I sometimes wonder who writes the script for Moorside.
Everyone involved with the proposed Consett Academy is expecting to hear this month about the level of funding the government is prepared to offer to build the new school.
But was I alone in being very surprised to learn that Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Education, was going to visit Consett to judge things for himself at first hand?
It was all very hush hush and I didn’t receive an invitation to meet the guy until an hour before he arrived, but it was certainly a memorable occasion. He was en route to Alnwick but called into CCSC on his way. There were a couple of high points. He met with some of the staff from Consett and I thought that they were magnificent. They were professional and assertive in the way that impressed on Mr. Gove that the uncertainty for all of us must come to an end as soon as possible.
He also met with a group of CCSC students and they too represented their school very well. The meeting was at his request apparently, so he obviously understands that if you want to make a decision about schooling, you need to listen to those on the receiving end.
Now I know that there are still some educators who are uneasy about asking the kids for their opinions because they fear that they will take the chance to get them into trouble.
Well I can honestly say that I’ve never known that occur.
However, young people are often disarmingly honest and, when you look into it, are usually right.
I mention all this because the best moment of last week was a long overdue meeting I had with our Student Council. For various reasons, this was our first meeting since last term, but I’m determined that we will work much more closely together from now on. They’re in charge of all fund raising, but they also help with appointing staff and with our self evaluation. They’re a powerful and influential group and have determined important actions we’ve taken on many occasions in the past.
It’s also significant that whenever we are inspected, the inspectors make a point of interviewing groups of students. This happens quite a lot because in Durham, schools are inspected by the local authority very regularly. The inspectors always say that our young people, are immensely proud of Moorside and rate our provision very highly.
But they sometimes suggest improvements too and they should always be given a fair hearing.
Talking Head
Monday 13 December 2010
Sunday 5 December 2010
Snow Rules
At Moorside we talk about snow rules.
This means that you're not allowed to touch the snow and it works well. All kids enjoy playing in the snow, but in a crowded school environment it can get out of hand.
Not that we've had to impose snow rules lately.
In fact, the snow has been ruling us. So much so that we've only managed to open for two days out of the past seven which must have had a drastic impact on learning. That equates to a whole week of schooling or, to put it another way, every pupil has missed 25 lessons, including those in year 11 who are working hard towards their GCSEs.
Of course, extreme weather conditions are nothing new in Consett. Moorside’s 800 feet above sea level and totally exposed to the north wind. Every year we can assume that we're going to lose two or three days to the weather, but that usually happens in January or February - not at the end of November. So we've already more than used up our quota before winter has really started.
And here's another thing.
Deciding to close a school, even for just one day, is a huge matter. We all know that there's a very strong connection between attendance and achievement. I've no doubt that a crucial factor in the steep rise in standards at Moorside is the increase in attendance from 90 to 94%. And we know that the very highest performing schools in the country often have annual attendance rates of 95% and over.
So I guess that deciding to close because of the weather leaves me open to accusations of double standards, especially from those parents with whom I've done some straight talking about booking holidays in term time or allowing their children to stay off school for no good reason. I say repeatedly in reports and in conversations, “We can’t teach them if they’re not here.”
Well, just for the record, this loss of learning is why I find the decision to close because of snow one of the most difficult aspects of headship.
So I don’t do it lightly.
This is what happens.
It's often hard to make the call in advance so I rely on a 6.00 am phone contact with Niqui McConnell in Consett to check out the conditions. Then I'll consult the state of the roads on line and on the radio as well as the weather forecast for the rest of the day. I have to bear in mind whether buses can reach the site and also whether or not staff are going to be able to make it because without them we can't function. I also need the views of the premises staff about the condition of the site (which has been engulfed in snow for the past week and latterly blocked by abandoned cars). Over the past few days, Janet Price, our assistant caretaker has been voluntarily on site from 4.30 am in arctic conditions and on Thursday morning her dedication was rewarded with a nasty bang on the shoulder when she fell on the ice.
There's always the risk that deciding to close is followed by a day of fine weather when it would have been perfectly possible to open. Thankfully, that hasn't happened up to now. Indeed, once the decision's made to close, the Moorside professionalism kicks in with everyone playing their part in Christine Connolly's telephone tree. It's so efficient that the message can reach everyone in less than ten minutes and that includes parents and the local media.
Anyway, I'm writing this on Sunday afternoon trying to take my mind off watching West Brom put three past the boys in black and white. I keep looking at the sky trying to guess what the clouds will bring over night. I’ll be sleeping with my fingers crossed, hoping that we can have a Monday which is something close to normal.
Not that the weather on Tyneside is much of a guide to the Consett micro climate.
This means that you're not allowed to touch the snow and it works well. All kids enjoy playing in the snow, but in a crowded school environment it can get out of hand.
Not that we've had to impose snow rules lately.
In fact, the snow has been ruling us. So much so that we've only managed to open for two days out of the past seven which must have had a drastic impact on learning. That equates to a whole week of schooling or, to put it another way, every pupil has missed 25 lessons, including those in year 11 who are working hard towards their GCSEs.
Of course, extreme weather conditions are nothing new in Consett. Moorside’s 800 feet above sea level and totally exposed to the north wind. Every year we can assume that we're going to lose two or three days to the weather, but that usually happens in January or February - not at the end of November. So we've already more than used up our quota before winter has really started.
