Update from the Chair of the Education Challenge Board

Last month the Commonwealth Heads of Government met in London. The event put me in mind of one of the phrases used by Eric Wood, our former County Education Officer, who often referred to the ‘Commonwealth of Warwickshire Schools’. The description was designed to capture the way in which every school in Warwickshire was inter-connected and had a valued part to play in the totality of education across the county.

I think something of the same thought runs through the developing work of the Challenge Board. Our big focus at present is on seeking to join up the different strands of work taking place across Warwickshire. Our aim is to create a structure that is joined up, a coherent system in which we all play a part in offering the best possible education to children across the county. As part of this, the Board is hoping to draw together in one place the different projects happening across the county which may be of interest to schools and others involved in education.

It is very encouraging that Warwickshire’s successful bid to Round 1 of the Strategic School Improvement Fund has released additional funds to support the development of schools across the county. Another area of focus will be to ensure that these funds are used in a highly effective manner to support pupils in these schools.

As with all emerging structures, we are not there yet. However, we have come a long way in a relatively short time. The Board is very clear that over the coming years we need to concern ourselves not with micro-management but with broad strategy across the Commonwealth of Warwickshire schools . In this respect it is very appropriate that the Challenge Board is taking the lead in overseeing the implementation of the WE3 strand of Warwickshire's Education Strategy.

Peter Kent, Chair of the Education Challenge Board