A new college, aimed at developing Lewisham’s children’s workforce has opened in the borough.
The Lewisham Leadership and Development College will bring together a range of leaders from Lewisham’s schools and partner services. The college aims to identify, nurture and promote talent in the borough’s educational leaders, encouraging reflective, professional dialogue. By developing the diversity of roles and individual talents, Lewisham’s educational leaders will be better equipped to meet the needs of the changing communities of children and young people.
The Lewisham Leadership and Development College (LLDC) is currently a ‘virtual’ college accessible through the Workforce Development website (link on right). The Lewisham Professional Centre in Kilmorie Road will become the LLDC from September 2008.
Councillor Robert Massey, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said: “Our greatest asset is our children – the leaders of tomorrow. And it’s our teachers and mentors that support and guide them, who can help our children excel and realise their full potential."
“The Lewisham Leadership and Development College will help develop our education professionals as they guide our children into adulthood, showing them they can achieve their dreams.”
Author and international leader on educational change, Michael Fullan, launched the College on 14 May, with a keynote speech at Blackheath Halls. More than 180 professionals from around Lewisham and neighbouring boroughs took part in workshops.
Speaking at the launch, Michael Fullan said: “The launch of the Learning and Development Centre at Lewisham is a significant step forward to creating and maintaining quality schools. There is nothing more important than cultivating quality school leaders."
“The Lewisham initiative will enable them to systematically identify and develop school leaders, and to do so with the support of the national leadership network. This strategy is essential to accomplish the ambitious mission, to make leadership the key to improvement, that Lewisham has set for itself in making Lewisham the best place to live, work and learn.”
The College is the outcome of the work of Lewisham’s Schools’ Workforce Steering Group, whose members were selected from a wide range of schools, settings and council officers, working for better outcomes for all the borough’s children and young people.
All members of Lewisham’s education workforce are seen as leaders and will have membership to the college. Once the College has established itself, membership will be broadened to include students and pupils from Schools’ Councils, as well as the wider children’s workforce community.
The Lewisham Leadership and Development College will draw on the principles of developing what works, improving where necessary and abandoning what makes no impact on young people’s life chances.