And here's another thing.
Deciding to close a school, even for just one day, is a huge matter. We all know that there's a very strong connection between attendance and achievement. I've no doubt that a crucial factor in the steep rise in standards at Moorside is the increase in attendance from 90 to 94%. And we know that the very highest performing schools in the country often have annual attendance rates of 95% and over.
So I guess that deciding to close because of the weather leaves me open to accusations of double standards, especially from those parents with whom I've done some straight talking about booking holidays in term time or allowing their children to stay off school for no good reason. I say repeatedly in reports and in conversations, “We can’t teach them if they’re not here.”
Well, just for the record, this loss of learning is why I find the decision to close because of snow one of the most difficult aspects of headship.
So I don’t do it lightly.
This is what happens.
It's often hard to make the call in advance so I rely on a 6.00 am phone contact with Niqui McConnell in Consett to check out the conditions. Then I'll consult the state of the roads on line and on the radio as well as the weather forecast for the rest of the day. I have to bear in mind whether buses can reach the site and also whether or not staff are going to be able to make it because without them we can't function. I also need the views of the premises staff about the condition of the site (which has been engulfed in snow for the past week and latterly blocked by abandoned cars). Over the past few days, Janet Price, our assistant caretaker has been voluntarily on site from 4.30 am in arctic conditions and on Thursday morning her dedication was rewarded with a nasty bang on the shoulder when she fell on the ice.
There's always the risk that deciding to close is followed by a day of fine weather when it would have been perfectly possible to open. Thankfully, that hasn't happened up to now. Indeed, once the decision's made to close, the Moorside professionalism kicks in with everyone playing their part in Christine Connolly's telephone tree. It's so efficient that the message can reach everyone in less than ten minutes and that includes parents and the local media.
Anyway, I'm writing this on Sunday afternoon trying to take my mind off watching West Brom put three past the boys in black and white. I keep looking at the sky trying to guess what the clouds will bring over night. I’ll be sleeping with my fingers crossed, hoping that we can have a Monday which is something close to normal.
Not that the weather on Tyneside is much of a guide to the Consett micro climate.
Wednesday 10 November 2010
Taking it Personally
It doesn’t happen very often, but one of the joys of teaching is when an ex pupil suddenly emerges from the past and you find out about the individual impact you had on them.
It was a few years ago I admit, but my favourite was when I was talking to a trainee English teacher about poetry. She was struggling to find ways of sharing her love of verse with students and I was trying to help out. Then she started talking about her best friend, Beverly. She said that Beverly was really clever and now had a successful career. Apparently, Beverly was the only person she knew who bought poetry books and said that she owed this passionate interest to a keen young English teacher at her school in Sunderland.
And then she let it slip.
“Jonathan, it was you.”
Well, that made me feel very proud and I’ve never forgotten it.
For logistical reasons you have to organise schools into groups: classes, sets, years, houses etc, etc. And one of the challenges for the Consett Academy will be to set up systems to accommodate nearly 2,000 students and ensure that they are all treated as individuals. (And, incidentally, the school where I taught Beverly was, at the time, one of the ten biggest in the country with 2,200 pupils.) And a good school remembers that you’re not dealing with the nameless. Every student has an utterly distinct identity with their own feelings, talents, hopes and dreams which are unique to them. And every single one has a fascinating life history behind and in front of them.
So I like to think that Moorside is pretty good at reaching individuals and bringing out the best in them.
Take our regular case conferences as an example.
Last week’s high point was our year 11 case conference. This is a meeting for all teachers of year 11 and we sit in the big room in The Phoenix Centre and discuss the progress of every year 11 student. So that’ s over 100 young people and it takes ages. If you were a fly on the wall, I guarantee that you’d be impressed by the commitment of the staff to such a time consuming operation. But you’d be even more impressed by the depth of knowledge they have of all individuals and the great care they devote to them.
And it’s not just a talking shop.
The meeting produces a long list of action points for us to follow up with individuals to make sure that their needs are met and they can achieve as highly as possible in their exams.
But we can only guess about the exciting impact that will have on their future life chances.
Let’s hope that, like Beverly, they find a way of telling us what happened because it makes the job worthwhile.
It was a few years ago I admit, but my favourite was when I was talking to a trainee English teacher about poetry. She was struggling to find ways of sharing her love of verse with students and I was trying to help out. Then she started talking about her best friend, Beverly. She said that Beverly was really clever and now had a successful career. Apparently, Beverly was the only person she knew who bought poetry books and said that she owed this passionate interest to a keen young English teacher at her school in Sunderland.
And then she let it slip.
“Jonathan, it was you.”
Well, that made me feel very proud and I’ve never forgotten it.
For logistical reasons you have to organise schools into groups: classes, sets, years, houses etc, etc. And one of the challenges for the Consett Academy will be to set up systems to accommodate nearly 2,000 students and ensure that they are all treated as individuals. (And, incidentally, the school where I taught Beverly was, at the time, one of the ten biggest in the country with 2,200 pupils.) And a good school remembers that you’re not dealing with the nameless. Every student has an utterly distinct identity with their own feelings, talents, hopes and dreams which are unique to them. And every single one has a fascinating life history behind and in front of them.
So I like to think that Moorside is pretty good at reaching individuals and bringing out the best in them.
Take our regular case conferences as an example.
