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Summary Profile
With recent experience of three substantial posts as interim director of children and young people’s services and as a former executive director of education and leisure, Ian has particular skills in leadership, people management, team building and change management. He is well placed to establish himself quickly to lead and manage a team or project. Equally, his strategic, analytical and problem-solving skills equip him strongly to capture the whole picture, see quickly to the heart of problems, and find solutions.
Background & Experience
- 30+ years in local authority children’s services
- Partnership Working across central and local government, health, voluntary sector and police
- School Improvement; Early Years, Primary & 14-19
- Emotional literacy
- Evaluation, research and inspection
Employment History:
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Key Achievements
As Interim Strategic Director of Children’s Services in Portsmouth, 2009:
- Review and development of:
- Children’s Trust governance and commissioning;
- Children’s Services structure;
- Children and Young People’s Plan & initiation of 4 commissioning reviews;
- Local Safeguarding Children Board;
- Transfer of functions from the Learning and Skills Council under the Machinery of Government initiative;
- SEN funding and annual budget;
- children and families social care service;
- Performance management arrangements;
- Co-ordination of the drafting of a Prevention and Early Intervention Strategy;
- Finalisation and publication of a serious case review;
- Oversight of Building Schools for the Future programme;
- Cultural challenge to improve:
- member-officer relations;
- evidence based self-evaluation;
- integrated service delivery;
- aspirations and expectations.
As an interim senior project manager with the National Academy for Parenting Practitioners, 2008:
- completed a management review of the Academy’s research directorate and implemented new research programme management structures, policies and procedures;
- contributed to the drafting of the research strategy for the Academy’s strategic plan;
- co-ordinated the drafting of the workforce development strategy for the Academy’s strategic plan;
- project-managed the Evaluation of Parenting Programmes and Commissioning Toolkit project;
- co-presented to 9 regional focus groups on the Evaluation of Parenting Programmes;
- chaired 7 regional presentations on the Academy’s workforce development programme.
- Contributed to a cost-effectiveness review of the full research programme for the DCSF.
As Interim Strategic Director, Education and Children’s Services in Slough, 2007-8:
- all 5 of the key outcomes for children and young people in Slough adjudged to be good in the Annual Performance Assessment;
- 3-school PFI scheme completed successfully; Sikh primary school opened successfully in Sept 07; projects on target for the opening of a Muslim primary school and an Academy in Sept 08; Building Schools for the Future task group established;
- multi-agency locality teams on target for April 08 launch; targetted youth support services on target for April 08 launch; all other Children and Young People’s Plan project targets on track;
- priorities for the new Slough Children and Young People’s Plan 2008 and for the 2008 Local Area Agreement identified through consultation and needs analysis;
- significant improvements in internal and external communications for the directorate and the Slough Children and Young People’s Trust;
- full participation in the new Chief Executive’s one-council change agenda;
- new permanent Strategic Director for Education and Children’s Services appointed.
Assignments 2006-7:
- project and report on integrated youth support services for South Central Connexions, January 2007
- project and report on integrated youth support services for Hampshire County Council, April 2007
- successful project direction for a complex academy project in Kent, March to Sept 2007
As Interim Strategic Director for Children’s Services with Isle of Wight Council in 2006:
- The recovery of morale and performance in the Children’s Services Directorate following the sudden departure of its previous director and one of its heads of service;
- The completion of the Children and Young People’s Plan;
- The completion of a Joint Area Review to achieve an overall grading of ‘adequate’;
- A small improvement in school standards at KS2 and GCSE, from a flatline profile;
- A significant reduction in the number of schools ‘at risk’ through purposeful intervention by the Council’s school improvement team, strengthened by external consultancy;
- The publication of key strategies for school improvement; parent and family support; and 14-19 provision;
- A contribution to the Corporate Assessment;
- A contribution to the corporate Directors’ Group during a time of high turbulence;
- Full participation in the substantial agendas for change and performance management initiated by the incoming Chief Executive from June 1st 2006.
With Southampton City Council 1997-2005:
- Raising standards in Southampton - in English at Key Stage 2 from 46% achieving the nationally expected level 4 in 1996 to 74% in 2005; and at 16+ from 39% to 47% of pupils achieving 5+ A*-C grades;
- The award of Investors in People accreditation to the whole Council, for which he was the project leader;
- The initial stages of the establishment of an integrated Children’s Services Directorate in the Council, culminating in the first Annual Performance Assessment in June 2005 which gained a ‘good’ rating;
- the establishment a new unitary authority, as member of the (then) education management team;
- The early establishment of a ‘supported self-evaluation’ procedure across all schools and across the education department;
- The promotion of emotional literacy as a means of raising achievement – now enshrined as ‘enjoy and achieve’ in the 2004 Children’s Act;
- The development of one of the strongest schools’ music services in the country;
- The development of early years provision, including an excellence centre, extensive additions to the number of childcare places, and very successful Sure Start practice;
- The establishment and consolidation of partnerships – at different times Ian was the chair of the Early Years and Childcare Partnership; the Partnership 4 Learning; the Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership; and the Schools’ Partnership Executive. he was also instigator of the Cultural Consortium which generated the City’s Cultural Strategy;
- The establishment of the junior wardens’ scheme in the West Southampton Neighbourhoods Partnership, a scheme which is now attracting national attention;
The development of the young person’s voice in school councils, different forums and, ultimately, in the establishment of the City Youth Parliament;
- The support for the continuous improvement of the city’s leisure offer;
- The award of a £5.75m lottery grant to establish a new arts complex in the city-centre;
- The evolution of a Parenting and Family Support Strategy, endorsed by the Southampton Children and Young People’s Partnership on 22nd July 2005;
Summary of Career Experience
Ian was interim strategic director of Children’s Services for Portsmouth City Council between March and August 2009. His key tasks were to:
- lead and manage the Directorate of Children’s Services;
- drive forward the development of Children’s Trust arrangements, particularly in relation to governance and commissioning;
- generate a strategy for prevention and early intervention and for the development of local multi-agency working;
- consolidate the first stage in a directorate re-organisation and prepare the ground for further rationalisation;
- oversee the Building Schools for the Future programme and the Primary Capital programme;
- support the induction of a new Lead Member for Children’s Services;
- secure the quality of children and families social care;
- raise expectations and aspirations.
