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My most substantial projects to date have been as Interim Strategic Director of Children’s Services, Portsmouth (March 2009 to August 2009), Interim Senior Project Manager at the National Academy for Parenting Practitioners (February 2008 to March 2009), Interim Strategic Director for Education and Children’s Services, Slough (June 2007 to February 2008) and as Interim Strategic Director for Children’s Services on the Isle of Wight (January to October 2006).
Interim Strategic Director Children’s Services, Portsmouth – 2009
My work in Portsmouth included:
- leading and managing the Directorate of Children’s Services;
- driving forward the development of Children’s Trust arrangements, particularly in relation to governance and commissioning;
- generating a strategy for prevention and early intervention and for the development of local multi-agency working;
- consolidating the first stage in a directorate re-organisation and prepare the ground for further rationalisation;
- overseeing the Building Schools for the Future programme and the Primary Capital programme;
- supporting the induction of a new Lead Member for Children’s Services;
- securing the quality of children and families social care;
- reviewing and developing:
- the Children and Young People’s Plan and initiating 4 commissioning reviews;
- Local Safeguarding Children Board;
- the transfer of functions from the Learning and Skills Council under the Machinery of Government initiative;
- SEN funding and annual budget;
- Performance management arrangements;
- finalizing and publishing a serious case review;
- raising expectations and aspirations.
Interim Senior Project Manager, National Academy for Parenting Practitioners – 2008-9
My work at the Academy included:
- Completing a management review of the Academy’s research directorate and implementing new research programme management structures, policies and procedures;
- Contributing to the drafting of the research strategy for the Academy’s strategic plan;
- Co-ordinating the drafting of the workforce development strategy for the Academy’s strategic plan;
- Project-managing the Evaluation of Parenting Programmes and Commissioning Toolkit project;
- Co-presenting to 9 regional focus groups on the Evaluation of Parenting Programmes;
- Chairing 7 regional presentations on the Academy’s workforce development programme.
- Contributing to a cost-effectiveness review of the full research programme for the DCSF.
Interim Strategic Director, Education and Children’s Service, Slough 2007-8
My work in Slough included:
- Preparation for the Annual Performance Assessment and subsequent action planning
- Continuing implementation of the Slough Children and Young People’s Plan, including:
- development of multi-agency locality teams
- the establishment of a youth cabinet
- developing the participation strategy and capacity for its implementation
- Building the strength of the Children and Young People’s Trust, particularly,
- governance arrangements
- commissioning arrangements
- the 13-19 offer and capacity
- workforce development strategy and capacity
- performance management and a core dataset
- Preparing for the 2008-9 Budget and for a longer term budget strategy
- Building momentum in the implementation of the Learning Difficulties and Disabilities Strategy
- Preparing for the new Children and Young People’s Plan 2008 and the new Local Area Agreement
- Improving communication arrangements
- Establishing a new Admissions Forum
- Establishment of a Schools for the Future working group
- Building momentum in the development of the music curriculum and strategy
- Supporting the new Chief Executive in the restructuring of her senior team and in the management of change towards a more coherent one-council approach
- Supporting the Chief Executive in appointing a permanent Strategic Director for Education and Children’s Services
Interim Strategic Director of Children’s Services. Isle of Wight - 2006
My work on the Isle of Wight included:
1. Diagnosis:
- Undertaking a diagnosis of the strengths and weaknesses of Children’s Services provision – in collaboration with consultants from Mouchel Parkman and Outcomes UK;
2. Preparation for Joint Area Review
- Convening a cross-agency Joint Area Review (JAR) task group to manage the JAR – and chairing it weekly between mid-January and mid-May;
- Ensuring that the JAR self-evaluation was completed and submitted on time, which involved my being the lead writer for 3 sections;
- Leading the Children’s Services team through the preparation for and process of the JAR;
- Taking a lead role in the drafting of the different iterations of the JAR action plan.
3. Children’s Services management and capacity building
- Reorganising and re-motivating the senior management team pending a fuller reorganisation by the incoming director;
- Negotiating the creation of a new post for Head of School Improvement;
- Supporting the capacity building of the school improvement team;
- Submitting a bid, ‘Through the Roof’, to the Department for Education and Skills for substantial financial support for the school improvement recommendations of the Joint Area Review report.
- Commissioning work on a Children’s Services data-set as part of the essential development of information management.
4. Effective communication and consultation with schools
- Establishing a new pattern of all-Island meetings for headteachers;
- Setting up an Solutions Forum for cross-directorate problem solving;
- Publishing a monthly bulletin to all members of Children’s Services including schools.
- Using these forums and communications to challenge (and begin to change) a culture of low aspirations; lack of follow-through; and weak accountability.