Last week’s high point was our year 11 case conference. This is a meeting for all teachers of year 11 and we sit in the big room in The Phoenix Centre and discuss the progress of every year 11 student. So that’ s over 100 young people and it takes ages. If you were a fly on the wall, I guarantee that you’d be impressed by the commitment of the staff to such a time consuming operation. But you’d be even more impressed by the depth of knowledge they have of all individuals and the great care they devote to them.
And it’s not just a talking shop.
The meeting produces a long list of action points for us to follow up with individuals to make sure that their needs are met and they can achieve as highly as possible in their exams.
But we can only guess about the exciting impact that will have on their future life chances.
Let’s hope that, like Beverly, they find a way of telling us what happened because it makes the job worthwhile.
Sunday 24 October 2010
Free education for Consett
Apart from the Chilean miners, the big news story for me this week was the proposed increase in university tuition fees.
I just don’t get the whole ideal of making people pay for education. In my ideal world, all education would be paid for by the tax payer so that anyone could go to university regardless of how much their family earn.
And in the past it was almost like that.
I spent 4 years in higher education before starting work as a teacher and it didn’t cost me a penny. And that will be true of many current teachers, doctors, social workers, civil servants etc. etc. If I’d been faced with the prospect of having to pay back over £20, 000 at the end of my training, I would have thought twice about going to college as would many of my school mates. So what impact would that have had on public services?
And by allowing a free for all for universities to charge what they like for tuition fees, what messages will be sent to young people? There are 8 highly intelligent young men in my year 11 mentoring group. All of them are on course for university and all of them have the potential to make very valuable contributions to society. It would be tragic if they decided not to gain the high qualifications of which they’re capable because of a fear of debt in later life.
So what can be done?
Well, it seems that the decision has been made and tuition fees will rise significantly.
But maybe something could be done in Consett.
The lead sponsor in the consortium behind the Consett Academy is the University of Durham. Perhaps they could guarantee that all Consett Academy sixth formers who gain a place at the University of Durham would pay no tuition fees.
This would be massive gesture of commitment to the Consett community and I am sure would immediately boost everyone’s confidence in the academy project.
I just don’t get the whole ideal of making people pay for education. In my ideal world, all education would be paid for by the tax payer so that anyone could go to university regardless of how much their family earn.
And in the past it was almost like that.
I spent 4 years in higher education before starting work as a teacher and it didn’t cost me a penny. And that will be true of many current teachers, doctors, social workers, civil servants etc. etc. If I’d been faced with the prospect of having to pay back over £20, 000 at the end of my training, I would have thought twice about going to college as would many of my school mates. So what impact would that have had on public services?
And by allowing a free for all for universities to charge what they like for tuition fees, what messages will be sent to young people? There are 8 highly intelligent young men in my year 11 mentoring group. All of them are on course for university and all of them have the potential to make very valuable contributions to society. It would be tragic if they decided not to gain the high qualifications of which they’re capable because of a fear of debt in later life.
So what can be done?
Well, it seems that the decision has been made and tuition fees will rise significantly.
But maybe something could be done in Consett.
The lead sponsor in the consortium behind the Consett Academy is the University of Durham. Perhaps they could guarantee that all Consett Academy sixth formers who gain a place at the University of Durham would pay no tuition fees.
This would be massive gesture of commitment to the Consett community and I am sure would immediately boost everyone’s confidence in the academy project.
Friday 15 October 2010
More on Independent Learning: PLTS
Following on from last week’s blog, I was moved to receive this message:
“Phil. is still very much missed and it was lovely to read that he is living on at Moorside in the form of the Learning Centre. Thanks to the dedicated staff the students can enjoy a resource that I am sure is a credit to everyone involved. I hope the PLLC goes from strength to strength.”
It’s from Sheila Morrison, Phil Lewis’s sister. It means a great deal to us that Phil’s family are following Moorside’s progress.
So with Phil in mind, I know that he would have loved the weekend conference we’ve just held for staff. You might know that Moorside’s improvement plan is divided into the SHINE priorities: Staff Effectiveness, Healthy Environment, Independent Learning, New Technologies and Extended Services. Anyway, as you’ll recall from last week, Phil rightly saw that our students were too dependent on teachers’ help and needed to learn more independently, especially if they were destined, as at least half of them are, for university. That’s why we devote so much effort to finding ways of making them more self reliant.
Coincidentally, the last government brought in a new national curriculum with a great deal of emphasis on all subjects teaching independent learning generically across the curriculum. So that’s functional skills like literacy but also Personal Learning and Thinking Skills (PLTS). These are Independent Enquiry, Teamwork, Effective Participation, Self Management, Reflective Learning and Creative Thinking.
Jeff Allan has been leading us on this and we’ve made good progress with staff targeting PLTS in their planning and students using their learning passports and an on line system to assess themselves.
But it’s still a bit patchy.
To be honest, not all subjects are on board yet, so we need a big push this year to teach these vital skills consistently in all lessons. It’s the sort of challenge we thrive on because of the top priority we give to teaching an learning and our culture of staff willingly sharing their good practice with each other.
After a lot of thought, Jeff and I decided that staff needed an extended period of quality time together to decide on a whole school policy for PLTS and a toolkit for all staff to teach and assess them. So we took a gamble by deciding to invite people to a Friday evening/Saturday morning conference on PLTS.
