Colin W Russell

Colin W Russell B.Ed., M.Ed, Ph. D. is the headteacher of Dean Park Primary School in Edinburgh. The school has around 600 pupils and is situated in Balerno a western suburb of the city.

Contact details
Dean Park Primary School, 31 Marchbank Gardens, Balerno, Edinburgh EH14 7ET

Telephone: 0131 449 4529
E-mail: colin.russell@deanpark.edin.sch.uk

Academic career
Having qualified as a B. Ed. Magna cum laude from Edinburgh University in 1979, Dr Russell entered primary education in Hawick before moving to Eyemouth in 1982 as an assistant headteacher. In 1983 he graduated Master of Education at Edinburgh University before going on to complete a Ph.D. with the Open University in 1993.
On completion of his academic studies Dr Russell worked in a part time capacity for the Open University at summer schools in leadership and management delivering keynote lectures over a number of years. In addition Dr Russell worked as a tutor on Master of Education courses in the same field.

Current school
Dean Park, where Dr Russell is Headteacher, is a highly respected Edinburgh school and in 2007 it received a report from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate in Scotland that was exceptional in the gradings awarded. The school is also noted for its unique faculty system of health, citizenship, ecology and enterprise, the subject of a major article in TESS in November 2008. The system has allowed the school to pursue recognition of faculty achievements such as its Level 2 award as a UNICEF Rights Respecting School.

BELMAS career
Dr Russell joined BELMAS as a council member in 2007 with special responsibility for relations with SELMAS, on whose committee he currently sits, the Scottish counterpart of BELMAS. In 2009 he became vice-chair and chair of the conference before becoming chair of the organisation in 2011.
During this time he has sought to emphasise the practitioner aspect of BELMAS and in 2011 was instrumental in developing the award for the best practitioner paper at conference. The senior management team at Dean Park are all members of BELMAS and Rehana Shanks, Depute headteacher, was the first recipient of the practitioner award.

Other interests
Dr Russell has been preparing a comprehensive evaluation of the impact of the Scottish Enlightenment and hopes to publish within two years under the title of The ‘Princes’ of the Scottish Enlightenment: 1688 – 1832.
Leisure time is spent on the sport of rugby, which Dr Russell played in his youth, and though now a spectator he still follows the fortunes of Melrose RFC the founders of seven a side rugby.