"The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions." Alfred Lord Tennyson

Stocksbridge High School!

I visited Stocksbridge High School this afternoon.

"We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, 

but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have." 

Frederich Koenig

Hilary Benn MP

It was great to hear Hilary Benn MP on the 'Politics Show' at lunchtime saying that Education Leeds had done a very good job in the city. You can watch the interview on BBC iPlayer!

Forge Valley Community School!

I visited Forge Valley Community School this afternoon. Forge Valley opened in September 2011 in a brilliant new 'Building Schools for the Future' building.

Yewlands Technology College!

I visited Yewlands Technology College again this morning. 

Die Meistersingers!

I attended an extraordinary performance of The Royal Opera Die Meistersingers von Nurnberg at Birmingham's Symphony Hall on Wednesday!

Bradfield School

I visited Bradfield School in Sheffield this morning after being stuck on the M1 for nearly two hours after a crash at Junction 37. I was visiting Bradfield School to meet David Conway, Headteacher, and Ian Gilbert, Assistant Headteacher, Learning and Curriculum,  to talk to them about the Cutlers Education Project and to hear about the work they are doing on STe3M; where the e3 means engineering, enterprise and the environment. 

Intelligent Accountability!

"Intelligent accountability preserves and enhances trust, involves participants in the process, encourages deep, worthwhile responses and recognises and attempts to compensate for the severe limitations of our ability to capture educational quality in performance indicators. "

"However hard life may seem, it matters  that you don't give up.' Stephen Hawkins

London Schooling: lessons from the capital!

Everyone should read the CentreForum report 'London Schooling: lessons from the capital' which was flagged up at the North of England Conference in Leeds last week and received some interesting coverage in The Sunday Times yesterday.

Why do we do this?

I saw this wonderful letter in the TES and wanted to share it with you as a reminder of why we do what we do... especially those facing mad Michael!

TITANIUM!

I heard David Guetta's Titanium while I was exercising at the gym. Great song and great words which seem to capture the way I am feeling at the moment with the latest GCSE results hitting the streets, primary schools I love under threat and the CentreForum report on London schools suggesting that we all have a lot to learn.