Midlothian Council has appointed me as Director of Education and Children’s Services until 31 December 2012. I will also continue in my role as Executive Director at East Lothian Council.

I feel exceptionally privileged to be given the opportunity to build upon the legacy of Donald MacKay.   Donald and I are quite different individuals in terms of personality but having worked so closely together over the past few years it has become apparent that we share the same fundamental values which place the needs of children and people at the centre of our work.

Throughout my career I have adopted an open and transparent approach to my work and it will be my priority to meet as many of my new colleagues as possible over the next four months.

My personal objectives for the job are simple and can be captured in three simple statements:

1.  To enable Midlothian and East Lothian to become the most improved Local Authorities in Scotland in terms of outcomes for children and young people;
2.  To build our services around the idea of creating resilient individuals – children, families, communities, employees, leaders, teams, schools and organisations – who can successfully sustain themselves in times of adversity and uncertainty; and
3.  To build our success upon the quality of our people, our creativity, and our relationships with others.