This would mean working what amounts to a six day week and constraining precious weekend hours with friends and family. And, if you’re a young newly qualified teacher, losing that Saturday morning lie in you need to compensate for the long hours of lesson planning. We invited the Teaching and Learning Focus group first because they’re the powerhouse behind classroom innovation and then threw it open to all classroom based staff. Oh, and we also offered 6 places to Consett Community Sports College as part of both schools’ strategy to bring people together in the run up to the academy. More of that later.
Anyway, we received a great response – every place was taken- and, even though I haven’t seen the evaluations yet, I’m pretty sure that we hit the bullseye. The level of debate was very high and I think the plans we made will have the required impact across all subjects. The opening session seemed to go especially well because Jeff and I volunteered all of the leadership team to teach mini lessons, each one featuring at least one of the PLTS. So this meant that the staff had to pretend to be the students so that they could see learning from their point of view and also decide how the ideas could be transferred to their own subjects. So together we learnt Design Technology, English, Maths, History and Drama and the experience made me think how exciting it must be to be a pupil at Moorside moving from one fascinating lesson to another.
So we moved a long way on PLTS in just a couple of days and by Saturday lunchtime the policy and toolkits were in the bag.
But successful conferences like this also have a huge team building effect because of the rich opportunities to work with friends from other subjects. They also show the commitment of staff (and can I just say that all of our 5 very busy newly qualified staff gave up their time to attend) who are prepared to sacrifice their entitlement to free time for the good of the students.
But back as promised to CCSC.
The presence of six colleagues from Consett added a new dimension to the event and led to very valuable sharing of ideas. And I must say that if their professionalism is indicative of the CCSC ethos, and I hear that it is, then the combined power of the two schools will be truly awesome.
To put it bluntly, if we can’t make the Consett Academy work, nobody can.
“Phil. is still very much missed and it was lovely to read that he is living on at Moorside in the form of the Learning Centre. Thanks to the dedicated staff the students can enjoy a resource that I am sure is a credit to everyone involved. I hope the PLLC goes from strength to strength.”
It’s from Sheila Morrison, Phil Lewis’s sister. It means a great deal to us that Phil’s family are following Moorside’s progress.
So with Phil in mind, I know that he would have loved the weekend conference we’ve just held for staff. You might know that Moorside’s improvement plan is divided into the SHINE priorities: Staff Effectiveness, Healthy Environment, Independent Learning, New Technologies and Extended Services. Anyway, as you’ll recall from last week, Phil rightly saw that our students were too dependent on teachers’ help and needed to learn more independently, especially if they were destined, as at least half of them are, for university. That’s why we devote so much effort to finding ways of making them more self reliant.
Coincidentally, the last government brought in a new national curriculum with a great deal of emphasis on all subjects teaching independent learning generically across the curriculum. So that’s functional skills like literacy but also Personal Learning and Thinking Skills (PLTS). These are Independent Enquiry, Teamwork, Effective Participation, Self Management, Reflective Learning and Creative Thinking.
Jeff Allan has been leading us on this and we’ve made good progress with staff targeting PLTS in their planning and students using their learning passports and an on line system to assess themselves.
But it’s still a bit patchy.
To be honest, not all subjects are on board yet, so we need a big push this year to teach these vital skills consistently in all lessons. It’s the sort of challenge we thrive on because of the top priority we give to teaching an learning and our culture of staff willingly sharing their good practice with each other.
After a lot of thought, Jeff and I decided that staff needed an extended period of quality time together to decide on a whole school policy for PLTS and a toolkit for all staff to teach and assess them. So we took a gamble by deciding to invite people to a Friday evening/Saturday morning conference on PLTS.
This would mean working what amounts to a six day week and constraining precious weekend hours with friends and family. And, if you’re a young newly qualified teacher, losing that Saturday morning lie in you need to compensate for the long hours of lesson planning. We invited the Teaching and Learning Focus group first because they’re the powerhouse behind classroom innovation and then threw it open to all classroom based staff. Oh, and we also offered 6 places to Consett Community Sports College as part of both schools’ strategy to bring people together in the run up to the academy. More of that later.
Anyway, we received a great response – every place was taken- and, even though I haven’t seen the evaluations yet, I’m pretty sure that we hit the bullseye. The level of debate was very high and I think the plans we made will have the required impact across all subjects. The opening session seemed to go especially well because Jeff and I volunteered all of the leadership team to teach mini lessons, each one featuring at least one of the PLTS. So this meant that the staff had to pretend to be the students so that they could see learning from their point of view and also decide how the ideas could be transferred to their own subjects. So together we learnt Design Technology, English, Maths, History and Drama and the experience made me think how exciting it must be to be a pupil at Moorside moving from one fascinating lesson to another.
So we moved a long way on PLTS in just a couple of days and by Saturday lunchtime the policy and toolkits were in the bag.
But successful conferences like this also have a huge team building effect because of the rich opportunities to work with friends from other subjects. They also show the commitment of staff (and can I just say that all of our 5 very busy newly qualified staff gave up their time to attend) who are prepared to sacrifice their entitlement to free time for the good of the students.
But back as promised to CCSC.
The presence of six colleagues from Consett added a new dimension to the event and led to very valuable sharing of ideas. And I must say that if their professionalism is indicative of the CCSC ethos, and I hear that it is, then the combined power of the two schools will be truly awesome.
