Making sure that every school matters: some lessons from the Greater Manchester Challenge Mel Ainscow The Centre for Equity in Education

Our children and young people: Bottom of well-being league High numbers of exclusions Poor levels of school attendance Early drop out from education

And home background still the best predictor of school performance Intended outcomes Staying safe Being healthy Enjoying and achieving Making a positive contribution Economic well-being

Responding to the challenge The system has untapped capacity to improve itself National strategies have focused minds but blocked innovation There is a need to strengthen collaboration within and between institutions Evidence can be used to bring a critical edge to such arrangements Improvement efforts have to be linked to community development This requires new forms of leadership based on the principle of shared responsibility

Rethinking and strengthening the roles of local authorities Workstrands Keys to Success Schools Families of Schools Leadership Strategy

Key ideas Education systems have further untapped potential to improve themselves but new working relationships are needed to mobilise this potential A sharp analysis of evidence is needed to identify areas of concern and the human resources that can be used to support improvement efforts in relation to these issues but this needs to be responsive to changing circumstances School-to-school collaboration is the most powerful means of fostering improvements, particularly in challenging circumstances, but this has to be coordinated Many successful head teachers are motivated by the idea of taking on system leadership roles but their involvement has to be supported Local authority staff have a crucial role in monitoring developments, identifying priorities for action and brokering collaboration but this requires new thinking and practices

And dont forget….. What Manchester does today the world does tomorrow Disraeli