIGH SCHOOL!

I visited Stocksbridge High School again yesterday to see Steve Davies, the headteacher and Claire Jackson, assistant headteacher, and had a great session discussing the school's involvement in Made in Sheffield.

AND REMEMBER TO...

“Walk with the dreamers, the believers, the courageous, the cheerful, the planners, the doers, the successful people with their heads in the clouds and their feet on the ground. Let their spirit ignite a fire within you to leave this world better than when you found it.”

Wilfred Peterson

HAPPY SUNDAY!

"That man is richest whose pleasures are the cheapest."

Henry David Thoreau

LIES, DAMN LIES AND BORIS!

The older I get the more I despair at the mess our society has got itself into. And I despair at the lack of connection between ordinary people and our political class.