To put it bluntly, if we can’t make the Consett Academy work, nobody can.
Friday 8 October 2010
In Praise of the PLLC
It’s funny how places have their own language.
Newcomers to Moorside must struggle at times to understand what they’re hearing because I’m sure that our conversations are peppered with unfamiliar jargon like IS, blues, The Den, house style, ER, passports, passport control, traffic lights, LSU, DFL...
And PLLC.
Sometimes that gets shortened to PLC, but it means he same. PLLC stands for the Phil Lewis Learning Centre.
Phil was our much loved deputy headteacher who tragically passed away while competing in the Great North Run of 2005. We’d just been designated as a specialist technology college and Phil was director of specialism. Phil rightly saw that our students needed to improve their independent learning skills, so he decided to devote much of our extra specialism funding to transforming an old community area into a modern resource centre which would be open for study and research before, during and after school. Sadly, he didn’t get to see the fruition of his idea, but I think that it’s apt that every time we mention the PLLC it’s a small tribute to Phil and his service to Moorside.
When I worked for OFSTED (I know what you’re thinking, but no one’s perfect), I inspected school libraries and learning centres so I’ve seen quite a few of them. The vital ingredient is who’s in charge and I can think of at least one manager/librarian who just didn’t like young people (full stop), especially if they wanted to do naughty things like looking at the books or asking for help with finding information.
So I know how lucky we are to have Gem Horth at the helm of the PLLC.
Gem is a gem.
She provides as much learning support to students as she can and is constantly seeking to innovate and to think of new ways to encourage plenty of use of the PLLC. She’s made it the heart of the college and to me it’s a microcosm of everything we stand for: love of learning, support for one another and having fun.
You’d see what I mean if you spent just a brief amount of time there. First of all there’s a fair chance that Gem and several others will be in fancy dress as she’s a dab hand at spotting national days like...and this is true...Talk Like A Pirate Day. There might even be food available as there was on Australia Day when Gem somehow managed to rustle up a beach barbecue.
So they’re examples of the fun side of the PLLC, but you’ll see lots of learning too. Every computer will be in use and Gem encourages individual and small group tuition. So all at one time you’re likely to see Vicki Lakehal our learning mentor at work as well as Elspeth Bain our literacy tutor and Michael Dynes our Connexions adviser. Gem herself, without being asked, takes a special interest in helping students with English as an additional language, possibly because she herself is a gifted linguist and knows how to develop their fluency in a second language.
Anyway, as you can tell, I think the PLLC is great. So we mustn’t lose it in the move to the academy building. Twelve months ago I suggested to the sponsors that the learning centre be at the front entrance to allow community as well as student use but also to announce that learning is the academy’s central purpose. I’m glad to say that my idea has made it into the building design.
So wouldn’t it be good if they called it the PLLC?
Newcomers to Moorside must struggle at times to understand what they’re hearing because I’m sure that our conversations are peppered with unfamiliar jargon like IS, blues, The Den, house style, ER, passports, passport control, traffic lights, LSU, DFL...
And PLLC.
Sometimes that gets shortened to PLC, but it means he same. PLLC stands for the Phil Lewis Learning Centre.
Phil was our much loved deputy headteacher who tragically passed away while competing in the Great North Run of 2005. We’d just been designated as a specialist technology college and Phil was director of specialism. Phil rightly saw that our students needed to improve their independent learning skills, so he decided to devote much of our extra specialism funding to transforming an old community area into a modern resource centre which would be open for study and research before, during and after school. Sadly, he didn’t get to see the fruition of his idea, but I think that it’s apt that every time we mention the PLLC it’s a small tribute to Phil and his service to Moorside.
When I worked for OFSTED (I know what you’re thinking, but no one’s perfect), I inspected school libraries and learning centres so I’ve seen quite a few of them. The vital ingredient is who’s in charge and I can think of at least one manager/librarian who just didn’t like young people (full stop), especially if they wanted to do naughty things like looking at the books or asking for help with finding information.
So I know how lucky we are to have Gem Horth at the helm of the PLLC.
Gem is a gem.
She provides as much learning support to students as she can and is constantly seeking to innovate and to think of new ways to encourage plenty of use of the PLLC. She’s made it the heart of the college and to me it’s a microcosm of everything we stand for: love of learning, support for one another and having fun.
You’d see what I mean if you spent just a brief amount of time there. First of all there’s a fair chance that Gem and several others will be in fancy dress as she’s a dab hand at spotting national days like...and this is true...Talk Like A Pirate Day. There might even be food available as there was on Australia Day when Gem somehow managed to rustle up a beach barbecue.
So they’re examples of the fun side of the PLLC, but you’ll see lots of learning too. Every computer will be in use and Gem encourages individual and small group tuition. So all at one time you’re likely to see Vicki Lakehal our learning mentor at work as well as Elspeth Bain our literacy tutor and Michael Dynes our Connexions adviser. Gem herself, without being asked, takes a special interest in helping students with English as an additional language, possibly because she herself is a gifted linguist and knows how to develop their fluency in a second language.
Anyway, as you can tell, I think the PLLC is great. So we mustn’t lose it in the move to the academy building. Twelve months ago I suggested to the sponsors that the learning centre be at the front entrance to allow community as well as student use but also to announce that learning is the academy’s central purpose. I’m glad to say that my idea has made it into the building design.
