We have had an interesting and somewhat challenging start to the new academic year and I fully understand the pressures colleagues are facing across the company...

However tough the going gets we need to stay positive and optimistic, and critically, we need to support colleagues across the company who may be feeling uncertain during this period of significant change. We must never doubt that the work that we are doing is important and makes a difference. I know that it’s a very tough journey but there is a light at the end of the tunnel and it isn't a train coming the other way!

As a team, we have achieved so much together over the years and made such a difference. We are ultimately responsible for the health, the well-being and successes of all the young people who live here in Leeds and our legacy is the real difference we are making every day, every week, every term and every year and don't let anyone tell you anything different.

I know that you are all working hard to respond to the increased pressures and the wicked issues. I appreciate the efforts that each of you have made and are continuing to make to manage budget and staffing resources more effectively against our priorities. Unfortunately, the budget is one particular wicked issue that won't go away, but this just means that we have to be even more creative and innovative to continue to deliver what matters most.

The council's review of the children's trust arrangements is an opportunity to examine the structures and systems that support the work we are doing. Please take time to reassure colleagues that whatever the outcome of the review, the core purpose that we are all engaged in - improving outcomes for children and young people - remains a priority for Leeds.

The inspection is another opportunity for us to demonstrate that we know what needs to be done to improve outcomes for our children and young people; and more importantly, that we can deliver. With our knowledge, expertise and strong track record in working through inspections we are in a good position to support our colleagues across the children's services partnership at this time. Thank you to all the colleagues who are already leading key pieces of work for the inspection.

Remember, as leaders we all need to 'Keep Calm and Carry On' and demonstrate the confidence and sense of purpose that marks Education Leeds out as a strong, dynamic learning organisation. This will take us through the next few weeks when the inspectors arrive in Leeds. We must continue to have a clear shared vision and a 'can do' attitude. We must be proud, hopeful, positive and optimistic. We must nurture innovation, creativity and be constantly curious. In these trying times we must be totally committed to our colleagues; recognising, celebrating and developing our strengths, while understanding and supporting our weaknesses and mistakes. We must be resilient in the face of the difficulties and setbacks we currently face and dig deep to ensure that while we are passionate, totally focused, determined, persistent and energetic, we work hard to make sure that we all enjoy what we are doing and wherever possible have fun together.

We don't need to work harder to build brilliant. We need to work smarter and better as a team. We need to communicate more, talk and listen more and most importantly we need to continue to think team. Let's also ensure that we have fun together using Children In Need, the Annual Lecture and the Christmas Party as ways of celebrating the best of Leeds.... see you there!
Keep the faith!
Chris

We are 'painting by numbers' in a world monitored, policed and controlled by the 'bean' counters and the 'keep within the line' checkers and the 'weigh the pig' consultants and we are trapped in a viscious spiral of negativity, of it's not good enough so let's do something else, of let's create another intiative, of let's get more consultants and of let's make sure that we find someone to blame. ...

These are dangerous times for those of us who understand the learning process. I have said it so many times, 'command and control doesn't work' and sadly all you get as aresult is mediocre outcomes and millions wasted on initiatives that make little or no real long term difference to outcomes for our children and young people. What really, really matters is the quality of the leadership and quality of the learning teams in our schools and the quality of the local services supporting our brilliant learning places. To achieve transformational outcomes and to release the magic we need colleagues in schools facing the greatest challenges to feel trusted, empowered and supported!

We really need to reflect, think and get back to basics... vision, discipline, focus, passion, engagement, relationships and leadership. Let us nurture and support our learning teams to ensure that they deliver for our children and young people and let's take the best of what we do here in Leeds and learn from the best practice nationally, from Reggio Emilia, from Sweden and Finland and Denmark and from anywhere else that will help us to build brilliant local provision.
Chris

We are challenged all the time to do better, and to do it faster and more efficiently and more effectively...

I have been working on school improvement for over thirty years and I know some people will ask why haven't we cracked it and already delivered brilliant learning and fantastic outcomes everywhere. I wish it were that easy. What we haven't tackled or cracked is poverty, deprivation, worklessness and the common factors that conspire against us and prevent young people achieving good outcomes however hard we work. I have also learned from countless school visits over the years that talented colleagues here in Leeds and amazing colleagues up and down the country are releasing the magic and driving up standards and outcomes in some of the most challenging contexts. We have the passion, the discipline, the intellectual rigour, the materials and more importantly we have the people to deliver real magic and to achieve world class outcomes consistently across individual schools and across all schools.

I am not in any way complacent about the challenges we face here in this wonderfully rich, diverse and incredibly challenging city. It's never easy but like you, I am constantly looking for the answers and constantly asking myself how much more I can do, how much more we can do and how much more our schools can do. I am also constantly asking myself about my effectiveness and how I can continue to develop and do better tomorrow than I am doing today.
Welcome your thoughts and ideas.
Chris

A friend sent me the Storyteller's Creed in case I had forgotten...

"I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge, That myth is more potent than history, That dreams are more powerful than facts, That hope always triumphs over experience, That laughter is the only cure for grief, And I believe that love is stronger than death."
Robert Fulghum

Always keep the faith!
Chris

I read the Hay Group publication 'Make or break' this evening...

The little booklet highlights the fact that to be successful we must ensure that our organisations have the capacity to keep our promises. It stresses my view that it is not the execution capabilities that make all the difference. Programme management, performance management and measurement systems matter but they are not enough. We need to understand the three major tools we have for turning strategy into reality:

• translate the strategy into a structure that allows the organisation to best serve its customers, clients and stakeholders;
• constantly and publicly reward the way things are done as well as the results achieved;
• consistently repeat the message through stories and check that the message arrives.

We all need to understand that there is a risk within organisations that our body language and our tone contradict the content of our message. We must think very carefully about rewards and structures to ensure that they match our strategy. Content still matters and we still need a vision and a strategy but we should reserve words for what they do best - telling stories that inspire and inform.
Chris

Colleagues gave me a copy of our new 'The Education Leeds Learning and Development Guide' which I read over the weekend...

It's a powerful little statement about the support for talent management and highlights three golden threads:

• equalities and diversity in everything we do;
• working in collaboration - in teams, within Education Leeds and with our partners;
• Leaders and people managers - developing a culture, inspiring and managing colleagues.

The booklet covers induction, personal development, enabling programme, aspiring programme, inspiring programme, health, safety and well-being, child protection and information technology. The document sets out our commitment to our colleagues and their professional and personal development. We need to help colleagues with their own progression pathways to ensure that each and every one achieves their potential and releases their magic.
Chris

Exceptional people in exceptional organisations refuse to choose between
performance and people...

If we want to be outstanding we must do five things to promote both people and performance:
• Get colleagues to trust us;
• Engage directly with colleagues;
• Maintain our focus and consistency of purpose;
• Build our collective leadership;
• Foster and nurture our shared purpose.

It's as always about ownership, engagement, passion and belief. Simple really.
Chris

Change is with us: perhaps it always has been and perhaps it always will be...

We need to recognise that social, economic, end environmental issues all impact on what we are doing. Schools, 21st Century Schools, lie at the heart of Children's Services and the relationships between learners, their families and our colleagues are vitally important if we want to tackle disadvantage and underachievement and release the potential and magic. We need to continue on the journey to excellence with passion, commitment, energy, belief and determination.
Chris

I read a copy of the new Education Leeds Strategy 'Brilliant Learning, Brilliant Learning Places' over the weekend...

It sets out our vision for the next three years. That all our children and young people will be engaged in learning that:

• challenges their expectations;
• rases their aspirations; and
  
• enables them to fulfil their potential and their ambitions.

It's a great document full of wonderful photographs of our children and young people and expresses our ambitions for 2012:

• we will ensure that children will have a good start and thrive in learning;
• we will ensure that young people will be engaged and thrive in learning;
• we will narrow the achievement gap for vulnerable children and young people;
• we will work to support the continuation of learning into adulthood;
• we will ensure a 21st century learning experience for Leeds children and young people;
• we will ensure that we develop and support the leadership and governance needed to deliver 21st century learning;
• we will promote learning that supports children and young people to make informed choices;
• we will ensure that schools and services provide integrated support to safeguard children, young people and their families;
• we will ensure that schools are at the heart of strong communities with places to go and things to do;
• we will ensure that Education Leeds is a strong and successful learning organisation where people are trusted, valued, respected and enabled to release their potential.

