Leadership: Raising standards means working together to fulfil our ambitions

3 October 2011 2 mins read Barbara Peacock Education Management Leadership

In Sandwell, the history of school improvement leadership has been interesting. It was primary head teachers who contacted Ofsted in the early years of the last decade to complain that the local authority did not know its schools.

They were right – and the local authority set about changing not only the quality of its work in schools, but most importantly, the nature and the basis of the relationships that govern so much of our success or failure. There were and remain a number of parties: governors, head teachers, officers, members and parents, who were all encouraged to adopt a new understanding of how they could act as advocates for children and young people.

At the very heart of school improvement, there was a simple equation: namely, the relationship between leadership and the quality of frontline provision. Improving outcomes for all children and young people was our guiding principle and passion. All of the partners in the process kept asking: could we connect leadership and behaviours, including our own, to improve outcomes for children and young people?

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