WE NEED TO WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE!

We continue to sleepwalk into a future that requires brave, bold and creative solutions. We face problems wherever we look... productivity and investment are problems and Brexit is making everyone increasingly nervous. There isn't enough money and local authority services are increasingly under pressure, schools are facing increasing challenges and academisation clearly isn't the answer to life, the universe and everything!! Clearly we need to wake up and think differently...

China, Finland, South Korea, and Singapore are held up as models we should look to as we reshape, rethink and re-imagine what we do. Interestingly, these countries appear to realise that character, resilience, grit, enterprise and creativity need to be at the heart of their learning provision and they are broadening their curriculum offer to create communicative, imaginative, tech-savvy, multilingual students who are prepared for jobs that do not yet exist. These high-performing countries realise that the global economic landscape has changed, and in response, are re-imagining their education systems by focusing on developing skills alongside teaching and learning excellence. We need to wake up and understand that the future is only going to be secured if we develop world class skills as well as subjects. The key thing is to develop character, resilience and grit alongside knowledge and understanding and as demonstrated in sport and the arts, to start early, work hard and never give up! These things lie at the heart of the work we are doing with the Cutlers' 'Better Learners, Better Workers' programmes now running across the Sheffield City Region. To find out more get in touch!