Thanks to those colleagues who produced such a wonderful statement which will drive our efforts here in Leeds over the next three years.
Chris

The mind is similar to the muscles of the body: if you do not use it and give it a good workout every day, it will become flabby...

Too many people are neglecting their brains and the world is in serious danger of becoming flabby. What are you reading and doing to keep your brain engaged and active.
Chris

You’ve done all the right things; provided leadership and direction to your colleagues, rewarded courageous risk-taking, encouraged innovation, honored diversity, demanded personal accountability, put children and young people first but it all just went to the dogs in an OFSTED inspection report...

It’s 3:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning and you’re at the fridge again because you can't sleep. You find yourself breaking into a rage every time some well-meaning and over-paid consultant who has never managed anything tells you he has all the answers, to “play to your strengths,” and “enlist everyone in a positive change effort.” So what do we do?

However tough the going gets, there is always hope especially when some of us have travelled this road before. There is a light at the end of the tunnel which isn't a train coming the other way. We all know that it’s a very tough journey but they all are aren't they when you work in the big cities. There are clearly no guarantees of success, but pressing on is our best hope.

This is our business and we are ultimately responsible for the health, the well-being and successes of all the young people who live here in Leeds. So let's all list the five things that will make the biggest difference for our young people. Take a moment to recognize how difficult these things will be and then do them anyway. Our job is to convince enough people to join in the pursuit of a better and more sustainable tomorrow; a tomorrow that delivers better schools and better outcomes for our children and young people than we are achieving today... whatever it takes!
Chris

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

When things in your life seem to be getting on top of you and almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough to get everything done, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee. If you haven't read the story read on...

"A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things---God, your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car. The sand is everything else---the small stuff. "If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for th e pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

"Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled and said, "I'm glad you asked." The coffee just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.""

Whenever things are getting you down and you need a friend remember about my offer to buy you coffee.
Chris

“I have yet to meet the man, however great or exalted his station, who did not do better work and put forth greater effort under a spirit of approval than he would ever do under a spirit of criticism.”

Charles Schwab

It' s funny but few people I know have learned how to deliver criticism...

We learn by making mistakes. Simply watch a small child learning to walk. The best way to correct our mistakes is by finding something to praise before we are criticised. In this way people show faith, confidence and trust in our abilities and talents and we will be more willing to listen once we know the intention is to be helpful and constructive.

Praise works. Top football managers dish out praise and appreciation regularly and publicly. Genuine praise is not flattery. We are all more willing to listen to advice when we know the boss has faith in our abilities.
Chris

At Extended Leadership Team this week, I mentioned that I was awake at 2.30am and had thought about other colleagues doing exactly what I was doing, hungering as I hungered, wondering as I wondered and unable to sleep and that we were all members of the 'Fellowship of the Fridge'. This is where that came from..

"Leftovers in their less visible forms are called memories. Stored in the refrigerator of the mind and cupboards of the heart.

These are just few of mine that came up tonight: the laughter of a friend, the last embers of a great fire, the long glance of love from my spouse from across a room full of people, an unexpected snowfall, the year everything went wrong and turned out right, and a chunk of poetry I learned in high school. These precious things - these leftovers from living on - remain to serve as survival rations for the heart and the soul. You can't entirely live off them. But life is not worth living without them.

My solitary late-night forays for food in the fridge are often garnished with such thoughts. I don't go to the refrigerator just to eat. But to think. To sort it all out. And sometimes I think about the other people who must be at the same place in their kitchen at this very moment, doing exactly what I'm doing, hungering as I hunger, wondering as I wonder. We will never get together. There will never be an international convention of us. No kitchen is big enough. But we are bound together. We make up the secret society of the Fellowship of the Fridge. Somehow muddling through and getting by. And not really as alone as we often think we are, after all."

Robert Fulghum

On yet another night when my mind is refusing to let me sleep, I wonder who else is out there.
Chris

"If educators invested a fraction of the energy they now spend on trying to transmit information in trying to stimulate the students' enjoyment of learning, we could achieve much better results."

Csikszentmihalyi

It's important that we all understand that the chief impediments to learning are not cognitive; it's not that any of our students can't learn; it's that many of them don't want to. One of our major challenges is to switch on what is currently switching off so many of our young people.

All ideas welcome.
Chris

What is it that is driving this uncompromising and relentlessly critical approach to standards, safeguarding and provision by the DCSF and OFSTED...

Do we really believe that headteachers, teachers and schools will only do their job properly if they are constantly criticised, tightly directed and carefully monitored. Do we really believe that a significant and increasing minority of headteachers, teachers and schools are performing so poorly that they need to be identified and removed from their roles. Do we really believe that headteachers, teachers and schools are generally well intentioned and professional in their work, but that they need to have continuous, unequivocal external guidance about what they are doing.

What we all need is intelligent accountability. Accountability that...

1. preserves, enhances and develops trust.
2. develops ownership and involves us in the process.
   
3. supports professional responsibility and initiative.
4. encourages deep, worthwhile responses rather than shallow surface window dressing.
5. recognises and compensates for the severe limitations of our ability to capture educational quality in simplistic performance indicators.
6. provides effective feedback that promotes insight into performance.
7. supports good decision making about what we should celebrate and what we should change.
   

Let me know what you think.
Chris

If only...

If colleagues live with criticism They will learn to condemn. If colleagues live with hostility They will learn to fight. If colleagues live with ridicule They will learn to be shy. If colleagues live with jealousy They will learn to feel guilty. But if colleagues live with tolerance They will learn to be patient. If colleagues live with encouragement They will learn self-confidence. If colleagues live with praise They will learn to appreciate. If colleagues live with fairness They will learn justice. If colleagues live with approval They will learn to like themselves. If colleagues live with security They will learn to have faith. If colleagues lives with acceptance and friendship They will learn to find love in the world. Chris

We are building brilliant learning in brilliant learning places here in Leeds...

This is an ambitious statement but we all know that everything we do needs to be good or better and there can be no exceptions. OFSTED and the Audit Commission have raised the bar again with the new OFSTED Framework and the new Corporate Assessment and we are rightly facing higher and higher expectations in everything we do. However, we don't do it for OFSTED or the Audit Commission, the DCSF or the Government. We do it because we all believe that the children and young people of this great city are its future and have extraordinary potential. It is also important that we recognise that our parents and carers, our communities and our partners want every school and all our provision to be brilliant. And, we can do it!

Over the last few years we have proved time and again that we can do it and that underachievement, poor behaviour and poor performance should be things we simply won't accept anymore. Simply visit Carr Manor, Morley High, John Smeaton, David Young and you'll see it. And the message must be that we need all our colleagues to be passionate, persistent, determined, courageous and hard working.

There can be no excuses; our challenge over the next five years is to deliver world class outcomes... whatever it takes.
Chris

How do we build a great learning team here in Leeds?

We must:
1. Have a clear shared vision;
2. Have a 'can do' attitude;
3. Be proud, hopeful, positive and optimistic;
4. Nurture innovation, creativity and be constantly curious;
5. Be totally committed to our colleagues;
6. Recognise, celebrate and develop strengths;
7. Recognise, understand and support weaknesses;
8. Be resilient in the face of difficulties and setbacks.
9. Enjoy what we are doing and wherever possible have fun;
10. Be passionate, totally focused, determined, persistent and energetic.

How do you think we match up?
Chris

'Backing the Future' provides the economic and social case for transforming the way we invest in the future of society through our children...

