Why this here? Why now?

What do we we mean when we say Yorks100 is regionally rooted and asset based?

The story so far

Here in Yorkshire, we are in the early stages of a bit of an experiment. On paper, it shouldn’t be working. Money is tight, recruitment is hard and morale is in short supply. Arguably, February 2023 was not the time for a new, shiny initiative.

Nevertheless, about 12 months ago, 10 Trust CEOs in Yorkshire decided to do something special. They were not content to strive tirelessly in a grim, Sisyphean martyrdom in the hope that things might get better at some point if we ‘just keep swimming’.

They decided to work together to create the Yorks100 programme and ultimately, a social action movement for aspiring headteachers in our county. If we are serious about ensuring all children can thrive in Yorkshire (and we should be - see here), we must choose to behave differently in the education sector. Great schools need great leaders. Competition between trusts can lead to innovation; expanding the brackets of what is possible and increasing the sense of urgency to make it happen. But if we’re not careful it can also lead to a race to the bottom in terms of narrowing the curriculum, passing the buck on our duty to be inclusive and burning out the staff. So we must collaborate to proactively nurture and nourish a healthy proportion of our middle and senior leaders so that they are willing and able to flourish in headships in the future, leading schools that care about all the children in the postcode, not just those sitting in your assembly.

Asset-based practice: bright spots first

As we learn from Hilary Cottam, Cormac Russell and Dan Heath, when faced with a complex problem, we must train ourselves to look for the bright spots. We know the haunting statistics and devastating stories that plague some of the communities in which we work. Let’s be clear; those details might be the reason we’re here, but focusing solely on them will not be the reason this works.  

That’s why, when designing this programme for aspiring headteachers specifically so that they can confront educational disadvantage in Yorkshire we chose, counterintuitively perhaps, to focus on our assets. 

There are 2259 schools in Yorkshire, educating almost 600,000 children. Of the Ofsted inspections completed between September and December 2023, 88% were good or outstanding. Of the 27 nurseries that were inspected 100% were good or outstanding. The percentage of children reaching expected standard in reading, writing and maths increased from 57% in 2022 to 58% in 2023. The regional P8 score is moving in the right direction; from -0.1 in 2019 to -0.02 2023. Marginal these gains may be, but gains they are.  

Of course, these numbers don’t mean much without the stories that sit behind them.  

From personal experience, I know that there is much to be celebrated in our education sector here in Yorkshire. As the daughter of a teacher in Wakefield, and a child in a Doncaster primary school, along with many of my peers, I enjoyed those formative years and have dedicated teachers to thank for supporting me; I still have the handwritten script from my Year 5 teacher Miss Northedge from our school performance of Aladdin; I remember the patience of Mr Handy, my GCSE English teacher reading yet another essay on Wuthering Heights. The debates carefully facilitated by Mr Hurley in A Level sociology and the unwavering passion for la culture francaise from Mrs Redfern all set the course for the choices I would be able to make and opportunities of which I would be able to take advantage. In fact, they did their job so well that I became convinced education is the answer to many (if not all) societal woes.

In more recent years, as a senior leader and now facilitator based in Leeds but working alongside incredible colleagues across the county, the drive to innovate with purpose and passion is palpable. 

I’m thinking of the caretaker’s house being lovingly restored by Lynsey Pether and colleagues at Outwood Academy Primary Woodlands in Doncaster.

How about the beautiful events hosted by Claire Lundie and team at Chiltern Primary School in Hull, such as the Valentine’s special ‘Cook Together Eat Together’ and the listening campaign on mental health.

Asset-based practice is also where the 2023-2024 inaugural cohort began their journey on the Yorks100 programme. The 15 participants (pioneers? guinea pigs?) looked for the bright spots in their community by doing an asset-mapping task. 

And their findings were plentiful; from the regeneration of a local swimming pool to the active retirement group ready to engage. From the dedicated support staff who know their community inside out, to the rich diversity of the families who engage in the weekly coffee mornings. These aspiring headteachers know that their community is teeming with social, environmental and cultural assets. 

So we commit to leading in a way that talks about assets first, challenges second. And then we keep talking about them. 

When asked again, earlier this month, for more ‘bright spots’, participants were able to name tons of new great things happening in their contexts right now. The themes of responses ranged from; 

• Building strong relationships (with children and families, across Trusts and clusters)

• Wrap round offer gaining popularity; 91 attending breakfast clubs, increased uptake in after school provision

• Improved nurture group provision

• Increasing attendance of targeted groups

• Reduction of suspensions

• More consistent phonics provision

Challenges

Alive as we are to our assets and bright spots, we could just carry on. But as the inimitable Gail Brown, CEO of Ebor Academy Trust and our Chair of the Yorks100 board, frequently reminds us, this is neither the time, nor the place, for complacency. 

We know that currently in Yorkshire too many of our children, families and communities face multiple and overlapping barriers to enjoying lives of choice and opportunity. 

We know we have heaps more to do in ensuring that our leaders are representative of the communities they serve; are we doing enough to ensure school leadership is an accessible and desirable pathway for people of colour; people who were the first in their families to go to university; those with lived experience of the challenges many of our communities face? If not, why not?

We know that there is much, much more to do to support small, rural and coastal schools in our region that, in some cases, currently can’t afford to employ headteachers.    

Finally, we know that too many of our leaders are choosing to leave the profession, gradually worn down by the seemingly insurmountable challenges, a lack of support or even a sense of ‘moral injury’. 

And so the need for schools and Trusts in Yorkshire to own their position as anchor institutions and their responsibility to provide civic good beyond their own results, as discussed here by my esteemed colleagues, has never been more pressing. 

Call to action

Armed with the dual truths that times are hard, but we can do hard things, we launch into the recruitment of the second cohort of the Yorks100. 

If you want to be a part of this movement, (or you know someone great who should be part of this movement) please don’t hesitate to get in touch here, find out more about what cohort 1 have been up to here or apply here. We can’t wait to hear from you.