Between Dec 2008 to Mar 2009, Ian wrote and submitted evidence to the Inquiry in the Future of Lifelong Learning on the subject of the Learning City.
Ian worked with the National Academy for Parenting Practitioners from February 2008 until March 2009 as a senior project manager, with particular responsibilities for strategic and operational management within the research and development and the parenting workforce development directorates of the Academy.
Ian was interim Strategic Director of Education and Children’s Services in Slough between June 2007 and February 2008. His key tasks were:
- to lead and manage the Directorate of Education and Children’s Services;
- to oversee the Annual Performance Assessment which adjudged Slough to be providing good provision across all 5 of the key outcomes for children and young people;
- to oversee the completion of a 3-school PFI scheme; the opening of a Sikh primary school; and the ongoing projects to open a Muslim primary school and an Academy in Sept 08;
- to drive forward the development of integrated services for children and young people, including multi-agency locality teams; governance and commissioning; common assessment; targeted youth support and 13-19 provision; workforce development; and participation;
- to lead on the consultation for the new Slough Children and Young People’s Plan 2008;
- to consolidate significant developments in provision for new populations in Slough;
- to support the new Chief Executive in a major one-council change programme and as the lead adviser for the appointment of the new permanent Strategic Director for Education and Children’s Services.
Consultancy assignments between October 2006 and June 2007 included work for Hampshire County Council and for South Central Connexions exploring options for integrated 13-19 services; personnel selection for Mouchel Parkman; and project direction for a complex academy project in Kent.
Between January and October 2006, Ian was the interim Director of Children’s Services with the Isle of Wight Council. His key tasks were:
- to lead and manage the Directorate of Children’s Services;
- to prepare for a Joint Area Review in May 2006 and lead on the subsequent action planning;
- to tackle the underperformance of the Island’s schools and raise educational standards;
- to consolidate the arrangements for safeguarding children and young people;
- to participate fully in the Council’s corporate agenda, which included a Corporate Performance Assessment and the introduction of a major change programme,
- focused particularly on performance management.
Ian previously spent four years leading and managing the Education and Leisure teams in Southampton City Council. In this role, he managed a budget of approximately £130m and almost 5,000 staff. He was responsible for Southampton's 14 secondary schools, 65 primary schools and 6 special schools; for the city's Early Years and Childcare provision; for the arrangements for adult and continuing education; for the Learning Services Division (comprising teams for Standards and School Improvement; Inclusion Support; and Community Learning, including the Youth Service); the Education Support and Planning Division (comprising teams for School Organisation; Capital Projects; Information Services; ICT services; Admissions; Catering; Finance; and Human Resources); and the Leisure Culture and Tourism Division, which manages the Council's sports and recreation facilities; libraries; arts and heritage facilities.
Ian led and managed Southampton City Council’s School Improvement Team – as head of Education Quality Services / Chief Inspector – from 1997 to 2001. This involved establishing the school improvement arm of the new unitary authority – from a standing start – and leading on the different iterations of the council’s education development plans, the first of which preceded the statutory requirement. In 2000, Southampton local education authority was inspected by Ofsted. Ian was the lead officer for the Council in this inspection, which found that the Council offers ‘good’ provision.
Ian is currently a trustee of the South Central Connexions Partnership. He served as a governor at Taunton’s College, Southampton from 2000 to 2006.
Publications
Making Sense of Primary Inspection – Open University – 1996
Appraisal - the system in one primary school, in Ian Craig (ed): Primary School Management in Action – Longman - 1987
Qualifications - Educational and Professional
- Sussex University - 1991-95 (part-time) - D.Phil
- Open University - 1981-82 - Effective Manager Certicate Programme
- Rutger's University, New Jersey, USA - 1976-77 (part-time) - 3 credits on Masters programme in Humanistic Education
- King's College, London University - 1972-74 (part-time) - Academic Diploma in Education
- King's College, London University - 1971-72 - Post-graduate certificate in Education
- Associate of Royal College of Music - 1972
- St Catharine's College, Cambridge University - 1968-1971 - degree (2.2) in Economics (Pt1) and English (pt 2)
Personal details
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