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William Atkinson    

Executive Head of Phoenix High School

Some people have leadership thrust upon them. The best will seek it out

Sir William Atkinson has over forty years experience in the field of education. His first teaching appointment was in Portsmouth in the early 1970s. He then moved to London where he taught at seven schools, all of them in multi-ethnic areas. He is widely recognised for his work as Head Teacher at Phoenix High School in Shepherds Bush from 1995 to 2010, having previously held headships at Cranford Community School, Hounslow, and Copland Community School, Brent. He now holds the position of Executive Head Teacher of the Phoenix Canberra Schools Federation. His excellent leadership at Phoenix, overcoming low results and bad behaviour, was reported to have been the inspiration for the head teacher character in the BBC's school drama, Hope and Glory.

Having moved to Britain with his family from Jamaica in the late 1950s, William admits he found it difficult to adjust at first. But his early experiences certainly had a profound influence on his later life. He was put in an older class at school and failed the 11+ which at that time was the system for educational selection. When his true age was discovered he was allowed to re-sit the 11+; only to fail it for a second time. He jokes that hes probably the only person in the UK to have failed the 11+ twice and still gone on to become a Head Teacher! His own interest in education was sparked by a teacher who challenged him. Challenge is something he feels the value of and led to his involvement in some of the toughest schools in the UK. Not only was he responsible for the students at the school but he had to manage the performance of the teachers. In 2008, Ofsted inspectors praised Sir William's role in the continuing improvement of the Phoenix School, identifying him as charismatic and indefatigable.

As a leader in extraordinary circumstances, Sir William has been in great demand both as a speaker and consultant. He was a member of the DfEE Standards Task Force. He also sat on the Home Office Justice Task Force and the Home Office London Youth Crime Reduction Task Force. Until 2006 Sir William was a member of the London Black and Minority Ethnic Cracking Crime Partnership Board and until December 2009 was Deputy Chair of the UK Judging Panel for The Teaching Awards. He was also a member of the British Board of Film Classification advisory panel on children's viewing until the summer of 2010. He is currently a trustee for Research Autism, a commissioner for The Family Commission, which is a national inquiry into the extended family and the support it needs in the 21st century, and on the Board of Directors of the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith. In January 2010 the National College for Leadership of Schools and Childrens Services selected Sir William as a National Leader of Education and designated Phoenix High School as a National Support School.

Sir William has also been widely featured in the media, including the Channel 4 documentary series The Unteachables. He has also contributed to a range of television and radio programmes, including Newsnight, Panorama, BBC Question Time, Breakfast Television, The One Show and Radio 4s The House I Grew Up In.

Sir Williams story from a childhood in Jamaica to the top-flight of Britains education system is inspirational and demonstrates the remarkable potential that does exist where others too often see only disadvantage and failure. His proven ability to create cultural change and outstanding teams in the toughest circumstances and with limited resource make him a fascinating keynote conference speaker. He is also ideally suited to smaller settings where his impact can be suited to your particular needs.

He is married and has four children.

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