# 4 …but when you’re ready to come back to being locally rooted, I’ll be waiting
Yes, we think getting out of our context is helpful. But bringing it back home home is where the impact really is.
We begin this programme by asking folks to do an asset-mapping task. Asking folks first and foremost to ask a crucial question of their community ‘what have we here’?
I’ve written here about why we think being ‘asset-based’ is so important. The main aim of this programme is to work with aspiring leaders in Yorkshire who want to challenge educational disadvantage. But we start by focusing on what is strong in each community, rather than what’s wrong.
This is why the epic Lenny Kravitz song ‘I’ll be waiting’ is a perfect (if perhaps slightly creepy?) choice for today’s 4th post in this middle eight series. We start by believing that although communities may have been historically underserved, and we have a duty to change the system so that it doesn't continue, you as school leaders also have all ‘the love you need right in front of you’.
So this post is going to focus on what is going well in our region. We get to work with some awesome local authorities but today I want to zoom into what is happening in Bradford, not least to acknowledge how exciting it is that it is the UK City of Culture for 2025, but also because it is a veritable hive of activity.
I had the opportunity at the beginning of the year to speak with some key players working on really exciting projects here: Kathryn Loftus and Chris Brown shared more about their work on the Education Alliance for Life Chances and Megan Wood’s input to the Child of the North reports through the Centre for Young Lives. With other exciting projects also underway at the Centre for Applied Education Research and Born in Bradford it is hard not be optimistic about our youngest city. All of this also prompted me to spend time with our participants working in schools with a BD postcode.
It was such a treat to see both Laura Senior and Portia Taylor at Beckfoot Thornton School, rightly proud of the culture of reading and a commitment to ‘people first’ embedded throughout the school and the trust.
And pupil culture is something being celebrated here in a big way;
I was then bowled over by the welcome I received from Rizwana Saleem at Eastwood Community School (NSAT) and loved hearing about the three Eid celebrations, the Outdoor Learning Centre, the impressive family learning programme as well as the incredible pipeline of talent being developed here.
It would be remiss to not congratulate Alex Derrington and Appleton Academy, part of Exceed Academy Trust, who won the Bradford Secondary School of the Year at the Telegraph and Argus Education Awards 2025! Congratulations on this wonderful achievement.
Finally, I want to appreciate the kind invitation from Richard Crane, Assistant Director of Children’s Services at Bradford Council, to the Bradford heads meeting back in March. Thanks to his support in promoting the programme, alongside the partner trusts operating here, I can now reveal that 9 out of our 23 strong cohort 3 for the 2025-26 academic year on Yorks100 hail from this part of the region.
There are so many more stories to tell from Bradford and beyond, but the point is that we need to make time for celebration of all the things that are going well.
If you ever want to find out more about the programme, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!