So wouldn’t it be good if they called it the PLLC?
Monday 27 September 2010
Being Open Part 2
It's late on Sunday night and I've just got back from a two day trek down the Northumberland riviera to celebrate our 33rd wedding anniversary, so please forgive me for the brevity of this week's episode.
I had all sorts of ideas for things to tell you about this week: I Pads, teaching The Tempest, linking Enrichment with Art and a mad notion for our next non-uniform day. Anyway, I'm tired, especially my feet, so all of that will have to wait for another time.
So before I fall asleep at the keyboard can I just thank everyone who contributed to and attended our open evening last Wednesday?
I thoroughly enjoyed showing prospective parents round Moorside and once again felt awe inspired by the professionalism and enthusiasm of our excellent staff. I'm also glad to report that a number of parents took me up on my offer of a tour during the day and that offer is still open if you're interested.
Just give me a ring or send an e-mail.
I had all sorts of ideas for things to tell you about this week: I Pads, teaching The Tempest, linking Enrichment with Art and a mad notion for our next non-uniform day. Anyway, I'm tired, especially my feet, so all of that will have to wait for another time.
So before I fall asleep at the keyboard can I just thank everyone who contributed to and attended our open evening last Wednesday?
I thoroughly enjoyed showing prospective parents round Moorside and once again felt awe inspired by the professionalism and enthusiasm of our excellent staff. I'm also glad to report that a number of parents took me up on my offer of a tour during the day and that offer is still open if you're interested.
Just give me a ring or send an e-mail.
Saturday 18 September 2010
Being Open
Choosing a school is a big decision.
All parents want their kids to be happy at school and to receive the best possible education. And being happy is the starting point because you just don’t learn properly if you’re in an environment you don’t like.
I’m mentioning this because we’re in the season of parental choice. Year 6 parents and carers have to choose a secondary school before the end of October and all schools are staging open evenings to show what they have to offer.
Before I go on to our forthcoming open evening, can I just give some advice to all prospective parents, choosing a secondary school. First of all, you should definitely go to its open evening because the event will tell you something about how well the school is organised, its facilities and its sense of pride. You’ll want to talk to the staff, of course, but there should be students there too and so have a word with them. I was put off choosing a secondary school for my kids because some pupils were trying to demonstrate a science experiment, but couldn’t say what it taught them.
But don’t leave it at the open evening.
There’s plenty of research you can do on the net – just Google the school and you’ll be sign posted immediately. And through gritted teeth, I have to admit that the OFSTED report is a must.
It’s also essential that you see the school as it really is so arrange a visit during the day. If it’s a good school, they’ll welcome you gladly and arrange for you to walk through lessons to get a feel for the place. An outstanding school (like one we all know starting with M) will offer a meeting with the head and for him/her to take you round in person. They’ll let you go where you want and (don’t laugh) insist on you seeing the toilets. That’s because we all know that the probable low point of a school are the toilets so they’re a kind of bench mark for the school’s consideration for the students. It’s a bad sign if they’re always locked in lesson times and, worse than that, if they’re graffiti ridden and smell of cigarette smoke, head for the car.
All this brings me to our open evening (and yes I will be encouraging parents to come to see us during the day and bundling them into the boys toilets whether they like it or not). It’s going to be a bit strange because in a way it will be an open evening for a school which doesn’t exist yet. We’ll be working alongside the sponsors in promoting the Consett Academy, but we’ll also be showcasing where Moorside is right now because that will be the foundation for the new school.
So if you want to find out more about the Consett Academy, come along to one or both of the forthcoming open evenings for prospective parents. The Moorside event is on September 22nd, 2010 at 6.30 pm and the CCSC one is on September 23rd at 6.00pm. You’ll get the chance to see at first hand what’s happening in the schools right now and hear about the sponsors’ proposals for the new academy and how they will build on our good practice.
All parents want their kids to be happy at school and to receive the best possible education. And being happy is the starting point because you just don’t learn properly if you’re in an environment you don’t like.
I’m mentioning this because we’re in the season of parental choice. Year 6 parents and carers have to choose a secondary school before the end of October and all schools are staging open evenings to show what they have to offer.
Before I go on to our forthcoming open evening, can I just give some advice to all prospective parents, choosing a secondary school. First of all, you should definitely go to its open evening because the event will tell you something about how well the school is organised, its facilities and its sense of pride. You’ll want to talk to the staff, of course, but there should be students there too and so have a word with them. I was put off choosing a secondary school for my kids because some pupils were trying to demonstrate a science experiment, but couldn’t say what it taught them.
But don’t leave it at the open evening.
There’s plenty of research you can do on the net – just Google the school and you’ll be sign posted immediately. And through gritted teeth, I have to admit that the OFSTED report is a must.
It’s also essential that you see the school as it really is so arrange a visit during the day. If it’s a good school, they’ll welcome you gladly and arrange for you to walk through lessons to get a feel for the place. An outstanding school (like one we all know starting with M) will offer a meeting with the head and for him/her to take you round in person. They’ll let you go where you want and (don’t laugh) insist on you seeing the toilets. That’s because we all know that the probable low point of a school are the toilets so they’re a kind of bench mark for the school’s consideration for the students. It’s a bad sign if they’re always locked in lesson times and, worse than that, if they’re graffiti ridden and smell of cigarette smoke, head for the car.
