The current short-term, and quick fix interventionist approach is not based on in-depth understanding of the context and culture of the school, but on superficial data analysis and instant judgements...

It is important to remember that the situation is clearly very different in real schools. The core business of schools is teaching and learning and, to achieve this, the school leaders have to find ways to overcome the many obstacles real schools are facing. To achieve their core purpose and become successful, we know that schools need to move from a culture of dependency to a culture of enterprise, discipline and hard work. That requires strong and highly effective leadership, powerful governance, an organisational infrastructure, financial resources and autonomy, professional excellence at all levels and brilliantly responsive and flexible support.

We know that some of our schools have moved very successfully in this direction and achieved great things; simply look at what John Smeaton Community College, the David Young Academy and Morley High School have achieved over the last few years. However, a small number of our schools still lack great leadership, have poor discipline and are too dependent on support.

We must develop a "can do" approach where there are only challenges and opportunities not problems. We need to contribute practical advice and insightful reflections about the issues faced by our schools; ideas rooted in the reality of effecting lasting change and adding to what the schools already know.

We know that the task we all face is enormous but we know how to do this and we simply need to be break the problems down into bite-sized, manageable strategies and tasks targeted to make a real difference.

Chris