Thank you so very much for the excellent INSET day. The School was buzzing afterwards - and you will be pleased to know still is. Your presentation matched the subject matter. It was chock-a-block full of intelligence and energy. You said that you wanted to make a difference and you did! Big Time!
You have left us with a rich legacy. The impact of the day will continue to strengthen and inform the work of this School for many years to come. This school's quest for excellence and quality through improvement processes was enhanced by this INSET. Thank you for the inspiration and the practical advice delivered with such depth of understanding and easy assurance. How could we not help to feel enabled after your day with us? And I can't say that about all INSET that I have experienced over the years!
Nicholas Sullivan
Headteacher
East Park Infants School.
A brilliant day of INSET tailored to our needs and at
the end of a very busy term'.
S C Hempson-Jones, The Hawthorns Primary School.
Bruce Potts
Bruce Potts trained as a Primary teacher in Kingston before beginning his teaching career in 1978 in a Social Priority Junior School in Hillingdon, West London where he worked for five years. He then taught for another five years in East Sussex before becoming Deputy Headteacher of a medium sized primary school in 1988. His first headship came in 1992 in an East Sussex village primary school experiencing problems, with a falling roll and numbers down to 125 when he arrived. By the time he left in 1997 the school was a thriving, successful school and numbers were up to nearly 200 with plans for an extension to cater for the new higher numbers.
In September 1997 Bruce took over as Headteacher at Bevendean Primary School in Brighton, part of the East Brighton EAZ. Following a failed Ofsted Inspection in December 1997 Bruce worked with his staff to turn that situation around so that by the time of the next inspection in June 2000 the school was regarded as an outstanding school with no key issues to report. The school, currently a national pilot school for the development of the 'Community School' in a primary setting, is recognised as such in the government's recent 'Extended Schools' booklet (Dec 2002) and is now a local and regional centre for the development of Sport and The Arts. Bruce worked as Acting Director of the EAZ for a period of six months, during which time he worked across the EAZ in both primary and secondary schools, introducing the notion of Accelerated Learning to all the Zone schools . Bruce's other roles include being a 'mentor' for newly appointed headteachers, especially those operating in areas of socio-economic disadvantage and External Adviser for performance management.
Bruce has worked extensively in infant, junior, primary and secondary schools over a period of 25 years. He has wide ranging knowledge of all aspects of educational practice but has developed particular expertise in leadership and management, motivation and learning, accelerated learning, behaviour management, gender, developing the emotionally supportive environment and the identification of and provision for children with particular aptitudes (based on multiple intelligence).
Bruce now works as a freelance education consultant, trainer and author.
To book a course with Bruce please contact Hilary Thomas on (01628) 810700 x20 or email Hilary.