The report by the charity Action for Children and the New Economics Foundation makes clear the need for a comprehensive investment programme in preventative services for children and young people that would both save spending on dealing with the impact of problems later, and deliver wider benefits to society. To achieve lasting change, 'Backing the Future' demonstrates why it is essential to address the impact of the structural factors affecting the circumstances of children’s lives, such as poverty and inequality, together with psychological and social dimensions of their well-being. Evidence of the need for decisive action by national governments is compelling. When compared with our European neighbours, the UK comes bottom of the pile on almost every preventable social problem – crime, mental ill health, family breakdown, drug use, or obesity. The analysis shows that the UK has to spend a third more in addressing the consequences of its social problems than the next most troubled nation. But the costs are not only economic. The prevalence of these social problems has a direct impact on how children experience their lives and on the cohesiveness of our communities. This means that the UK has some of the lowest levels of child well-being when compared with countries of similar economic wealth, and across social and psychological dimensions.

Yet is it so hard to imagine a different future? A future where all children feel loved, are free from poverty, have supportive relationships with other children and adults, feel happy and safe, and are free to imagine and explore as they journey through their local neighbourhoods. A future where all children feel valued; where they give their ideas, time, passions, and their creativity to everyone they meet and to all that they do. A future where the UK no longer languishes at the bottom of international rankings of child well-being and indices of social dysfunction. The report demonstrates that investing more in children is necessary, economically viable and a better use of public money in the long run. The cost to the UK economy of continuing to address current levels of social problems will amount to almost £4 trillion over a 20 year period. This includes addressing problems such as crime, mental ill health, family breakdown, drug abuse and obesity. Investing in a package of support, including targeted interventions and universal childcare and paid parental leave, could help address as much as £1.5 trillion worth of the cost of these social problems. This would leave the UK in a similar position to European nations such as Finland, Sweden and Denmark which have the best social outcomes.

The report shows how this can be achieved and presents an economic model for how the UK Government could fund a transition to a more preventative system, therefore turning aspiration into reality.If you want to read the report visit their website at http://www.neweconomics.org. Chris

I read in the Times Educational Supplement that the National College for School Leadership has commissioned a peice of research to discover the leadership qualities young people believe headteachers should have...

Reassuringly young people felt that intelligence was most important, followed by someone they could respect and look up to. Boys wanted a winner while girkls wanted their headteacher to be kind and caring. Commenting on their current headteacher young people said that they wanted the best for their school, were fair and understanding, understood right and wrong and wanted students to do their best.

Asked about their dream headteachers the top ten were:

1. David Tennant;
2. Barack Obama;
3. J.K. Rowling;
4. Cheryl Cole;
5. David Beckham;
6. Will Smith;
7. Michelle Obama;
8. Sir Alan Sugar;
9. Lewis Hamilton;
10. Alan Shearer.

It certainly makes interesting reading!
Chris

I know that we all want Education Leeds and schools across the city to be the ‘Best Places to Work’ locally, regionally and nationally...

Being a brilliant learning place takes a deep-rooted commitment focused on leadership, performance management and resource management. We must all work hard to help our colleagues be the best they can be, doing the best we can in every area of our work and supporting each other to be our brilliant best. Research has shown that looking after our health and well-being affects the experience for young people and their parents and carers improves recruitment and retention, drives up standards and drives down poor attendance. There is no question about it secure, happy, engaged colleagues are the key to success.

We need to focus on improving the things that really make that difference. Leadership is the key to this and we need to understand how colleagues feel about us as leaders and managers and how they view our values and principles. We need to coach colleagues and nurture their well-being to help them manage the pressure, the stress and maintain their life-work balance. Increasingly we are looking for colleagues to be more flexible and develop generic skills and we need to put in place training and development programmes to release colleagues potential and their magic. We also need to continue to think team, build team and create teams where colleagues work together on the challenges and the wicked issues.

We must continue to be proud to be part of the learning team here in Leeds. We have made such a difference together and colleagues in so many ways have made a fantastic contribution. We are building something simply amazing which is helping young people to achieve better and better outcomes.
Chris

Last week was a celebration of brilliant buildings, brilliant leadership and brilliant people...

I visited some great schools in Leeds: our two new Academies - Leeds West and South Leeds; our two new schools built under the Building Schools for the Future programme - Allerton Grange and Swallow Hill; and Clapgate Primary School. I also went to Buttershaw Business and Enterprise College in Bradford. Here in Leeds we've built some truly exceptional buildings over the past few years; brilliant learning places that are at the heart of local communities. They are all unique, creative and imaginative places where wonderfully talented colleagues will be able to release the enormous potential and magic in our young people.

I spent time with some great leaders: Annette Hall, Colin Bell, Richard Hughes, Lesley Simpson, Rick Whittaker and Bernard Knowles. We have appointed some truly exceptional headteachers over the last few years; brilliant colleagues who have transformed learning in their schools and helped us achieve some outstanding outcomes. They are all unique, creative and wonderful colleagues whose leadership, commitment and example has helped us release the enormous potential and magic in our colleagues.

As with most weeks here in Leeds the real highlight was that I spent time with some extraordinary young people with enormous talent and potential. Potential doctors, lawyers, scientists, sportsmen, artists, teachers, managers, entrepreneurs, politicians; young people with energy, enthusiasm, character and magic. Young people who make it all worthwhile and who remind us why we are here.
Chris

I attended 'The Science of Success' a 'Benchmark for Business' Conference with Daniel Goleman and Malcolm Gladwell today...

Daniel Goldman highlighted the impact of leadership styles on climate. The most important elements are:

• a visionary style which provides long-term direction; and
  
• a coaching style which develops colleagues;

Other elements that make a difference are:

• an affiliative style which creates teamwork and harmony; and
• a democratic style which build commitment through collaboration.

Interesting, but unsurprisingly, some styles have a negative impact:

• a commanding style that demands compliance; and
• a pacesetting style that pushes colleagues to accomplish tasks.

So keep the vision, coach colleagues, think team and share wherever you can.
Chris

It is becoming increasingly obvious that things are going to get a lot more interesting around here...

We need to work harder to build brilliant. We need to:
1. share the big picture and put aside other agendas;
2. share the reality and always be honest with each other;
3. share everything and constantly listen to feedback;
4. share the workload and support others;
5. share every success and every failure.

This is more than just a series of goals or the Education Leeds vision - it's about our values and our culture and helping colleagues to understand where they fit into the bigger picture. We must be prepared to confront the harsh realities when things go wrong and give and receive honest feedback. We need open, clear, two-way communication and active listening to continue to build teamwork across the company and across Children's Services. If we get this right I believe that things will happen spontaneously; colleagues will understand where the pressures are, what the challenges are and how to manage the workload. They will then collaborate to get jobs done by building creative teams, dynamic partnerships and strong and meaningful relationships.

In a genuine 'one team' culture, everyone wins, loses and learns and most importantly everyone improves and develops together.

Chris

What are your goals?
What do you want to achieve?

REMEMBER...

• to stay positive!
• see set backs as temporary!
• believe in yourself!
• be determined!
• be disciplined!

REMEMBER...

• start now!
• focus! and
  practice, practice, practice!

When you hear the word ordinary, when you are talking about a child, a colleague, a friend, an athlete, a dancer, a school, a place or anything else, what do you think?

You probably think of words such as average, dull, boring, plain, common, and every day. You're probably not thinking of examples—ordinary people and ordinary places don't stand out and simply aren't that important or that memorable. Now what you think of when you hear the word extraordinary. Are words such as amazing, wonderful, talented, gorgeous, outstanding and brilliant coming to mind? We almost always think of a particular individual or a particular place that fits the description: a hero, a partner, a child, a friend, a great school, a great restaurant, an incredible footballer, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist, a great poet, or your favourite place.

Many people believe that if you are an ordinary person with an ordinary job, you have no hope of ever achieving success or doing something extraordinary: something that really makes a difference. This is not true. You are a unique and extraordinary individual with incredible potential and the difference between being ordinary or being extraordinary is not skill, the difference is attitude!
Chris

It has taken me a long time to discover the fact but I now know that self-discipline will allow me to be successful in anything I want to achieve and believe I can achieve...

