Sir Robert Salisbury was a professor in the School of Education at the University of Nottingham. In this role, he coordinated the regional leadership activities, linked with the new National College for School Leadership and encouraged collaborative international initiatives. He moved to Northern Ireland in 2001 where he has worked at Queen’s University and the Regional Training Unit.
Before this, Bob Salisbury was the Headteacher of The Garibaldi School in Forest Town, Mansfield, Notts. This 11-18 mixed comprehensive was in trouble. It had experienced a chequered history and by 1989 was losing a large number of pupils to neighbouring schools. Expectations were low, vandalism high, results poor, and a very negative image of the institution existed in the community. Things have changed dramatically and Garibaldi is now recognised for its achievements.
Bob Salisbury has a national and international reputation for his thought-provoking ideas on leadership styles and staff motivation. His innovative approach to challenging complacency, creating ‘enterprise cultures’ and education for the 21st Century, has brought him many invitations to speak to both educational and commercial audiences. He works regularly with schools in challenging circumstances.
He chaired the North East Lincolnshire Education Action Zone and the regional Teaching Awards Panel, and is a Patron of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education group. He has been Chairman of Sherwood Partnership, Chair of Fathers Direct, Chair of the Sherwood Coalfield Development Trust, a member of the Regional Advisory Council of Carlton television and a Governor of the Integrated Education Fund in Northern Ireland. He is a patron of the IEBE and was until recently Chair of Governors of two Interim Executive Boards at schools in Bradford and Salford and was Chair of the government Literacy and Numeracy Task Force in Northern Ireland.
He was knighted in 1998.