"Nothing great is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig.

If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time.

Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then  ripen."

Epictetus

Character and Functional Skills!

Employers argue that we can only realise and release the potential of our children and young people if they are better prepared for life and work in the twenty first century. In recent years we have made considerable progress in raising standards and in improving the educational attainment of our children and young people, but the pace of change remains insufficient.

"In times of change, learners will inherit the earth,

while the learned will find themselves beautifully equipped 

to deal with a world that no longer exists" 

Eric Hoffer

Success!

It's strange when you understand the school improvement research that we seem to be heading down the current rather narrow and fragmented approach to school improvement.

"At the heart of every child... is a unique genius and personality.

What we should be doing is to allow the spark of that genius
to catch fire, to burn brightly and shine."

Michael Morpurgo

The Real Answers!

If we want to create great schools for every child and every community the real answers lie where they have always been.

"The ultimate measure of a man is not
where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, 

but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." 

Martin Luther King Jr.

"Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young"

I love the Sunscreen Song which you probably don't know came from this column by Mary Schmich, which was published by the Chicago Tribune on 01 June 1997. Make sure you read it and I hope it makes you smile.

“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

WHAT DO CHILDREN WANT AT SCHOOL?

In January The Guardian launched the School I'd Like, asking schoolchildren what would make their perfect school.

"It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment 

rarely sat back and let things happen to them. 

They went out and happened to things." 

Elinor Smith

"Life isn't measured by the number of breaths we take 

but the moments that take our breath away." 

Anonymous

GREAT TEACHING TEAMS!

We all know, that it is the quality of the teaching team that makes for brilliant learning...

Research has shown that there is a fourfold difference between the most effective and least effective classrooms and that ensuring greater consistency is one of our greatest challenge. Teachers and classroom assistants must be the best learners in their classroom because children pick up 'learning power' by example as much as anything. 

Chris