Don Ledingham’s Learning Log

Got into work about 7.15am to clear my feet before what I knew was going to be a busy day. I've always enjoyed that time in school before anyonelse is around - I always seem to get through so much more than at the end of the day.
Met Sheila Ainslie and Fiona Brown of Pupil [...]

Met Sheila Ainslie at 8.15 to discuss staffing issues relaing to pupil support. Valerie Irving at 9.00am to finalise our proposals for 5-14 assessment. We are going to go for an on-line moderation system called ALTA. More of this at a later date. 9.30 meeting with Richard Parker to complete the chat we were having [...]

Today was chance to reflect on some of the main threads that have been taking up my time snce I started in post.
The challenge in leadership is to establish a balance between consultation and instruction. It is a fine line to tread but I think we all appreciate instruction in some instances. The expectation in [...]

Got in this morning at 7.30am to prepare for the rest of the day. Met Pauline Evans at 8.30am. Pauline is our Childcare Information Officer. She has responsibility for giving information to childminders, playgroups and nurseries. I'm beginning to understand the importance of early years and childcare. Pauline showed me an excellent website she helps [...]

Met Richard Parker, Principal Officer with particular responsibility for School Boards - amongst many other jobs, at 9.00am. Richard has a tremendous depth of experience in education. We explored how we might ensure how might make the best use of Principal Officers in raising standards in East Lothian. Richard is keen to visit other authorities [...]

Met Maureen Jobson, education officer, at 8.30am. We talked about the work she has been doing this week with all our nursery nurses and teachers. The sessions have been looking at how we can improve the planning process. There can be no doubt that an enriching and well structured nursery experience provides a very sound [...]

Directorate meeting from 8.30-10.00am This takes place every Monday morning. Alan Blackie, Director of Education and Children's Services, Alan Ross, Head of Children's Services and myself meet to dicuss issues which have arisen over the previous week and to tackle any matters which require attention.
Met Alan Cruickshank, ICT Dept, at 10.00am to discuss the future [...]

I’m working on a paper to take to the Education Committee in September. The paper will set out an attainment actin plan for the next three years. The starting point is an analysis of East Lothian Attainment in comparison with our comparator authorities. The results of this analysis are very positive and demonstrate that we [...]

I’ve been in post for four weeks. In that time I’ve been meeting all of the staff within the Department. These meetings have proved very useful. My over-riding impression is that we are fortunate to have so many committed and professional staff at all levels. I think the opinion in schools can sometimes be that [...]

Hopefully my year in post will be characterised by a focus upon:
Culture: trust; belonging; purpose
Empowerment and engagement at all levels
Data - generating; analysing; acting
My priorities for the year are as follows:

Service Improvement Plan
Exc-el website - teaching and learning
Budget management
Restructuring
Teacher Exchange
Leadership development
Talent identification
Student Evaluation of Learning
Authority culture
School cultures
Departmental communication
Standardised testing
Project management
Curriculum for Excellence
Early Years
Timetabling
Staff deployment analysis
Integrated community schools - [...]