Proud of our Moorsiders

Priestman gets top role at New Zealand Football


I think everyone knows Helen Priestman, who is always ready with a warm welcome when you walk in at 7.30am in the morning. Helen’s daughter Bev left Moorside in 2003 then attended Derwentside College for A levels, where she was student of the year. She continued her studies at Liverpool’s John Moore University, where she studied Sports Science and Football to degree level. Bev has been passionate about football from a young age, therefore it is not surprising that she chose this path. After graduating Bev worked for Oxford Football Association before landing a job in New Zealand as Women’s Football Development Manager. A press release said “A former Girls and Women Development Officer for the Football Association in England, Durham-born Priestman brings experience of developing girls-only competitions, mentoring female coaches and developing female centres of excellence, and is eager to strike while the women's football iron is hot.”

A statement released by the New Zealand FA on the 13th October said that Bev had been confirmed as acting Director of Football Development stating that she was the ideal person to step in.
Bev is an excellent role model for all young people and like Helen and her husband Colin, we are proud of her achievements. I am sure there are a lot of current and ex staff who remember Bev and have followed her career with interest.
Thanks to Helen, of course, who keeps us up to date.

Since September and the beginning of our research into Moorside memories, it has been very interesting to find out about the achievements of many of our ex students. We have listened or read with great pride about the accomplishments of many ex Moorsiders.
Therefore, keep reading the blog because I have more stories to tell.

Moorside & New Technologies

I think it is safe to say that in recent years Moorside has been at the forefront of new Technologies that support teaching and learning. We have been particularly innovative in the classroom with Apple products such as iPods and now iPads. In fact, only last night the teaching and learning group met to discuss the most popular apps to use in a lesson and how they could teach others to use these apps in their lessons. Well it was a lively meeting especially with Barry Marshall in the chair. This enthusiastic group chose 5 apps as a focus for our next teacher training day. I can’t wait because as well as learning something our training days are always fun. Now all they have to do is learn how to use them all! Speaking of Apple and iPads, it was with great sadness that I heard about the death of Steve Jobs. He is surely hailed as a visionary and technological genius. As you probably know we have Steve to thank for iPad technology. He co-founded Apple, built it into the world’s leading tech company and led a mobile – computing revolution with widely popular devices such as the iPhone, iPod and iPad tablet, all of which has changed how we consume content in the digital age. I think it is true to say that that for many people his technology has transformed their lives. It has certainly transformed many of our lessons.

Steve Jobs   February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011

Memories of Moorside.................................1959

I must say Lindsay Bell and Elaine Robinson are doing a splendid job delving into Moorside’s past. In the last two weeks we have met some interesting ex Moorsiders, previous staff and students.

I really wanted to know what Moorside was like in 1959. Lindsay and Elaine managed to find both a member of staff and a student who was here at the very start.

Let’s begin with Bill Stockdale who was a Head of Science when the school opened in 1959. Actually, he was here before the school opened because for the whole of the summer holiday, he along with Jack Ellison, the first head teacher and a fellow called Horace Brown supervised the workmen and unpacked all of the resources in order to get the school opened on time.

September 1959 arrived and all of the children arrived. Both children and staff were previously from Leadgate County, Leadgate Church of England, Consett Church,Consett County and Allendale School. Moorside was a huge change for them having been used to very small schools where they didn’t change classes for lessons and had the same teacher all of the time. They were now in a building with three floors, a lot of teachers and different subjects.

According to Bill it began as a very happy school and continued to be happy. Until two weeks ago Bill had not been back to Moorside since leaving in 1969. What does he think of it now? Well, he told us he thought it was a very delightful school, he knew of its success and he was impressed with what he saw.

Joy Raisbeck started at the same time as Bill, as a pupil. She told us that she enjoyed being at Moorside and particularly enjoyed and excelled at field sports. Joy told us about when she was in the fourth year (that is year 10 now)they sat tests and if you passed the girls were put into 4C – Commercial and the boys were 4E – Engineering. She studied subjects like shorthand, typing, secretarial English, and accounts. Joy must have really liked it at Moorside because when she was 15 (the school leaving age then) she applied for a secretarial post at the school and got the job.

Joy was now a member of staff. She remembers Mr Ellison (the Head teacher) asking her to ring his bell twice when a phone call came through that he was expecting. He was in another part of the school and did not want to miss it. Well the call came but instead of ringing his bell Joy rang the school bell. Everyone thought it was a fire drill and the whole school evacuated the building, standing outside in the yard. Joy has a lot of good memories of Moorside . To quote her “I enjoyed my time here”.

Well Moorside is still a happy school as well as being very successful. Like the children of 1959 our current students now face change. I am sure they will adapt and rise to the challenge as their predecessors did so long ago.

Moorside Performs Again. Best result ever!!!

You may think that this start to my first blog does not relate to the title but read on and you will find the link.

I remember that as a student at school (yes I know it was a long time ago) I always strived to work to the best of my ability. From the age of 17 this process went on throughout my initial working life in the civil service. Whilst there I completed my ‘A’ Levels part time before leaving to join my husband in Cyprus in the forces. In Cyprus I completed 2 years of an Open University course (I know I could have been enjoying the sun) whilst also looking after my first child, Emma Rodham in Maths!!

On leaving Cyprus I completed two further degrees whilst having two further children, Zara another teacher and Paul who is completing at medical degree. I have also completed further educational qualifications but by now you are probably thinking, what is this all about.