The problem we face is that wherever you look so many people have hardly any self-discipline. Sad really because using self-discipline you can make all your dreams come true! If you set a goal you simply need to stay focused, keep disciplined, trust your instincts and never let anyone tell you that your dreams are unattainable. Discipline and success go hand in hand; it is the formula which will help you to achieve your goals.
Chris

It doesn’t really matter what approach we take, honesty, respect and discipline are needed to ensure success in everything we do...

Remember that this is a team game and we’ve all seen new colleagues and old ones who simply try too hard. We must carefully listen and build trust, respect and understanding.

Remember that relationships take time to develop, and we must allow and support everyone so that they grow into an effective team member and team player.

Remember that nothing can be learned through talking. Asking questions and listening should represent 80% of our interactions with colleagues.

Remember that respect is always earned over time and by example.

Chris

The great teams I know are obsessed with getting things done...

They have the vision, the ambition, the aspiration, the dreams, but they also know how to deliver brilliant outcomes. Without action and execution, dreams can only take you so far. This is true of any great team, whether it's a non-executive board, a city council, a school or an orchestra or band.

What's remarkable is you don't hear of orchestras, musicians or artists burning out from the pressure, overwork or stress. They love what they do and they thrive on the pressure, in good or bad times; teams of people who have dreams and a love of performing and getting things done.

This dream plus action approach is what we need from our teams, large and small; in our business and in our schools.
Chris

After another interesting week, I realise once again that Education Leeds is our organization to make work and it’s not “them” that’s the problem; if there is one, it's us. I adapted this from some materials I read by Tom Peters...

• This is a team game and we must all be team players.
• We should dump the power and the control freaks.
• We should share everything on the web.
• We must develop openness and transparency so that everything is available to everyone.
• “Integrated joined up solutions” should underpin our culture.
• We should only partner with the “best”.
• Remember all schools are created equal and all schools contribute equally!
• Remember professionalism and excellence are the watchwords.
• We must all invest in re-wiring our organisations.
• We must all live the Leeds Brand.
• We must become fans of co-operation and partnership.
• We must all use the words “partner”, "team", "we" and "us".
• We should obsessively seek inclusion.
• Buttons & Badges & T-shirts matter.
• We must work on team identity and solidarity.
• We must develop rewards and incentives.
• Losing, like winning, is a team affair.
• Blame is not part of our culture.
• Every member of our team matters.
• We need to nurture “Wow Projects”, large or small that demand by definition excellence.
• We must unearth and reward cooperation and partnership working.
• People want the opportunity to do something memorable.
• Colleagues who shine in the working together bit should be rewarded.
• To improve and develop our new culture little teams should be formed on the spot to deal with urgent issues.
• We must make it normal to be “working together.”
• Project “management” experience should become as natural as breathing;
• Everything we do should be about pursuing and developing excellence.
• We must pick partners based on their ability to co-operate and work in partnership.
• We must talk partnership and value-added at every opportunity.

I would as always welcome your comments and feedback.

Chris

I received this comment from Mike Chitty and his 'Enterprise and Entrepreneurship in the Community' Blog...

"My eldest daughter came home from school last week with something like 10kg of university prospectuses. She spent much of the week-end browsing the frightening range of courses available. And it got me thinking about whether the compulsory education that she has experienced so far, all 13 years of it, have really provided her with an excellent platform for wealth and fulfillment in her adult life.

And the result of my pondering was:
1. As a premise I believe that education is at its best when it socialises people into the obligations and freedoms of active citizenship, and immunises them against imprisonment by the gilded cages of consumerism. So why does so much (enterprise) education appear to be about the development of the next generation of employer fodder/entrepreneurs/snake oil sellers?
2. Is this because we are failing to teach the real meaning of ’social enterprise’ now that it has become embedded in what Todd Hannula describes as ‘agency led mush’?
3. Have we ever properly taught the notion of social enterprise? Is it really more the the pursuit of ‘enlightened self interest’ in the marketplace?
4. To release prodigious human energies and good will we must learn how to help people find powerful narratives that give meaning and direction to their lives.
5. We must help them to learn about themselves at least as much as we should help them learn about the world outside of them.
6. We must encourage them to explore what they love and who they can become in pursuit of their potential.
7. We must educate them to properly understand their own self interest and how this fits with the self interest of others in a mutually sustainable and progressive community.
8. We must help them to become experts in using power in pursuit of mutual self interest.
9. We must help them to build their power in creating the kind of future that they want to see for themselves and for the diverse communities that live on spaceship earth.Perhaps consideration of these statements might just help us to realise ‘the end of (enterprise) education’."

You should visit Mike's blog which is really brilliant and has certainly made me think. It's at http://localenterprise.wordpress.com/
Chris

We are on the edge of a radical and important transformation but one that may be lost unless we are very careful...

More than ever we need schools to connect more powerfully with young people, their families and the communities they serve. The research suggests that a great school can achieve great things but it's impact on a child's life only amounts to around 12-15% of the child's success. A great family and a great mum has a massively more important and influential role accounting for up to 30% of a child's success. And surprisingly a great community, an aspirational community, also matters hugely to a child's success. Sadly, while it helps, going to a great school is not the only answer to the problems we face and we must recognise that the answers to the real challenges we all face in raising standards and achieving world class outcomes for our children lie in tackling poverty, deprivation and poor parenting and in building equality and equity at the heart of everything we do.

Happy to discuss.
Chris

We certainly live in interesting times with schools increasingly moving centre stage and the end of national prescription and national control...

We need to re-imagine and redesign learning for this new age.
What do we need to do?

• we need to rethink learning time, understanding that more is better;
• we need to rethink our learning places to connect with other provision;
• we need to re-imagine our spaces for learning building on creativity, imagination and enterprise;
• we need to develop collaborative and team based approaches to learning at the heart of our provision;
• we need to build learning webs, learning hubs and learning satellites since small is definitely beautiful;
• we need to rethink teaching and formal learning to maintain excellence and academic rigour;
• we need to develop informal and fun learning to connect with young people's interests and potential;
• we need to create learning places young people love and help them shape provision to better meet their needs;
• we need to create learning places where young people have high self-esteem and feel in control of their own learning.

It's all about brilliant learning in brilliant learning places!

Discuss.

Chris

It's another interesting time for education...

We need to rethink/re-imagine:

• how we learn;
• what we learn;
• when we learn;
• where learning takes place;
• who learns from who;
• how we monitor, evaluate and assess learning;
• how we fund learning;
• what we measure in terms of learning.

Chris

Today, 1st May 2009, I have reached an important milestone in my professional life...

I have been here in Leeds for eight great years. The important thing is the longer I stay the better it gets and surprisingly perhaps the more we are achieving and more importantly the more our children and young people are achieving. Our positive, relentless and persistent approach reaching out and releasing the magic; creating brilliant learning in brilliant learning places serving healthier and more harmonious communities. We have built a new world of learning in Leeds by nurturing, developing and searching for potential and coaching that talent and potential through self-efficacy, self-esteem and behavioural change programmes. Our energy, passion, enthusiasm, commitment and belief has released a special magic which is contagious. The more I look, the more I realise that I am surrounded by talented, brilliant, gorgeous and wonderful colleagues whose energy, passion, enthusiasm, commitment and belief burn so brightly and who are day-in day-out making a real difference for children and young people and everyday building a better tomorrow for every child and every young person in Leeds.

Thanks to everyone who has made the last eight years, the best eight years of my professional life. Chris

'When the going gets tough, the tough get going.' It's all about attitude, determination and persistence. If you want to be successful in any aspect of your life you need to be persistent...

Persistence is the powerful force that keeps pushing you on when that little voice in your head is telling you to quit. Persistence is an intense desire to succeed. You either have it or you don’t but the good news is that persistence is a state of mind and you can develop persistence. Now is the time to be more persistent than ever. Now is the time for us all to step up. Persistence will reward us all for our efforts when we achieve our goals. It is one of the greatest feelings in life. Hang in there!
Chris

I've been dealing with a lot of difficult things; difficult people and difficult issues. I am grateful to those colleagues and friends who have helped me manage my demons recently and helped me realise that there are seven steps which help us manage the impossible:

Step1

Remember that problems are what we make them.

