Head teacher blog 18th March 2016
It is great to get positive feedback. This week, Leeds Children’s Services won a national award for excellence just 5 or 6 years after having previously been slated by OFSTED. This is great news and follows an exceptionally positive OFSTED inspection last year. I have been reading the overwhelmingly positive parental comments on mid year report slips and this morning received a lovely email from a Year 3 parent relating to an appearance by Year 5 teacher Stuart Tiffany at Trinity University:
“I am sending this email just to say a massive well done to Mr Tiffany as I didn’t get chance to thank him afterward. Having sat through many guest speakers, I can honestly say he was an absolute credit to both the school and himself. He gave an amazing, enthusiastic and inspirational speech.”
In other ways, this week has been disheartening. The government is going to force schools to become academies whether they want to or not. I had recently written to the minister on behalf of Leeds Primary Headteachers Forum to argue that we valued our relationship with the local authority, were very successful in terms of OFSTED gradings and wished to remain as maintained schools. I got no reply. 85% of primary schools have chosen not to become academies but the government thinks they know best and are pushing on with this unwelcome, divisive and distracting policy. Meanwhile, the more pressing problems around assessment, teacher recruitment, crumbling buildings and funding go unaddressed.
