It is 5 years since I stopped being a British headteacher. It was without doubt a privilege and special job that I enjoyed – well for most of those 20 years anyhow. I admire those who still continue to do that.

But in those 20 years the job certainly changed significantly. Everything about the changes made it harder and harder to remain truly focused on teaching and learning and of course on the young people themselves. And yet I firmly believe that keeping this to the fore is the best way for a head to serve the students and build a great school. You need to really feel the day to day “throb” of the school, its pace and work-rate.

But spending nearly three years being a head in Kunskapsskolan Saltsjobaden, near Stockholm, gave me a chance to re evaluate the role and relationships.  Building a truly personalised offer for these students required two key things – Trust and Relationships. That is what we are now trying to build now here in the UK through the Learning Schools Trust.

I sat through an inspirational presentation to staff at Hampton Academy on Friday where they challenged every aspect of their behaviour strategies, the relationships they build with young people and how they might respond to any incidents. This included approaching the use of mobile phones and the new devices about to be issued to students in a totally different way. It was built on encouraging them to learn what and when it is appropriate to use them built on respect for one another and of course the teacher.

If you talk to most of the Swedish headteachers in Kunskapsskolan about the very different feel and ethos in their schools, they will tell you that they talk to students when things go wrong. They investigate with the students what has happened, what has been the consequence; how they might put it right. They just keep talking. It is a system truly built on the principles of restorative justice. See the importance of trust and relationships.

Of course, there is within these relationships, the opportunity to challenge students to achieve more than they thought possible. That is why this summer has probably been one of the most disappointing  experiences, not just for me, but for the principals, teachers and of course the students. Our students really believed that if they carried on working hard in the way we had planned together they would achieve the credit they deserved. But others didn’t seem to share that! Yes I am talking about English GCSE.

Nowhere has the impact been greater than in Ipswich. Over more than a decade, the predecessor school had barely raised performance a percentage point, languishing below 30% in terms of the headline figure. Anyone who has been involved in transforming schools and turning them around knows that it often takes more than one year especially when years of underachievement have meant that the whole community had lowered any expectaitons of what the students could expect. But the early signs of change at the end of last year have been dashed by a 20 % reduction in grades awarded in English.

The academy is full of  young people, who we know can achieve  great things. But here we face the very loss of trust we have been trying to build. And a real sense of frustration as to how  we can put this right when all those who can make a change seem unaware as to the importance of fairness. (Thank you to the whole community of schools and organsiations working to get a more positive response)  This community does not need any more false dawns. We the professionals are paid to be accountable, and we will and are responding  but the students and the wider community deserve better.

So we need to keep believing. We know what we are doing works. We can see and hear that from the students.  We have a chance to model real resilience and determination for our students.

“Nothing can sabotage winning, except for fear of losing. Success usually lies just beyond failure.”  Mario Cortes