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I went to an emergency Governor meeting this week (yes there is such a thing as an emergency Governor meeting and it was actually extremely important)

I am the Governor in charge of finance for The West Bridgford School which incidentally is the highest performing state funded school in the East Midlands!

In that emergency Governor Meeting there was a moment of sheer leadership brilliance from the Principal of the school.

The Principal of the school is a much vilified and pilloried individual in certain quarters but he has been there for a considerable period of time and has done exactly what he said on the tin.

Last year’s results were nothing short of absolutely stunning and I can tell you that the children are looked after fantastically well because two of my kids are there and one will be going. My wife also has to go there in her professional capacity as a children’s Macmillan nurse and the care they receive is exceptional.

But back to the point…

During the meeting one of the parent Governors (I am one of the parent Governors and we rarely understand the intricacies of how these organisations work) suggested to the Principal that he may wish to put together a risk assessment document for the situation that we find ourselves in. There was a small gap and a silence across the table as he kindly looked at her and said “Please don’t ask me to manufacture another piece of paper, we have a saying in this school that you may not have heard of… ‘feed the baby, don’t weigh the baby”

I was staggered for a moment, it seemed like a big bell went off in my head. We are exceptional at work at counting things but sometimes you spend too much time counting things and too little time doing the work.

Now, don’t get me wrong, The West Bridgford School are extraordinary at producing figures and analytics on their students but they also have to teach them and make sure they have the knowledge and the same balance applies in our practice (and in your practice too)

As we start the business course at the end of the month, feeding the baby will be a concept we’ll be talking about in large amounts.

Blog Post Number: 1912