WE ALL NEED PURPOSE AND MEANING IN OUR LIVES!

"Devote yourself to loving others,

devote yourself to your community around you,

and devote yourself to creating something 

that gives you purpose and meaning."

Morrie Schwarz

I have been thinking this morning, dangerous I know, as I listened the news about all the schools in the country being converted to academies by September 2020.

A BETTER FUTURE TOGETHER: A Prospectus for Sheffield City Region!

I was at the launch of the Sheffield City Region vision this morning at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Park's Knowledge Centre. The session was introduced by Tony Peddar, Chair of Council, The University of Sheffield, Chair of the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals and Convenor for SCRVision.

GOOD CAREERS GUIDANCE: THE GATSBY BENCHMARKS!

IMPORTANT: Implications of labour market change for young people and schools/colleges.

Schools and the twenty-first century labour market: perspectives on structural change

By Dr Anthony Mann (Director of Policy and Research, Education and Employers) and Prue Huddleston (Professor Emeritus, University of Warwick).

EMPLOYER ENGAGEMENT: WHAT WORKS!

IMPORTANT STUFF: THE LATEST RESEARCH INTO EMPLOYER ENGAGEMENT IN EDUCATION!

Dr Anthony Mann, Director of Policy and Research at the Education and Employers Taskforce, outlined the latest research into the impact and delivery of employer engagement in education, at the Careers and Enterprise Fund Community Launch at the Birmingham Science Museum.

CAREERS AND ENTERPRISE FUND COMMUNITY LAUNCH

Sarah Ward and I were at the Birmingham Science Museum on Thursday last week for the Careers and Enterprise Fund Community Launch which was an opportunity for organisations who had received support from the Careers and Enterprise Company to come together and network, share and learn.

HAVE YOU READ THE DFE PAPER ON THE LATEST PISA RESULTS?

HAVE YOU READ THE IPPR NORTHERN POWERHOUSE REPORT ON EDUCATION?

JUST DO IT!

The challenge as always is how we do it. We need to work together to share ideas and strategies and to continue to think team and to build co-operative, collaborative approaches that inspire young people to really understand what they are capable of, to dispel the nonsense about genius and to help them reach their extraordinary potential. It's important that we all understand that colleagues in schools across the country are already releasing the magic and have transformed the learning landscape through the powerful use of collaborative school improvement approaches and through using brilliant programmes like Every Child a Reader, Every Child Counts, Musical Futures and Learning Futures. We all know great schools that have created a culture of excellence built on passion, persistence, self-belief, determined, focused and deliberate practice and hard work. Great schools where this is balanced by a focus on compassion, equity and a belief that every child can achieve and can be successful!

NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE!

Throughout my working life, people have told me that things are impossible!

IT'S EASY TO BE CRITICAL!

I am struggling to balance the negative, destructive and short sighted approaches and outpourings from the DfE and OFSTED, with the outstanding things I see every week in ordinary schools where ordinary teachers working with ordinary young people, are achieving extraordinary outcomes.

SKILLS MATTER IN CREATING BETTER LEARNERS AND BETTER WORKERS!

Employers continue to 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 and the focus on skills has been limited.