I am writing to introduce myself to you. I am Johnny Kyriacou, the new Assistant Director (AD) for Education Services at Warwickshire County Council.

I am absolutely delighted to be here in this very privileged and unique position, to be able to support schools, partners, parents/carers and young people across the county.

By way of brief background, I have worked previously in secondary schools and a primary school as a senior leader for the first 18 years of my career and worked in a local authority as AD for Education for the last six and a half years before making the move to Warwickshire County Council.

Like you all, I share an unfettered belief that all young people should have an excellent education and have the ability to overcome any barriers that they may experience in their lives. They are young only once and it is incumbent on all partners in the system to work well and proactively together to ensure their formative years are as successful as can be.

One of the many reasons I was strongly drawn to Warwickshire was the council’s strong commitment to education, right from the executive leadership team to its councillors. This is evident in the planning of an upcoming education Strategy for the county, which is currently being worked on. As instrumental partners in the system I would like to ensure that schools can shape the vision of this strategy, which will lay the foundations of our partnership work for years to come.

I am looking forward to the upcoming headteacher conference on March 23rd where there will be an opportunity to discuss the strategy followed by a series of other opportunities to engage with yourselves in other forums.

The applications for the role of Education, Quality and Strategic Lead for Warwickshire County Council close on Wednesday 8th March and some headteachers will be part of the recruitment panel with myself, for this crucial post working with schools.

I would like to spend my first months here engaging on observation and listening exercises with schools. I would like to hear from you what is working well and what you feel needs developing with regards to education services and the school system in general. To that end, it would be great to engage on a visit to schools, so please do let me know if I can visit, via my PA SamanthaSills@warwickshire.gov.uk