Self-Improving Schools: The Journey to Excellence

* Can a school-led system truly become self-improving? * What is the difference between good and great schools? * Who should inspect and regulate? * How should local authorities change? * Is the landscape ahead one of all schools in partnerships? The English schools' system is at a crossroads. This landmark collection of essays brings together some of the country's leading education thinkers and practitioners. Their polemic is intended to help teachers, school leaders, governors, researchers and policy makers think deeply about future directions. 'As a Minister, I would ask which organisation was responsible for resolving a particular problem in education, only to be told: 'Don't worry, Minister - it's no longer the DFE. That is now a responsibility of the School-Led System. They will be delivering it.' Often, when you probed a little deeper, you discovered that the school-led system was nowhere near as well formed and ever present as some Ministers and senior civil servants liked to think.' David Laws 'This is a time of great possibility. Teachers are attempting to do extraordinary things. If we had more courage to shape our schools around what we believe to be a good education, then we could make life so much better not just for teachers but for the students we serve.' Peter Hyman 'For a self-improving system to be truly successful and to have a significant impact, it requires the highest performing schools to be outward reaching and to establish deep partnerships.' Rachel Macfarlane 'A self-improving school system must not become a self-regarding or, worse, a self-protecting school system. The role of external challenge is key to this.' Russell Hobby

Roy Blatchford is founder of www.blinks.education working with schools, multi-academy trusts, colleges, universities and local authorities in the UK and internationally. He currently chairs and advises a number of Boards in the education and charity sectors.

Following headships in London, Oxfordshire and Milton Keynes, he was Founding Director of the National Education Trust. He has extensive experience of writing inspection frameworks and has reviewed over 1,000 schools, colleges and faculties in Europe, India, USA, Middle and Far East. He was one of Her Majesty's Inspectors (HMI) in England, and has served as an education policy adviser to the UK and other national governments.

Roy was lead author of the 'Teachers Standards' (2012) and chaired ASCL's 'The Forgotten Third' (2019). He is the author/editor of over 150 books including 'The Restless School', 'The Three Minute Leader' and 'Must Do Better'.

He was appointed CBE for services to education in the 2016 New Year Honours.