John McCann, Director of Next Practice at Scotland’s Colleges, has kindly provided me with a piece on the development of Scotland’s Colleges from their Incorporation in 1993 when they gained their own autonomy. I will be returning to this … Continue reading
One of the things I really enjoy about my post is the extent of joint working with colleagues from health, police, voluntary sector, children’s social work and other organisations and groups with a common interest in improving services to children and families. … Continue reading
A couple of months ago I joined my colleagues on the Leadership Team of East Lothian Council on a weekend course entitled “The Innerwick Experience”. The Leadership Team is made up of: all Heads of Service, e.g. Head of Education, Head of ICT … Continue reading
As Head of Education I had a very clear and unambiguous role, i.e. I was responsible for everything which came under the banner of education of children and young people from 3-18 years of age. In my new role as Acting Director … Continue reading
We held our second East Lothian Parents’ Councils Association meeting this evening. This was very well attended by over thirty parents. We intend to collaboratively evolve the role and function of this group over the next few meetings. Agenda Parents … Continue reading
No posts for over a week but life has been something of a blur. I’m probably earning my corn at the moment with some major challenges facing us in relation to efficiency savings having to be made in the education budget. … Continue reading
I visited Sanderson’s Wynd Primary School in Tranent this morning. In the course of a very enjoyable visit where I observed a number of classes and talked with Headteacher Fiona Waddell and some of her staff about how they create … Continue reading
During my day off yesterday we visited the John Lewis store in Edinburgh. I was reminded by the sign at the entrance about the joint ownership of the company by the employees. On our way home I wondered if … Continue reading
I’m attending a 24 hour conference on public service reform. Colin Mair – CEO of the Improvement Service for Scottish Local Government set out the national context: The comprehensive spending review of government spending will result in flat financial settlements … Continue reading
In my series of posts about alternatives to education authorities I had explored how educational provision might be provided by private companies. Since then I’ve met a number of people who have expressed the point of view that if private … Continue reading