Step2

Remember that you have a choice in how you handle things.

Step3

Remember to never give up or give in when faced with a challenge.

Step4

Remember to deal with your emotions.

Step5

Remember that problems and difficult situations help us to grow as individuals.

Step6

Remember to learn to laugh at your situation and mistakes no matter how bad they are.

Step7

Remember we all need help and support.

It's great to have someone to talk to when the going gets tough, so that the tough can get going.
Chris

To create a brilliant school, a brilliant team or a brilliant organisation you must...

Behave Equitably
Treat others in a way you would wish to be treated yourself.
Be Honest and Trustworthy
Understand what is important, be open, honest and keep your promises.
Care About People
Be caring and supportive and make sure you treat colleagues with respect.
Use Coaching and Feedback
Nurture growth and challenge, and recognise that colleagues just want to do well and enjoy the roles they have, and do a great job.
Recognise Success
Acknowledge good performance and recognise it every and any way we can... thank you's, hugs, letters, stickers, flowers and chocolate all help.
Communicate Well
Be truly interested in what colleagues have to say and ensure that they are appreciated, information is openly shared and everyone contributes fully.
Delegate Well
Help colleagues do what they are best at. We must all let go of the things we don't need to do and use delegation to develop colleagues skills and abilities.
Build Relationships
Develop great relationships where colleagues care, share and connect their ideas, successes and concerns.
Appreciate Differences
Understand that every colleague can contribute their particular and unique skills and abilities to build real success.
Have Finally Have Fun!
Ensure that every Friday, if not every day, we smile, laugh and eat chocolate.

Let me know what you think we can do to build brilliant.
Chris

We need to remember that we are all talented, brilliant, gorgeous and wonderful; all potential high achievers wherever we work in this crazy enterprise; in the school kitchen, the playground or the playing field, the classroom, the laboratory, the workshop, the office or at Education Leeds...

We all try out new recipes and approaches, we test assumptions, we experiment with new concepts and ideas, we look at data and outcomes and we constantly search for the magic ingredient that can lead to a breakthrough and help us make even more of a difference to the lives of our children and young people. In our constant search for brilliant; brilliant food, brilliant systems, briliant provision and brilliant outcomes, we must be creative, methodical, pragmatic and demanding and our personal standards have to be focused, relentless and uncompromising. Only our brilliant best is good enough for the children and young people, the families and the communities we serve. It is important that we all remember that achieving the outstanding, the brilliant, the magical comes from putting your heart and soul into your work. It is about being passionate and loving what you are doing to bring out your absolute incredible potential. The words 'passion' and 'love' are there because they are the secret to brilliant. If you don't love what you are doing with a real passion, you are wasting your life and you should take your magic and your potential and go and do something else!

It has been an incredibly difficult week full of meetings, challenge and frustration but interspersed as always with little interludes of real magic. I visited South Leeds High School as part of the Corporate Assessment tour we arranged fo the city's inspectors and auditors. We celebrated the achievements of yet another cohort of fantastic Higher Level Teaching Assistants. I attended the beginning of the RM/Education Leeds 'Demonstrating Transformation Conference where Professor Tim Brighouse gave the keynote address. I visited East Ardsley and Kirkstall St Stephen's CE Primary Schools. I had breakfast with some of the Templenewsam Halton Family of Schools headteachers and lunch with the Seacroft and Manston Family of Schools headteachers.

I have to admit that I have struggled over the last three weeks and I am sorry to say that on occasions I have lost the plot. I have become very tired, depressed and negative and I recognise that I have started to undermine the very special culture, values and relationships we have all worked so hard to nurture and develop here at Education Leeds. However, thanks to some friends and colleagues, I am pleased to say that at the end of the week and over the weekend I have readjusted the volume and the balance. I have managed to relax, unwind, refocus and re-read Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People”. It’s a great book, first published in 1937, and things don’t get any clearer than this:

• Don’t criticise, condemn or complain;
• Give honest and sincere feedback;
• Be genuinely interested;
• Smile and laugh;
• Remember colleagues names;
• Be a good listener;
• Make colleagues feel valued;
• Avoid arguments;
• Respect colleagues opinions;
• Admit it when you are wrong;
• Be friendly and supportive;
• Get colleagues to agree with you;
• Let colleagues do the talking;
• Let others feel that ideas are theirs;
• See things from colleagues’s viewpoints;
• Be sympathetic to other ideas;
• Appeal to the moral purpose;
• Tell powerful stories;
• Set colleagues challenges;
• Begin with praise and appreciation;
• Identify mistakes indirectly;
• Talk about your own mistakes;
• Ask questions;
• Help colleagues save face;
• Praise every little thing;
• Talk colleagues up;
• Use encouragement;
• Encourage people to be happy at work;
• Keep it simple.

'Whatever you do keep it simple' should be etched on the wall in every staff room, every office and every room at Education Leeds. Complexity is the curse of the digital age. It is a type of intellectual pollution that drives out clarity of purpose, smothers thinking and common sense and impacts negatively and destructively on colleagues happiness, productivity and engagement. We all know that achieving absolute simplicity is something none of us will ever achieve but if we don't make some real effort, if we don't train ourselves to look for ways to simplify, we can guarantee our lives will become more complex, busier, less efficient and even more stressful and destructive.

Keep the faith.

Chris

I received a wonderful letter from Steve Grigg who is Head of SEN and Principal Educational Psychologist in the City of York...

Steve had visited Rodillian School, with a delegation from York, to look at the Rodillian/Broomfield Partnership. He and the group were bowled over by the building and the fantastic provision available for children with special educational needs. Steve highlighted how impressed everyone was by the drive and commitment of Sharon Cooper's team and the flexible approach the school has developed to the challenges this sort of provision faces. They were also impressed by the general atmosphere and behaviour around the school which is a real tribute to Andy Goulty who is doing a great job.

It is fantastic to get this sort of independent and objective feedback on the impact our SILC partnership working is having and how we are changing the culture in our secondary schools to make them happier, healthier and more inclusive places.
Chris

It has been a very hard couple of weeks..

We all face relentless and uncompromising pressure and higher and higher expectations. The real challenge is how do we continue to improve learning and outcomes for all our students? And how do we create provision that delivers significantly better learning outcomes? The challenges remain driving up secondary standards, improving the very low secondary contextual value added, improving attendance and improving behaviour. We must work even harder to address the needs of young people achieving very little after eleven years of statutory education, tackling those not in education, employment and training and we must ensure that no schools in Leeds achieve below the floor targets; whatever they are!

I often wonder why some of our provision is so fragile, so prone to failure, so limited in its effectiveness and so poorly performing when compared to the best in Leeds let alone the best in the country. Wherever we are not achieving brilliant outcomes we must do something. We must re-imagine our systems, processes and provision and be brave enough to ask ourselves what we can do to ensure that there is step change in outcomes for all young people here in Leeds... and then get on and do it!

I have been to some incredible learning places recently. Across the city, brilliant colleagues working in schools and classrooms are releasing the magic and delivering world class outcomes, often against the odds. We know what it takes to build brilliant... it's alive and well here in Leeds.

• leadership matters;
• attendance is crucial;
• managing behaviour vital;
  
• enthusiasm is contagious;
• small is beautiful;
• relationships are key;
• passion creates ownership;
• coaching counts;
• persistence and determination go a long way; and
• you tend to get what you expect.

This job we do is too important for any of us to be ordinary. We must all strive. each and every day to be extra-ordinary, to be outstanding and to be brilliant.

Chris

I discovered these eight aspects that school leaders in Minnesota encourage, to achieve their vision:

• There are many academic roads, but all must be rigorous and lead to higher education.
• Educational investment must start early.
• Learning must take as much time as it takes.
• Great teachers must have great support.
• Data and research must inform teaching and improve learning every day.
• Funding must be predictable and sufficient to produce world-class performance.
• Services for students with special needs must emphasize outcomes, not processes.
• Global citizenship must be a core academic subject.

