How you ever read an educational book that brought a tear to your eye? Have you ever felt those emotions overflow of what a fellow leader is trying to do for their community as you turn the pages? Or a lump in your throat as their school improvement strategies are shared with you?
The answer to that is probably no, or very rarely, but that is how I feel as I turn the final pages of Chris Dyson’s ‘Parklands: A school built on love’.
I have a confession to make, I have never met Chris, as yet, not had a telephone conversation or talked to him on zoom. Though after reading his book, I feel I have a new friend who I have spent the last few hours sat in a pub sharing a few drinks on a sunny spring afternoon. One of those days when you feel optimistic about the summer to come and Chris’s writing makes me equally hopeful for the education year.
Parklands is a large primary school in a deprived area of Leeds and this book will immediately resonate with colleagues who work in similar urban primary schools and they will find it the easiest to quickly translate the ideas. I can think of similar schools that I have supported in deprived areas of Greater Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Humberside and Yorkshire and I recognise the challenges that Chris faced at the beginning of this headship journey.
The sections on school improvement give a similar to narrative to some of the suggestions I make in No Silver Bullets but Chris places them in the context of his school. The sections on developing Maths through start of the day activities and then the use of consistent timetables are ones that I often explain to Leaders.
I would ask secondary colleagues to also think what would a secondary school built on love could really look like. How would you create a similar ethos remembering that the pupils who need the most support will ask for it in the most challenging of ways? Take Chris’s narrative and think how could you translate that into reality in your setting?
For Trust leaders, we often talk about looking after our children and our staff but how many are brave enough to follow some of the suggestions that Chris provides. I felt that the practical ideas here would really complement those who have read ‘Putting staff first’ by Jonny Utley and John Tomsett.
When I picked up Parklands today, I have to admit, I had had a particularly trying week and had lost faith. By the time I’d finished the book it gave me a new belief that there are leaders, like Chris, who are really trying everything they can for those they serve. I was freshly inspired to consider how I could work towards creating an organisation that is not only built on love but also hope, as that is the other value which resonates through this fantastic work.
Thanks Chris, I needed your writing this week.
The Author:
Paul K Ainsworth is an experienced system leader and facilitator. His latest book, ‘No Silver Bullets: Day in, day out school improvement’ was published in February 2021.
He is the author of Bloomsbury’s, ‘CPD Library: Middle Leadership’, ‘The Senior Leader’s Yearbook’ from Optimus and is well versed in developing Middle leader and Senior Leaders.
Please contact him via LinkedIn or twitter for more information. He can be commissioned through Infinity Academies Trust.
Day in, day out. Day in, day out. 