5. Member involvement
- Working in partnership with the lead members for Children’s Services (which has included the induction of a new lead member) to build confidence in the directorate;
- Supporting the work of the Commission for Children and School Results with successive reports on behaviour; school improvement; children’s trust governance; and the JAR.
6. Corporate Contribution
- Supporting the corporate centre in the Corporate Assessment;
- Participating fully in the Council’s Directors’ Group;
- Participating fully in the substantial change agenda initiated by the incoming Chief Executive from June 1st 2006;
- Participating fully in the substantial performance management agenda initiated by the incoming Chief Executive from June 1st 2006;
7. School organisation
- Moving the school organisation agenda forward to the point where:
- the Council’s Policy Commission on Children initiated an enquiry to explore the implications of a Learning and Skills Council proposal to establish a 6th form centre on the same site as the Isle of Wight College;
- where the DfES has invited the Council to submit a Pathfinder bid for a new secondary school.
8. Planning
- Becoming lead writer for the Children and Young People’s Plan – and ensuring its preparation and on-time submission from a standing start – adjudged by the JAR to be addressing the right priorities to meet the Island’s needs;
- Becoming a lead writer for the School Improvement Strategy and promoting its publication;
- Promoting the publication of a Parent and Family Support Strategy;
- Promoting, in partnership with the Learning and Skills Council and Connexions, the publication of a 14-19 Strategy and Learning Entitlement.
9. Finance
- Reviewing the in-year budget and working with the management team to draw up recovery plans;
- Preparing bids and savings – revenue and capital – with the management team for the Star Chamber 3 year budget planning process.
10. Children’s Trust
- Overseeing the launch of a Local Safeguarding Children Board;
- Moving the Children’s Trust arrangements forward to achieve the formalisation of children’s trust arrangements;
- Setting up a review of youth and Connexions provision;
- Building partnerships with the full range of Children’s Trust partners and with external agencies such as the Government Office of the South-East and the Department for Education and Skills.
From November 2006 onwards my assignments have included:
- Senior staff selection for a major educational management consultancy;
- Support in the preparation of a bid to provide a full management team to a children’s services authority;
- Consultancy to a Connexions Partnership – working with Connexions local authority managers to explore the range of services which might be offered to Children’s Trusts;
- Consultancy to a County Council – defining a service specification for a more integrated 13-19 service offer and options for how this might best be commissioned and provided;
- Consultancy to the Department for Children, Schools and Families – working as part a project director for an Academy project.
- Voluntary work as treasurer to the St Endellion Easter Festival Trust – which has organized a week-long festival of classical music in North Cornwall every Easter (except one – lost to foot and mouth) for over 30 years.
Between September and December 2005, my assignments included being:
- a technical assessor in the assessment process for an assistant director post in a unitary authority;
- a consultant to a project to establish a specialist provision for girls with emotional and behavioural difficulties;
- the writer and presenter of a module, entitled ‘Management, Motivation and Change’, and as a co-writer and co-presenter of two sessions on managing change, on the education masters programme at the University of Southampton;
- the writer and presenter of a lecture to the Association of Heads of Outdoor Education Centres on emotional literacy and outdoor learning.
Before September 2005:
From 1997 to 2001, I managed and led Southampton City Council’s School Improvement Team – as head of Education Quality Services / Chief Inspector. 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. I was the lead officer for the Council in this inspection, which found that the Council offers ‘good’ provision.
From August 2001 to July 2005, I managed and led the Education and Leisure teams in Southampton City Council.
In this role, I 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); 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 faclities; libraries; arts and heritage facilities.
My key duties were:
- To raise standards in schools
- To improve the educational provision for children and young people
- To improve post-16 learning, in collaboration with the Learning and Skills Council and Connexions
- To develop the leisure and cultural provision in the city
- To build partnerships and effective joined up working
- To lead on key corporate initiatives, including: the establishment of integrated Children's Services for the city; the securing of Investors in People for the whole Council; the implementation of the European Business Excellence Model across the Council.
During my time with Southampton City Council, standards in English at Key Stage 2 rose from 46% achieving the nationally expected level 4 in 1996, to 74% in 2005. Standards at 16+ rose more slowly, from 39% to 45% of pupils achieving 5+ A*-C grades.
Particular achievements in which I was directly involved were:
- the early establishment of a ‘supported self-evaluation’ 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 at Start Point Sholing and very successful Sure Start practice;
- the establishment and consolidation of partnerships – at different times I 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. I 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 now operates city-wide;
- 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 award of Investors in People accreditation to the whole Council, for which I was the project leader;
- the evolution of a Parenting and Family Support Strategy, endorsed the Southampton Children and Young People’s Partnership on 22nd July 2005.
- the early stages of the establishment of an integrated Children’s Services Directorate in the Council, culminating in the first Annual Performance Assessment in June 2005.
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