9.30-11.45 Out to see Willie Galbraith at Preston Lodge to finish off our chat about examination results at the school.

We focused on our authority generated figures which group results by subject for all schools and use the %of S4 as the standard comparison. Both Willie and myself agree that this gets rid of the discrepancies which can occur when the statistics relate to the the number taking the subject. For example one department might ony have 18 pupils taking a course – which would equate to 10% of S4. If 9 pupils gained a credit this would be 50% of the pupils taking the subject but only 5% if set against the S4 year group. By using the % of S4 roll figure you are able to get a much more reliable figure to use to compare one school against another. Quite honestly I feel these tables are more effective than the charts and box plots which STACS provide.

12.15-1.00 Met with Helen McMillan to discuss Early Years and Childcare. I agreed with Helen that we need to clarify our strategic intent in respect to this area and I need to spend some time on this with colleagues.

1.10-1.50 Gillian Reilly and Clare O'Sullivan. We are going to set up a coaching pilot for the remaiinder of this session for 2 mebers of the department, 6 Headteachers and 9 teachers. All the evidence would seem to suggest that the coaching model can significantly help people to manage their lives more effectively and in turn get more out of their jobs. Gillian and Clare are going to write up a final propsal for agreement by AJB.

2.00-3.00 WAN (wide area network) Project meeting This is a group which has been set up to manage the upgrading of the network to schools. We rea using the PRINCE2 project management system. The project team will oversee the upgrading of the netwoork to schools – minimum spec 2mgb to primaries and 8 mgb to secondary schools.

4.00-5.00 Met a headteacher to discuss peronal issues