Lesley's update

By Lesley Brown, Executive Director for Education and Children's Services

As I write this update, the seasons are beginning to change and it’s starting to feel more Autumnal. I hope that you have had a good summer and have managed to have a break, in spite of the unseasonal weather.

Since my last update, the new United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) legislation has gone live and this places enhanced duties on the Council to take in to account children’s rights in all of our work. I have had the pleasure of chairing the UNCRC working group over the last two years which brings together ‘UNCRC Champions’ from across the Council. Working together, we have been considering the changes we need to make to our work and how we will take account of children’s rights in new policies and pieces of work. I am very grateful to those colleagues who have supported this important area on the group and particularly to Keren Conway, Principal Solicitor, who has supported the group and helped ensure that we are ready to uphold children’s rights through the new legislation. We already have many great examples of practice from across the Council on which to build and I would encourage you to consider what more you can do to support this work in your own service area. You can find out more on our 'UNCRC resources' Intranet pages under 'your workplace'.

In recent months, it has been really good to get a more in-depth understanding of the work going on in both our Housing and Communities services. I have been able to see first-hand the huge amounts of work that our staff do for our citizens in communities. I have been particularly impressed with the dedication of staff groups to improve their work with significant developments underway in both Housing and in Communities. It has also been really good to bring together senior leaders in Education, Children’s Services, Communities and Housing as we work together to consider what more we can do collectively to address many of the issues in our communities. We recognise that taking an early intervention and preventative approach will have the biggest impact and, in the coming months, I am looking forward to engaging with more staff to discuss what else we can do.

Work has continued on our approach to leadership development and I am grateful to Rebecca Grangeret who has continued to drive this area forward. We recognise that, irrespective of role and area of work, we are all leaders in our own right and to that end we have begun work on a leadership strategy. We have many examples of fantastic leaders working across the Council and some very innovative development work underway.  We now want to be able to explain that for all staff and to ensure that those who are interested in leadership development are able to access support to take the next step in their career. I am really looking forward to launching our new Aspiring Senior Leader programme in October and I am grateful to those colleagues who have signed up to be part of it. I am also grateful to a small number of team leaders who are keen to work with us on developing an Aspiring Service Manager programme.

While Spring is traditionally a time of growth and change, for colleagues across the council, Autumn offers a chance to embrace new opportunities. Whether personally or professionally, I hope that you find something you are inspired to try this season.

Best wishes,

Lesley