Leeds schools- outstanding learning places

We are in Leeds in the UK with Education Leeds working with the sharing of ideas and systems related to education with a Swedish city. What we have heard and seen so far has been extremely impressive and stimulating. we started yesterday by listening to Chris Edwards, the chief executive of Education Leeds. Chris gave a very impressive and stimulating talk on the journey of Education Leeds during the last 8 years. This was followed by the group from Sweden joining a range of discussion groups of some of the initiatives and programmes in education in Leeds. During the afternoon the group visited The Derek Fatchett City Learning centre which was an outstanding example of ICT and media support for schools and communities. After this the group split into two to visit two of the real success stories in Leeds schools, Carr Manor High and Pudsey Grangefield. The respective principals, Simon and Ken showed us their outstanding schools and talked about some of the initiatives and programmes the schools were involved with in improving performance. Carr Manor has a great system of student mentorship and performance management. Pudsey Grangefield has great leadership and is a fine example of a brand new school. Ken Cornforth the principal explained to us just how he had incorporated a number of new design features into the construction of the school based on a visit to Stockholm in 2005 hosted by ICG. In the late afternoon we were hosted by the Lord Mayor of Leeds to a very enjoyable Civic reception. Jenny Hill the international schools coordinator is doing a wonderful job in coordinating this visit and we look forward to todays programme.