All this brings me to our open evening (and yes I will be encouraging parents to come to see us during the day and bundling them into the boys toilets whether they like it or not). It’s going to be a bit strange because in a way it will be an open evening for a school which doesn’t exist yet. We’ll be working alongside the sponsors in promoting the Consett Academy, but we’ll also be showcasing where Moorside is right now because that will be the foundation for the new school.
So if you want to find out more about the Consett Academy, come along to one or both of the forthcoming open evenings for prospective parents. The Moorside event is on September 22nd, 2010 at 6.30 pm and the CCSC one is on September 23rd at 6.00pm. You’ll get the chance to see at first hand what’s happening in the schools right now and hear about the sponsors’ proposals for the new academy and how they will build on our good practice.
Saturday 11 September 2010
This Way to Enchantment
You can’t miss them because they’re the ones with puzzled faces and learning passports flapping open at the timetable page as they try to navigate from lesson to lesson.
You might know that some of our younger pupils take a lesson called Enrichment. Anyway, year 7 had Enrichment on Tuesday afternoon and Jim Green, helpful as always, was on the corridor directing the traffic of newcomers.
Apparently, an earnest young man said to him, “Is this the way to Enchantment?”
Well, I thought that was great.
First of all, I think we should give serious thought to making that change of name official.
And secondly, that charming error was somehow in keeping with how things have been for me in the past few weeks.
I know it can’t always be like this, but life has been magic recently. I had a legendary summer holiday in some beautiful places with much loved friends and family. I’ve sat in a luscious Mallorcan garden watching the sun go down over the mountains, picnicked on a hot Sunday afternoon on Primrose hill listening to the lads crashing in six goals against Villa and fended off the badgers trying to steal food from my tent by Ullswater.
It’s been great.
But Moorside was never far from my thoughts, especially my speculation about what news would come on August 24th about our exam results.
Well, it was like winning the lottery.
We had a hunch that they would be good, but in reality they were by far the best on record and confirmed that 2009-10 was the most successful year overall in Moorside’s long history.
You’ll find the figures elsewhere on the website and they confirm Moorside’s place among the top schools in the country. I’ll just give you a couple of statistics.
84% of year 11 leavers beat the expectations we had of them based on SATs and test results at the end of year 6. That means that we added value to the learning and achievement of the overwhelming majority which we think will put is in the top 5% of schools nationally.
It’s easy to start a new term on the back of news like that and the whole Moorside team should take the credit for creating a school culture which produces such stunning outcomes.
And Moorside isn’t just about exam results as you’ll know from the wealth of other great work we do, but exam grades are a symptom of our very high professional standards and 100% commitment to our young people.
But that’s not all of the good news.
On Monday, for the first time ever the entire staffs of Moorside and Consett Community Sports College came together for a joint training event as part of our preparations for amalgamating as the Consett Academy next year. It was a landmark event which certainly left me full of optimism about how well we’ll work together from now on.
If you want to find out more about the Consett Academy, come along to one or both of the forthcoming open evenings for prospective parents. The Moorside one is on September 22nd, 2010 and the CCSC one is on September 23rd – both at 6.30pm. You’ll get the chance to see at first hand what’s happening in the schools right now and hear about the sponsors’ proposals for the new academy and how they will build on our good practice.
Sunday 18 July 2010
Chris Bartram
We’re all looking forward to breaking up next Friday and going our separate ways on holiday.
But none of us is looking forward to saying goodbye to Chris Bartram.
Chris is about to embark on a richly deserved and, I hope, happy new phase in her life. And in doing so she’ll be able to reflect on a career spent mainly at Moorside in the certain knowledge that no one has contributed more to the lives of the young people of Consett than she.
In her time Chris has graduated through teaching PE and then leading the subject to being head of year, teacher of Health and Social Care, staff governor and, in the past few years, to assistant headteacher.
I’ve worked most closely with Chris in that last stage. I was very glad that she stepped forward to take charge of learning support and inclusion. I already know about her highly developed organisational talents, and, even more importantly, her deep compassion for young people in need. And hers is a massive job, not just because of the huge range of responsibilities but also because of the critical issues involved.
Just in case you didn’t know, Chris is in charge of all aspects of special needs, child protection, vulnerable groups, behaviour and rewards. They’re all connected so it works fine if you have one person at the helm who is first class at multi tasking and decision making.
And that’s Chris.
There have been many occasions when Chris has had to deal with heart breaking and difficult issues and she has always done so calmly and rationally with the best interests of the young person at heart. Not only that but she has provided wise advice and support to staff and parents and has stood by me at times of great adversity.
But none of us is looking forward to saying goodbye to Chris Bartram.
Chris is about to embark on a richly deserved and, I hope, happy new phase in her life. And in doing so she’ll be able to reflect on a career spent mainly at Moorside in the certain knowledge that no one has contributed more to the lives of the young people of Consett than she.
In her time Chris has graduated through teaching PE and then leading the subject to being head of year, teacher of Health and Social Care, staff governor and, in the past few years, to assistant headteacher.
I’ve worked most closely with Chris in that last stage. I was very glad that she stepped forward to take charge of learning support and inclusion. I already know about her highly developed organisational talents, and, even more importantly, her deep compassion for young people in need. And hers is a massive job, not just because of the huge range of responsibilities but also because of the critical issues involved.
