ANNA WHITE A PERSONAL VIEW OF THE SCHOOLS CRISIS;

Anna White starts as joint head of the crisis-hit Ridings School in Halifax this week. The school was closed on Thursday following allegations of attacks on staff, including a sexual assault on a woman teacher. Inspectors told Education Secretary Gillian Shephard the situation was "out of control".

I can't quite believe that this week I start as the joint headteacher of Ridings.

Some people might call it the worst job in the world, but I don't believe that for a minute.

Peter Clark and I are becoming joint headteachers because it would have been a lot of responsibility to put on one person's shoulders. And two heads, after all, are supposed to be better than one.

We start a tough job on Wednesday. Here is my 10-point blueprint for getting The Ridings back on track:

1. Strong leadership - It's not just going to come from the top. It also needs to come from the students. We need good student representation, so the students know they are being listened to. They have to feel part of the community.

2. A shared sense of values between staff, students, parents and governors - I mean the sort of code Frances Lawrence has been talking about. I want students to appreciate the value of education itself. I want them to have respect for other people.

3. Good student behaviour based on a shared sense of respect between staff and students - Students have to feel they are worth something. They think: "We live on a poor estate, we go to a rotten school, we're worth nothing." If they feel badly about themselves, why should they behave well?

4. A high attendance rate - These kids have to feel it is a worthwhile thing to come to school. Why make learning horrid? Obviously, they have to understand that they must come to school. But if they aren't coming we have to find out why not. There might be all sorts of problems at home.

5. Strong expectations for students of all abilities - It's not just about results. I would prefer a student to work really hard and get an E-grade, rather than just coast along and get a B. In the short-term you can probably get better results by concentrating on the best students, but in the long-term you have to have everyone doing their best to make a good school.

6. A broad, balanced and relevant curriculum - We have to be flexible about how we teach children and make sure we don't squeeze out time we badly need for making school relevant for everyone. GCSEs aren't always the best exams for all the pupils and we have to look at the alternatives.

7. On-going curriculum development - We have to always be looking for the best answers and for that we need really good teachers, ones who don't always come to a school like The Ridings, because they think it's going to be an uphill struggle. But there are teachers who will say: "We want to be here because these children need us and we want comprehensive education to work." I think in many ways the Ridings could be the most rewarding place in the world.

8. Positive staff and student morale - Children need a good environment in which to learn. They also need to see things happening in the school, like school productions. They need to see their work up on the walls. Also,we've got better at saying 'well done' to the students, but teachers don't necessarily remember to say it to each other.

9. Effective teaching and learning styles - The methods we use to teach can't be the methods of 20 years ago. Teaching has become a much more energetic job over the years. You can't get away with just standing at the blackboard with a piece of chalk. Children are a different audience these days.

10. Improved examination results - The Ridings might only have seven per cent of students getting grades A to E at GCSE, but it is important to remember that two years ago it was one per cent. If we increase six per cent a year from now that would be fantastic progress. Hopefully, if we achieve points one to nine, we will ultimately achieve number 10.

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