Interesting start to another debate.
Chris

I was thinking over the weekend about how we continue to drive the culture here within Education Leeds...

It's still about action, training, coaching and innovation and we must continue to:

• lead by example;
• put people first;
• manage by wandering around;
• develop transparency and openness;
• get the basics right;
• keep it simple;
• remember that the little things matter!

Chris

Today has been one of those days when I go from meeting to meeting and wonder what real difference any of it actually makes. The great thing however is that you meet wonderfully talented people at these meetings... people who are doing things, creating things, changing things and challenging the assumptions we all make about what is possible.

I know I am incredibly lucky that I work in an organisation where people, partnerships and relationships are central to everything we do. And it's true, you know, that you get back what you give away... smile and the world smiles with you... laugh and the world laughs with you... compliment people and the compliments come flooding back... trust people and they repay you by the bucketload. Sadly some people haven't a clue about this and they simply let their own limitations and frustrations get in the way.

We must all remember that good communication lies at the heart of our success and it's true that being positive helps colleagues to be their brilliant and outstanding best. These are some of the things I have learnt about leading successfully... we must...

• always try to see the bigger picture;
• always be as positive as possible;
• always say thank you;
• always share ideas and problems;
• always tell the truth;
• always listen carefully to what is being said;
• always smile whatever happens;
• always go the extra mile.

Chris

"If I were absolutely certain about all things, I would spend my life in anxious misery, fearful of losing my way. But since everything and anything are always possible, the miraculous is always nearby and wonders shall never, ever cease."
Robert Fulghum

The Safer Schools Partnership started the week training twenty four police officers who will be working in our secondary schools as members of the teaching and learning teams. This is a brilliantly creative initiative which will improve outcomes and target and support some of our most vulnerable young people. I visited Parklands Girls High School to talk to the team about the challenges we are facing and the critical importance of a rigorous and relentless focus on securing good outcomes this year with Year 11. I visited Ebor Gardens Primary School to see Kathryn Depledge and her team at this outstanding little school. I visited Roundhay School to be interviewed on BBC News 24 about the Safer Schools project. I was also interviewed by young people about the work we are doing to tackle bullying as part of the Diana Awards and by Rhia Page, one of our students who is doing a media course, about the work we are doing on inclusion. I visited St Francis Catholic Primary School in Morley where Jane Burns and her team are doing great things. I visited Wetherby High School to met with senior colleagues and governors from the school and from Boston Spa School to talk about the opportunities the two schools have to work more closely together. And finally, I attended the feedback session on the self-evaluation initiative the Artforms music team have taken part in, and was delighted that the outcome was that this is a good service with some outstanding features.

After such a busy week in so many brilliant learning places, what we have to do in terms of leading and managing change in our primary schools, our secondary schools, our behavioural provision and the 14 - 19 stuff and at the same time securing brilliant outcomes for all our children and young people becomes clearer. We have to make our colleagues understand that they have enormous potential; that they can do anything, and that the miracles and the magic are commonplace. I remember Lou Tice telling me that people act as they imagine themselves to be and that changing people's attitude was more important than anything else we did. I also recently re-read a study by Cambridge University which looked at the concept of genius and came to a really interesting set of conclusions... success is about 1% inspiration; about 30 % coaching, teaching and support and about 70% sheer hard work. So, it's true that you can be great at almost anything if you are prepared to put in the work and the only thing that is holding you back is your own perceptions of what you are capable of. What's really sad that so many of us have convinced ourselves that we are not clever, intelligent or talented... which is, of course, an excuse not to work hard at being the talented, brilliant, gorgeous and wonderful human being each and everyone of us could be!

This year we must continue to celebrate every achievement however big or small, and work hard to inspire our colleagues in Education Leeds, our colleagues in schools, our young people and our parents and carers. We must work even harder to release the enormous potential that currently lies dormant in our offices, our schools, and our homes and we must create an environment where this incredible potential can flourish, grow and develop.
Chris

Over Christmas I re-read this and wanted to share it again with you...

"What have I learned in life? I've learned that:

• you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is be someone who can be loved. The rest is up to them.
• no matter how much I care, some people just don't care back.
• it takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it.
• it's not what you have in your life but who you have in your life that counts.
• you can get by on charm for about fifteen minutes. After that, you'd better know something.
• you shouldn't compare yourself to the best others can do.
• you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.
• it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.
• you can keep going long after you can't.
• we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.
• either you control your attitude or it controls you.
• regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades and there had better be something else to take its place.
• heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.
• money is a lousy way of keeping score.
• my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.
• sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down will be the ones to help you get back up.
• sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.
• true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.
• just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have.
• maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.
• you should never tell a child their dreams are unlikely or outlandish. Few things are more humiliating, and what a tragedy it would be if they believed it.
• your family won't always be there for you. It may seem funny, how people you aren't related to can take care of you and love you and teach you to trust people again. Families aren't always biological.
• no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.
• it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.
• no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief.
• our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.
• just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other And just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do.
• we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.
• you shouldn't be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever.
• two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.
• no matter how you try to protect your children, they will eventually get hurt and you will hurt in the process.
• your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you.
• even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you, you will find the strength to help.
• credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.
• the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.
• it's hard to determine where to draw the line between being nice and not hurting people's feelings and standing up for what you believe. "
  

Powerful stuff and worth remembering as we enter another crazy and challenging year where undoubtedly we will get things wrong and screw up but hopefully continue to make a real difference for children and young people across Leeds.
Chris

I know that it's not a good idea when I think instead of sleeping but my ramblings recently reminded me about why I do what I do...

I love what I do and I passionately believe that we are making an incredible difference here in Leeds. However, it isn't enough and we need to do more. We need to find a way to work smarter, to focus ruthlessly on standards and outcomes for our young people. At the heart of this is the vision, the values and the beliefs that shape Education Leeds as a truly brilliant organisation... a commitment to people and to relationships, a belief in their potential and a relentless focus on doing whatever it takes to achieve great things and to release the magic. We all have such enormous potential to change the world for the better. Not necessarily in big chunks but in small pieces that together achieve great things... in bite-size pieces that can move mountains.

It's funny but after nearly eight years here in Leeds I am still unconvinced that we all live, eat and breathe this agenda; that we all thrive on what we are doing and don't see it simply as a job. That we get to work and think that we are so lucky to be doing this and serving the young people of Leeds and don't see it as a chore. That we all come to work everyday determined to make a difference and don't spend our time on the mobile phone or thinking about what we will be doing at the end of the day.

This job we do is so important to the health and well-being of the city and if you don't believe in what you are doing you should go and find something where you do pasionately believe and live that dream instead. Why waste your life doing something that doesn't excite you, that doesn't stimulate you, that doesn't make you think WOW aren't I lucky to be here!

Chris

Looking after your Mental Well-being

I was reading over the weekend and saw this...

"These are the eight steps to secure your mental well-being:

• develop your self-belief;
• take responsibility and control;
• be motivated and interested;
  
• be persistent and focused;
• be pragmatic and realistic;
• be flexible and creative;
  
• develop resilience and bounce; and
  
• be relentlessly committed."

Chris

Happy New Year

Welcome back to what looks like being another interesting year…

This is going to be another year full of opportunities for those of us who believe we can continue to make a difference, continue to deliver brilliant outcomes and continue to change the world. It is important that we all understand that this begins with leadership. We can’t be great at what we do unless we feel great about ourselves. We can’t be the source of positivity and support unless we are positive and optimistic about ourselves and the future. We must enjoy ourselves while we chase success; we must look after ourselves; we must read good books and be inspired; we must continue to learn and continue to improve and develop our talents, our abilities and our skills. We must be optimistic and remember these key messages so that we nurture the magic, develop the creative edge, foster imagination and keep all our colleagues happy, healthy, safe and successful… whatever it takes.