Just in case you didn’t know, Chris is in charge of all aspects of special needs, child protection, vulnerable groups, behaviour and rewards. They’re all connected so it works fine if you have one person at the helm who is first class at multi tasking and decision making.
And that’s Chris.
There have been many occasions when Chris has had to deal with heart breaking and difficult issues and she has always done so calmly and rationally with the best interests of the young person at heart. Not only that but she has provided wise advice and support to staff and parents and has stood by me at times of great adversity.
Friday 9 July 2010
Glastonbury Day
There was so much interest in my last blog (the one on video) that I decided to leave it up for longer than usual. Thanks to everyone who responded and can I also reassure you that Moorside science does not always involve setting fire to people.
Anyway, the gap has left, me with a dilemma. So much has happened in the last two weeks that I’m spoilt for choice of subject matter.
For example, I could write about the year 11 prom.
Some are saying that it was our best ever and it certainly was a very happy event, brilliantly organised by Chris Bartram. Chris leaves Moorside at the end of this term so I’ll be writing much more about her before then.
I must also mention Abby.
I thought that no one would top Hannah Murray’s entrance last year in a ribbon festooned tractor, but I hadn’t bargained for Abby Heighway. She took the place by storm by arriving with horn blaring in a massive cement mixer. So what will happen next year? No one’s arrived by parachute yet, but there’s always a first time.
So all this brings me to my topic for this week – Glastonbury Day.
The theme of this Student Council non-uniform day was to come to school dressed as if you were going to the Glastonbury Festival which happened to kick off on the same day..
The Student Council chose Wateraid as their adopted charity for the event. Wateraid is dedicated to providing clean water for poor people in developing countries and is one of the main charities supported by the actual festival.
I'm proud to tell you that we exceeded our target of raising £1000. What’s more, we’ve done our sums and worked out that about 80 children’s lives could be saved by raising this amount.
Not only that, but students and staff had a fantastic day as you can see elsewhere on our website.
But, just for the record, this is what happened.
We ran music workshops and taught special lessons on the ethical use of water. We even set up a festival village on the playing field with stalls selling jewellery and food produced in Design Technology, flags made in Art, zorb balls and a climbing wall hosted by the YMCA, a barbecue and an outdoor stage for three bands to perform.
But that still doesn’t tell the whole story.
Student Council joined forces with a brilliant staff team determined to bring a real taste of the festival experience to Moorside. After all, Glastonbury is now a major part of the British calendar , like Wimbledon and the proms, so we enriched students’ cultural understanding.
Pupils also contributed to the community. There was a real sense of closeness on the day (and behaviour was brilliant) and by raising money for the developing world students showed a strong desire to play a part in the wider community at a global level. They also developed their work place and enterprise skills by making and selling products to sell. And they learnt about healthy choices by learning about the health giving properties of water and joining in with the YMCA activities.
But most of all they can all feel a sense of achievement for making a difference to other people’s lives...and enjoying a great time in the process.
Anyway, the gap has left, me with a dilemma. So much has happened in the last two weeks that I’m spoilt for choice of subject matter.
For example, I could write about the year 11 prom.
Some are saying that it was our best ever and it certainly was a very happy event, brilliantly organised by Chris Bartram. Chris leaves Moorside at the end of this term so I’ll be writing much more about her before then.
I thought that no one would top Hannah Murray’s entrance last year in a ribbon festooned tractor, but I hadn’t bargained for Abby Heighway. She took the place by storm by arriving with horn blaring in a massive cement mixer. So what will happen next year? No one’s arrived by parachute yet, but there’s always a first time.
So all this brings me to my topic for this week – Glastonbury Day.
The theme of this Student Council non-uniform day was to come to school dressed as if you were going to the Glastonbury Festival which happened to kick off on the same day..
The Student Council chose Wateraid as their adopted charity for the event. Wateraid is dedicated to providing clean water for poor people in developing countries and is one of the main charities supported by the actual festival.
I'm proud to tell you that we exceeded our target of raising £1000. What’s more, we’ve done our sums and worked out that about 80 children’s lives could be saved by raising this amount.
Not only that, but students and staff had a fantastic day as you can see elsewhere on our website.
But, just for the record, this is what happened.
We ran music workshops and taught special lessons on the ethical use of water. We even set up a festival village on the playing field with stalls selling jewellery and food produced in Design Technology, flags made in Art, zorb balls and a climbing wall hosted by the YMCA, a barbecue and an outdoor stage for three bands to perform.
But that still doesn’t tell the whole story.
Student Council joined forces with a brilliant staff team determined to bring a real taste of the festival experience to Moorside. After all, Glastonbury is now a major part of the British calendar , like Wimbledon and the proms, so we enriched students’ cultural understanding.
Pupils also contributed to the community. There was a real sense of closeness on the day (and behaviour was brilliant) and by raising money for the developing world students showed a strong desire to play a part in the wider community at a global level. They also developed their work place and enterprise skills by making and selling products to sell. And they learnt about healthy choices by learning about the health giving properties of water and joining in with the YMCA activities.
But most of all they can all feel a sense of achievement for making a difference to other people’s lives...and enjoying a great time in the process.
Tuesday 29 June 2010
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