Our main focus for education in the Bradford district is to put children and young people at the heart of what we do. This means that the decisions we make and the direction we take provide them with the best education possible.
Raising educational attainment across the district is one of the most important challenges we face and one of the Council’s top priorities. Everyone has a part to play in this – schools, governors, parents, pupils and the people who provide support to schools from the local authority and the school partnerships.
This is why the celebration of achievement and success is vitally important and why the Council is supporting the T&A’s Bradford and District Schools Awards 2014. I am very keen that we celebrate school successes as much as possible, and these awards will do just that.
There have been enormous changes in education locally and nationally over the past few years.
Bradford should be proud of its educational achievements even though we acknowledge there is still a lot of work to be done.
For example, the number of schools judged to be good or better in the Bradford district is growing. The good practice in these schools is being shared more widely than it used to be in an effort to assist the schools which need more support.
Ofsted also increasingly praises the support and challenge the local authority provides to schools. We have very healthy working relationships with the various school partnerships.
Partnership working with the Bradford Partnership (of secondary schools), the Bradford Primary Improvement Partnership, the District Achievement Partnership (special schools) and the nursery partnership is good and is the way forward for further improvement in educational provisions and achievement in Bradford.
Many millions of pounds have been spent providing state-of-the-art accommodation in local nursery, special, primary and secondary schools.
These are just some of the many changes and developments we have seen to provide the framework for children and young people in the district to reach their full potential.
I look forward to seeing the winners in each of the 12 categories in these awards, and hearing about the achievements of those who made the shortlists.
Councillor Ralph Berry Bradford Council executive member for children and young people’s services
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