In case you’ve forgotten the key messages:

• focus and work hard;
• take personal responsibility;
• read lots and learn from everything you do;
• celebrate other people’s achievements and always say thank you;
• share your experiences, your learning and your successes;
• reduce the paper and clean up the clutter;
• always think about how you can make a difference;
• be positive, don’t put up with negative people or dwell on the negatives; and
• never lie about anything important.

And when the going gets tough and the challenges seem impossible:

• look after yourself and your colleagues;
• spend time with positive and optimistic colleagues;
• smile, laugh at life and search for ways to have fun;
• breathe deeply, stretch and exercise regularly;
• get enough sleep and take regular breaks;
• appreciate what you have; and
• celebrate everything that goes well.

Happy New Year

Chris

A New Year is a good time to set goals for the coming year...

But before you do you must dream! Dream of everything you want, and have always wanted in every area of your life. What would you attempt to do, if I knew you could not fail? What would you want for your life if you knew you could have it? Let your imagination run wild! Write your ideas down on paper and decide which ones are the most important to you.

Here are some tips and techniques to help us set our new goals:

• State each goal as a strong and positive statement.

• Write your goals down and be precise with dates, times and amounts so that you can measure your achievements.
  

• Set your priorities and don't try to do to much.

• Keep operational goals small and achievable.
  

• Set performance goals, not outcome goals.

• Set realistic goals that you believe you can achieve and that you really want.
  

So, what are you waiting for?
Chris

New Year is the time we say goodbye to the old year and welcome the coming year...

It's a time to forget those memories of a year past that are no longer useful or worth worrying about. It's a time for new beginnings, new ideas and new challenges. We should let go of the past, the mistakes, the bad memories and simply accept what has happened. Sadly, you cannot turn back time and do things differently.

New year is the time to celebrate your life and your achievements and to make new beginnings, develop new ideas and accept new challenges. It is time for a fresh start and to do things that would make a real difference. A time to change your life, to change someone else's life or just make someone's life little better. Make a pledge to do something to make a difference to your own life and to make a difference to least one other person. You will see the difference it can make.

The essential message of New Year is let go of the past and embrace and celebrate life as it comes to you.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Chris

I wanted to write at the end of another amazing year to thank colleagues for all your hard work and to encourage you to celebrate our many achievements over Christmas and the New Year. These are not mediocre times and your contribution to the Education Leeds story has been one of passion, commitment, energy, courage and hard work and I am really grateful because the impact has been fantastic.

We have had another incredible year… as well as delivering the last two PFI buildings, we have seen the opening of the first three new BSF buildings at Allerton High School, Pudsey Grangefield School and Rodillian School, with Allerton High School being officially opened by the Prime Minister. We have also had notification from the DCSF that our Primary Capital Programme proposals have been agreed with some minor amendments, which means that we can start work on an ambitious programme of work that will deliver another £100 million capital investment across the city. Our continuing success has been recognised through our nomination for the Carl Bertlesmann Prize, the extension of our Beacon Status for healthy schools, the Leeds Transformational Project celebrating the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade which secured £450,000 of lottery funding and the success of our ‘Find Your Talent’ bid, which has secured around £2.5 million of lottery funding.

We launched our emotional health and wellbeing toolkit, and our Investors in Pupils programme has moved to a national roll out. We are continuing to develop our sustainable schools programme and held our first Leeds schools green day. We achieved and exceeded our 2007-08 PE and school sport targets, launched our "Happy Healthy Active Lunchtimes" initiative, and established ‘Spirit Alive’ as our response to the 2012 Olympic Games in London.We were the first authority in the region to gain re-accreditation of our Inclusion Chartermark, and our visually impaired service achieved Quality Mark as well as successfully tendering and winning the contract to develop a visually impaired service for British services abroad. We also developed, organised and successfully delivered the first national Gypsy, Roma and Travellers History month and poster competition and more recently we won two of the national BSF Excellence Awards for the ‘BEST LEP’ and ‘Innovation in ICT’.

The STEPS programme continues to develop with more and more targeted parents and carers benefiting from the programme, and 39 clusters of schools and partners are working towards delivering the core offer of extended services; which has been commended by the DCSF for good progress. We have received recognition from the House of Lords for our work with International New Arrivals as well as recognition from Ofsted through one of their thematic surveys which identified good practice on social responsibility and community cohesion. Our Chinese Supplementary Schools have also been recognised as providers of excellent practice by the House of Lords. Many more of our services have achieved Chartermark and the company was the first to achieve the cabinet office’s Customer Service Excellence standard. We have achieved our best ever GCSE results; fantastic results at 5 A*-C, 5 A*-C including English and mathematics, 5 A*-G and 1A*-G , and our feedback from the Audit Commission survey gave us the best satisfaction rating we have ever had from our schools.

Finally, we held our first ever 'Spirit Awards' at Elland Road on Friday night to recognise the brilliant achievements of our coleagues. Thank you to everyone who attended, well done to everyone who was nominated and to those who made it into the top three, and congratulations to the winners: Ann Lomas, the BSF team, the Operations service, the Health initiatives team, Kaya Barker, Eve McLeish and the VI team, Peter Saunders and Sally Bavage - you really are fantastic, wonderful, brilliant and talented colleagues, and now you have the awards to prove it!

Thanks to everyone for your persistence and determination to make a difference. Our brilliant schools, and our fantastic children and young people, have achieved more than ever thanks to the energy, patience, and commitment of the many talented teams working so hard across the city. Together, here in Leeds, we have made a tremendous difference and we must continue to find, nurture and release the magic. We must continue to celebrate our schools’ successes, and work to create an even better tomorrow for all our children and young people.

I hope that this Christmas brings you and those you love… delight and simplicity, foolishness and fantasy and noise, angels and miracles and wonder and innocence and magic… we have certainly proved this year that you are talented, brilliant, gorgeous and wonderful!
Best wishes
Chris

It has been a quieter week but I still had a great week...

A week when I remembered that we must:
· Keep on with doing the business and doing it brilliantly;
· Stick to the basics and keep it simple!
· Continue to manage by wandering around and seeing what is happening;
· Be absolutely straight with people, especially those at the front line;
· Ensure that we keep promoting our 'no blame' culture and all take collective responsibility for what we do;
·Banish "satisfactory", "fine", "gloomy", "negative", "boring" and "can't do" from our vocabulary, even if it kills us!
· Have a positive mental attitude; AND
· Know our strengths, and turn our challenges into opportunities and successes.

Dirk and I had lunch with the amazing visually impaired team before I attended the Leeds Schools Music Association Christmas Festival concert. I visited Boston Spa School and met some fantastic young people before I attended executive board to get approval for an important series of papers. The snow came on Thursday morning, and while I got to the David Young Community Academy no-one else did, so I had breakfast with the academy colleagues. Later, I met with Helen Plimmer and the hugely successful partnership development managers for PE and school sport from the PE specialist colleges. Even later, I attended and chaired another wonderful Leeds Mentoring Celebration at the Civic Hall before I attended the 6th Leeds Peace Poetry Competition and presented awards to some talented young poets. And finally, I attended the leadership forum session at Weetwood Hall and I visited Crossley Street Primary School to see their fantastic new classroom block.

Weeks like this, and a distinct lack of sleep, have given me time to think about the challenges and opportunities facing us as one year comes to an end and another new year rapidly approaches.

Are we doing all we can to ensure that all the resources at our disposal are deployed and targeted on the things that create the most value and make the most difference? Are we making it absolutely clear to everyone who works with us and for us that the only thing that really matters is achieving brilliant outcomes for our children and young people? Are we thinking enough and spending enough time looking for opportunities to build brilliant provision and develop the talented colleagues we work with, and using our ongoing successes as an opportunity to attract the very best colleagues to join us? Are we constantly recognizing and celebrating the achievements of those colleagues and teams who are working hardest on getting things done and building effective relationships? Are we using, adopting and developing "face to face" contacts as the key medium for delivering good, tough, or any news to colleagues, and our partners? Are we doing everything we can to keep all our colleagues and partners fully informed of our plans and our strategies? How tuned in are we to the health and emotional wellbeing of our colleagues, our teams, Education Leeds and children's services? Are we doing our best to stay out of negative and unproductive conversations and away from negative people, and how are we stimulating positive and productive conversations and people? And finally, are there any ways in which we can re-engineer what our colleagues are working on in order to make better use of their strengths and abilities?

