19 Mar 2015

Call to action for Yorkshire education leaders to improve standards





Education leaders from around the
Yorkshire and Humber region will be gathering in Leeds next week to build on
the foundations to improve attainment levels across the region.





The Yorkshire and Humber Education
Summit which is being organised by Leeds City Council’s education leaders will
be held at Leeds Town Hall on Tuesday 24 March and will bring together regional
leaders from local authorities, the arts, higher and further
education
businesses, schools and colleges, Ofsted, government, national organisations,
media and the voluntary and community sector. The aim of the day is to work
creatively and innovatively particularly though engagement with businesses,
higher education and the arts.






Over 160 delegates are expected to
attend Tuesday's event which will build on the successes of the region’s first education
summit which was held in Leeds last year. This year’s delegates will hear how
attainment in the region has progressed over the past year, and how a school-to-school
improvement initiative has succeeded.






Media
opportunity:



Members of the media are invited to
attend the Yorkshire and Humber Education Summit at Leeds Town Hall on Tuesday 24
March, between 9am and 12.45pm.



Interviews can be arranged through
Leeds City Council’s press office on 0113 247 4713.






Councillor
Judith Blake, deputy leader of Leeds City Council said:



“This summit is a call to action, to ensure we all work together to make
improvements in education that will drive economic and social regeneration.






“Across the Yorkshire and
Humber region we have world class businesses, universities, colleges, schools,
arts, sports and media yet our region has some of the lowest educational
achievement and performance outcomes in England. This is why we are bringing
together the 15 local authorities that make up Yorkshire and the Humber to lead
the way and improve educational attainment for all children and young people in
the region.”






Following last year’s summit a
pathfinder project was developed with 30 schools from across the region to
develop school-to-school support and lead strategies for accelerated
improvement. All schools were originally
judged as ‘satisfactory’ or ‘requires improvement’ following their last Ofsted inspection.
Remarkable progress was achieved in a very short time, and with a small
investment of additional resources. The project confirmed that schools have
untapped potential to improve themselves and that partnerships between schools
can be an effective means of mobilising this potential. Many of the schools
have subsequently been inspected and judged good. A second cohort of schools have already been
identified across the region and are working together to accelerate their
improvement.






During
the summit, delegates will be asked to consider:



  1. What would a world class
    education system for Yorkshire and the Humber be like, especially if it is
    to meet the needs of business, higher education, communities and the
    learners themselves in the 21st Century?







  1. What do we need to do together to
    make our education system truly world class?







  1. What can our local authorities,
    do to make Yorkshire and the Humber truly a world leader for education?







The
speakers at this year’s summit are:



Councillor Judith Blake, Leeds City
Council’s executive board member for children and families.



Nigel Richardson, Leeds City Council’s
director of children’s services and chair of the Association of Directors of
Children’s Services Yorkshire & Humber regional group.



Margaret House, Vice Chancellor of Leeds
Trinity University



Pat Cochrane, Founding Chief Executive,
Cape UK



Karen Tatham, Head teacher, Burton Green
Primary School



Steve Dixon & Delia Martin, Co-Head
teachers, Benton Park School



Caroline Rowley, Regional Director,
Association of Colleges



Martin Green, Chief Executive, Hull UK
City of Culture 2017








ENDS



For
media enquiries, please contact:



Emma
Whittell, Leeds City Council press office, on (0113) 2474713








For media enquiries contact:

Leeds City Council Communications team
communicationsteam@leeds.gov.uk