Derek Wise’s death comes as a major shock to pupils, staff, parents and governors. He will be very greatly missed both personally and professionally by the Cramlington community and more widely. The education world has lost a highly talented and inspirational educationalist who consistently placed the individual child first and foremost in his priorities and the priorities of his school. The impact he made in national and international educational spheres and the high regard in which he was held as a major educational figure was recognised by the award of the CBE in 2008.

Derek’s wonderful legacy is an outstanding school with the highest standards and values. He has led the school with the exceptional vision and passion and oversaw its highly successful transition in 2008 from a 14-18 high school to an 11-18 secondary school of 2,300 students: the Cramlington Learning Village (CLV).

The school is considered to be one of the consistently highest performing schools in the country and has been rated as “Outstanding” in three consecutive OFSTED inspections.

All aspects of the school’s work are regarded as outstanding, including the leadership and management of learning and teaching, in which it has a national and international reputation, and the effectiveness of the care, support and guidance which it gives to all students.

The highly professional and gifted staff of the Cramlington Learning Village all share Derek Wise’s clear child-centred vision for the school and his deep commitment to promoting the interests of each individual child of whatever level of ability.

The school’s overriding priority will be strongly to sustain this commitment and to ensure that each pupil continues to have every opportunity to maximise his or her personal potential and to equip each of them to lead a happy and highly fulfilling life.

This determination to keep the individual student at the heart of the school’s aspirations and activities is the warmest tribute that can be made to Derek Wise and his enormous contribution to the school and the Cramlington community.

Paul Moffatt - Acting Director of Children’s Services at Northumberland County Council said:

It was with much sadness that we learned yesterday of the death of Derek Wise, for 19 years the headteacher of Cramlington Learning Village (formerly Cramlington High School) in Northumberland. (check). Awarded the CBE in 2008 for his outstanding contribution to education locally, regionally, nationally and internationally, Derek was an educational visionary who had a fantastic capacity to make things happen for young people of all abilities and dispositions. Above everything else he made learning exciting and fun. Thousands of pupils have benefited from his radical and innovative approach to education and the educational community as a whole will mourn the loss of one of its most profound thinkers.

As a headteacher Derek Wise recognised the central role of teaching and learning and worked tirelessly to seek out best practice and develop it further. His work on ‘Accelerated Learning’ and ‘Learning to Learn’ gained national and international recognition and Derek was in constant demand at national meetings of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust and the National College for School Leadership. His interest in personalising learning led to an invitation to act as a lead consultant for the DCSF Innovations Unit and he was a member of the Secretary of State’s review group on ‘Teaching and Learning in 2020’. He regularly advised government ministers.He also made innovative use of ICT and was a board member of Becta. His achievements were recognised in 2008 when he received the CBE for services to education in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Derek Wise was immensely proud of the high calibre of the staff he recruited at Cramlington and invested heavily in their professional development to implement his groundbreaking ideas. Though he had been ill since January, he was still directing operations behind the scenes and only days before his death had sent his senior staff out researching new ideas. They in turn rewarded him with great loyalty and affection, motivated by him to help students consistently perform beyond expectations at GCSE and A level. It was no wonder to those who had the privilege to work with him that the school achieved the distinction of being judged ‘Outstanding’ on 3 successive Ofsted inspections.

Derek Wise will be a great loss to the learning communities in Cramlington, Northumberland and the UK. His powerful legacy to Cramlington will remain for all to see for years to come in the innovatively designed Junior Learning Village which was built at his school in 2008/9. His gift to the thousands of children who studied at his school, the families who supported them and the staff who taught under his careful direction will endure throughout their lives; Derek was unique and his contribution was exceptional. Everyone who knew him will miss his infectious enthusiasm for learning.