Why not make a list of the things you want to achieve in 2009 and then let's get on with achieving them now?

Chris

What difference are you making?

After yet another week where we re-invented what we mean by successful and where it is hard to believe everything that has happened, I want to urge everyone to continue to put in the hard work so that we continue to make a real difference for the children, young people, families and communities we serve...

It was a week of brilliant events and great visits. I went to Windmill Primary School to listen to the 'Sing Leeds South Choir' which draws children from eleven South Leeds primary schools and to the brilliant 'Talking Leeds Talking Success' event organised by our talented young people at The Met Hotel. I visited the young people's leadership and management project at the Carnegie Stadium where I met some fantastic young people from Freeston Business and Enterprise College in Wakefield. I visited Lawnswood, Ralph Thoresby and Allerton Grange High Schools where I met committed, passionate headteachers and colleagues who are making a real difference. I attended the primary headteachers conference 'Making Learning Irresistible' at Elland Road with around 200 wonderful colleagues working to release the magic in our younger children. I attended the 'Global Citizens for Peace/PeaceJam' event at the Civic Hall celebrating the amazing young people and colleagues from six secondary schools who had attended the PeaceJam event in Los Angeles with Nobel peace laureates including Desmond Tutu. And then on Friday I attended the official opening of the brilliant new Allerton High School building by the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, and the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls before dashing across Leeds to the 'Meet the Cabinet' session at the Royal Armouries. I was also delighted that Penny Fields SILC won the 'People's Millions' and that we won two wonderful awards at the 'BSF Awards for Excellence'.

We are doing amazing things here in Leeds but to continue to achieve real excellence we need to understand the world in which we now operate. We need to build BRILLIANT learning places in localities with strong community engagement and powerful and modern governance. We need to build deep learning in all our learning places. Deep learning to equip our little learners with the functional and personal and social skills they need to be successful bigger learners in a world that is increasingly automated, and where the routine, the repetitive and the ordinary are done by machine. We need to powerfully use ICT and local networks to develop and nurture excellence and share good practice and great ideas. We need to nurture talent, creativity and imagination… wherever we can find it and we need to share and network the things that work.
It seems to me after such an incredible week that successful organisations, successful schools and successful teams, all have the following characteristics...

• a vision, values and sense of purpose which shapes the way colleagues behave and helps everyone know they are making a difference;
• the courage to set challenging goals and to develop new and cutting-edge solutions;
• an innovative and creative culture that values people and makes them feel special;
• an innovative and creative culture that trusts, empowers and engages colleagues' distinct and unique talents;
• a rigorous and relentless approach to evaluating performance and individuals’ contributions;
• a concern for the wider community and the bigger picture;
• a reputation for excellence, hard work and passionate commitment; and
• excellent long-term performance.

After all, as Tom Peters said... "Leadership is the process of engaging people in building the future, creating a legacy of excellence and making a difference"... so what difference are you making?
Chris

My colleague Eddie Colquhoun who works in the Attendance Strategy team sent me a copy of his latest liitle book, 'You're Never Too Old To Be Young Again!' and it's a brilliant read...

"Believe in the best, think your best, study your best, have a goal for your best, never be satisfied with less than your best, and in the long run things will turn out for the best."
Henry Ford

This is a collection of stories, pearls of wisdom, great advice, fabulous quotes and would make a great Christmas present. Sections on have a mid-life adventure!, if you don't know where you are going any road will take you there!, laugh and the world laughs with you, you could be a priceless antique, be a risk taker!, and the best is yet to come are wonderful antidotes to the usual miserable stuff in the papers and on the news.

The epilogue of this little book says " I am told that we laugh a staggering three times less than we did in the 1950's. Remember, fundamentally, we don't need to be happy to laugh, but we can laugh to be happy. If laughter is the best medicine isn't it about time we all introduced it again to every area of our everyday lives? Let's bring celebration back into every moment of our lives!"

Thanks Eddie and Judy for a great read which made me laugh, smile and occasionally weep.
Chris

It has been another really wonderful week...

I attended the Leeds Young Peoples Positive Achievment Awards at the Royal Armouries, gave and received awards at the Big STEPS Celebration at the Civic Hall, and spoke at the ADCS, Aspect and RM's Building Schools for the Future Visioning event in Stratford-upon-Avon. I had breakfast with the Morley FOS headteachers , attended another wonderful Staff Induction session at Derek Fatchett CLC and yet another fantastic STEPS celebration at Hollybush Primary School before finishing the week with lunch with the amazing Dinneka Smillie, our AimHigher Young Sixth Form Learner of the Year. I also managed to get to St Peter's CE Primary School to see Liz Holliday and her team who are releasing the magic at the heart of Leeds.



I won another award this week but unless I am mistaken most of us miss out on life's really big and important prizes. I know that I am never going to be Prime Minister, win the FA Cup, win a Pulitzer Prize or win a Nobel Prize and I am unlikely to win X Factor or Strictly Come Dancing, win the lottery, win an Oscar or get a Knighthood. But I do recognise how incredibly lucky I am because I know that I am eligible for life's small pleasures; small pleasures that are worth so much... a thank you after I've done something really well. A touch or a word when I am feeling down or things haven't worked out well. A kiss or a cuddle from a friend. A starry night. A full moon. An empty parking space. A beautiful smile. A crackling fire. A great meal. A glorious sunset. Hot soup. Freshly baked bread. Cold beer. Chocolate. Great coffee. Why don't you add to my list?

Don't be upset about the fact that life's big awards and rewards simply won't come your way. Enjoy its small and wonderful delights and pleasures. There are plenty of those for all of us and we can help each other share them.

Chris

After yet another wonderful week here in Leeds, the scary thing isn’t what we have achieved, but the potential we have to achieve so much more if only we can release the magic…

We need to switch more people on by engaging their interest, connecting with things that motivate and enthuse them, nurturing and developing their energy and potential. What always surprises me is how much potential there is out there. Our job as leaders, as managers, as coaches, as teachers, as parents, as people who care, is to help individuals set their goals, realise their enormous potential and understand that this is not as good as it gets!

Another week in Leeds where I realise that it is all about co-operation, teamwork, networking and partnering. We must constantly celebrate our successes... chocolate helps! We must continue to encourage the BRILLIANT projects, challenges and initiatives that are making such a difference. We must dig deep to continue to find, nurture and sustain talent wherever it is. We must declare war on bureaucracy, complexity and mediocrity and keep it simple and create simply beautiful systems. We must above all communicate and share everything that is great about what we are doing across 265 schools with 17,000 colleagues working for and with 108,000 children and young people. I have been to some incredible learning places recently. And everywhere and wherever colleagues are releasing the magic they are trusted, talented, empowered and effective... brilliant colleagues working in schools and classrooms supported locally by focused and efficient teams releasing the magic and delivering world class outcomes.

AND we know what it takes to build brilliant... it's alive and well here in Leeds...

• leadership really, really matters;
• enthusiasm is contagious;
• small is beautiful;
• relationships are key;
• whatever you do be passionate;
• coaching counts;
• persistence and determination go a long way; and
• you tend to get what you expect.

This job we do is too important for any of us to be ordinary. We must all strive, each and every day, to be extraordinary, to be outstanding, to be brilliant.

Chris

"People often say that, in a democracy, decisions are made by a majority of the people. Of course, that is not true. Decisions are made by a majority of those who make themselves heard and who vote - a very different thing."
Walter H. Judd

Every moment is a celebration...

Ask Lewis Hamilton because winners know this. If you focus on the positives, on your successes, on your achievements you will excel and reach your higher goals. It isn't rocket science and this is one of the most important secrets of success. But if you dwell on the negatives in your life,you will get nowhere fast.

So get into the habit of focusing on the positives today. You will be amazed!
Chris