“There is a brilliant child locked inside every student”
Marva Collins

Sometimes I think that we are 'painting by numbers' in a world monitored, policed and controlled by 'bean' counters, 'keep within the line' consultants and 'let's weigh the pig again' inspectors. In this crazy world to meet their targets the 'bean' counters, the 'keep within the line' consultants and the 'let's weigh the pig again' inspectors rush around developing more and more initiatives that no one owns and that make little or no real long term difference to outcomes for our children and young people... and sadly, in that sort of world, the evidence suggests that all you get is mediocre.I often ask myself what are we trying to achieve together here in Leeds? What is our vision for our children and young people? How do we build brilliant learning, in brilliant learning places to serve brilliant learning communities? What is the trick to releasing the magic and unlocking the potential of each and every child, of each and every colleague and of every family and every community to be their brilliant best?

Our culture, our beliefs, attitudes, and values, determines our choices, our decisions, and our effectiveness. We know that beliefs, attitudes and values are the best predictors of individual behaviour and that these things influence our perceptions, our judgements, and our behaviours. Research also indicates that beliefs, attitudes and values are powerful and highly resistant to change. ‘The way we do things round here’ is the culture and it is really important that we regularly check out what it is we all believe should be the beliefs, values and attitudes driving our work and shaping our behaviours.

I have worked for over thirty years trying to answer these questions. I have recently visited Stockholm and Helsinki looking for the magic ingredient and I have come to an interesting conclusion. I think that the future is already here. Just in terms of the people and places I have visited recently, it’s at Pudsey Grangefield School, John Smeaton Community College, Carr Manor High School and the David Young Community Academy. It’s also at Harehills Primary School, Asquith Primary School, Swinnow Primary School, Hunslet Moor Primary School and Robin Hood Primary School. And it’s at the Horsforth Children’s Centre and the NE SILC at West Oaks.

Those of us who have spent our lives at the front line know the real answers lie where they have always been...

• strong, disciplined, focused and passionate leadership;
• clear, shared vision, values and beliefs;
• talented, energetic, enthusiastic and creative teaching teams;
• empowered, trusted and disciplined colleagues;
• brilliant teaching supported by strong assessment for learning;
• stimulating, exciting and engaging curriculum pathways;
• powerful, stimulating and interesting learning environments;
• high self-esteem and high expectations of everyone;
• strong, dynamic and meaningful coaching relationships;
• high engagement and involvement of young people;
• positive engagement and involvement of parents and carers.

We all know that command and control doesn't work and we all need to wake up to the fact that what really, really matters is our children and young people and the outcomes they achieve. We need listen to young people, trust them, empower them and to help them make informed choices. We need to focus on improving the skills, knowledge and understanding of the colleagues working with our children and young people, the quality of the leadership around them and the quality of the local services supporting our brilliant learning places. We must continue to nurture and support our local learning teams to ensure that they deliver for our children and young people and let's take the very best of what we do here in Leeds and learn from the best practice anywhere we can find it; nationally and internationally; from Reggio Emilia, and from Sweden, Finland and Denmark and anywhere that will help us to continue to build brilliant local provision… whatever it takes!

Chris