My point is that when Jeff Allan, Mike Stokoe, Daniel Jamieson and myself were in my office working out the results for the whole school. I think you can imagine that the atmosphere was tense to say the least. I cannot explain the sense of achievement and pride that we all felt on that day. The closest feeling must be winning the lottery because I felt as though I had. We were all looking forward to seeing our students come in the next day to receive their well deserved results.

I think all staff, governors and parents who were in the hall on results day would agree that it was exciting and emotional to see students open their results and realise they had achieved their first aims and ambitions making all the hard work worthwhile.

What is the formula for our success? Well it is quite simple, the commitment of all staff, governors and support from parents and I thank each and every one of you.

The link with my story shows that school is the initial and the most important part of your early life, but the learning does not end at 16. No matter where life takes you, you will always have opportunities to achieve your aims if you continue to work towards them.

Our result of 72% A*-C including English and Maths is the best that Moorside has achieved since the school opened in 1959. I wonder if the teachers of 1959 ever imagined that Moorside would one day be one of the highest achieving schools in County Durham.

This term we would like to celebrate the life of our school and one way of doing this is by looking at it’s history. If you have had a past association with the school and can help we would love to hear from you.

New Technologies

Handing over to Linda!

I’m delighted that the governors have decided to appoint Linda Rodham as my successor.
 
Not only that but, at my suggestion, she actually became headteacher on the day we returned from half term holiday, so I suppose that you could say that Moorside will have two headteachers until I leave for sunny Cullercoats. However, I must stress that Linda is on the front line for decision making which is only fair because much of our work at the moment is to do with planning for next year when I’ll be gone.
 
So why the rush?
 
Well, true to character, Linda puts the students first and keeps saying that she’s determined that standards won’t drop in our transition to academy status. Changing headteachers is a massive event in any school, let alone one which is due to become an academy in a few months time, so every effort must be made to preserve stability and to continue our improvement. That’s why we’re taking advantage of this interim period to ensure a smooth handover.
 
So I’m enjoying the luxury of being in a quasi-advisory role for a while. I even get to sit with Team IT for Linda’s staff briefings!

Going to France

This week week's blog comes to you courtesy of the I-PAD. It’s Saturday. I'm sitting on a coach at 7.45 pm not far short of Scotch Corner. I'm with Mesdames March, Carr and Archer and Mademoiselle Wood as well as 27 tired but happy key stage 3  students. We are returning to Consett after a six day educational visit to Montdidier in the Picardy region of France.

 After a long career in teaching, the past few days have been a brand new experience. I've never taken students abroad before and it was a real eye opener. Pat March is a well seasoned group leader and I learnt a great deal from her meticulous attention to detail.

 First of all, every care was taken to ensure that the whole group was safe at all times. This was especially  true when we were travelling and also when we visited Paris where repeated head counts were necessary in one of the most hectic cities on the planet. Also, Pat saw many and various opportunities to increase students’ knowledge of French culture and history. Even when we were on the coach she would take to the microphone to point out features of interest we were passing by.

 But the main learning objective of the visit was to improve spoken French. I’m certain that this was achieved because my own very rudimentary French was enhanced by Pat’s tuition.

 (Now at this point  I can't resist the opportunity to complain once again about my secondary education. I passed French O level ...somehow... but the first time I actually spoke French was when, as an ungainly 15 year old and after several years of French lessons, I was ushered into the deputy head’s office for my GCE oral test with an examiner from the exam board. This experience was made all the more farcical by my somehow managing to steer the conversation to  the aerodynamics if the Concord. I wish I had it on tape and I’m still amazed that I passed with such pitiful support from my French teachers who placed so little value on actually speaking the language.)

 Anyway, Pat's influence helped me lose my self consciousness about speaking a foreign tongue and I hope that the kids feel the same. They certainly managed the shopping trip to Montdidier market on Thursday when Pat had set them the challenge of buying their picnic lunch with bonus points for making healthy choices.

 So many thanks to Pat March and the other adults for making the trip so happy and gainful. Oh, and to the students too for their enthusiasm and excellent behaviour.

 In a way, the visit was part of my signing off from Moorside. I'll always treasure the memory of standing in such delightful company at the top of the Eiffel Tower, with the magnificent Parisian cityscape spread before us.

Phones

I want to start by apologising for the negative message  about mobile phones on our home page.

If you are a parent or carer, you might feel that we’re telling you off. That’s not intentional , so don’t be too sore about it. As I keep saying, if you knew what we had to deal with, you’d probably tell us to ban mobile phones altogether.

And I regret to say that that might well happen if we don’t see a big improvement in responsible use of phones by students and, to be honest, parents.

Sounds like a backward step doesn’t it?

And, anyway, the toothpaste is out of the tube and don’t bother slamming the stable door – the horse cantered off ages ago. As far as mobiles are concerned that is - because they’re well and truly here to stay.

Let’s face it, whether we like it or not, they’ve changed society: mobiles are  everywhere and it’s  become normal for just about all of us to start fiddling with our handsets in any idle moment. They even go off at funerals which must be bizarre if you’ve got The Birdy Song as your ring tone.

So it’s not just teenagers who use mobiles irresponsibly. We adults should set a better example and schools should start giving education on how to use phones appropriately. Kids must learn that it’s just plain wrong to text your dad every time a teacher tells you off.

Right – the rant ends here.

Let’s go back to the home page because you’ll have noticed that we’re advertising something which shows the good side of hand held technology. We’re going to host a training day for teachers from other schools and it’s all about how you can use I-pads etc. to boost learning. Some of our people have made great strides in how to use these devices in lessons so we’ll be able to show how our students can use I-pods and I-pads to learn in exciting new ways. You can even paint with your fingers on an I-pad screen – a brand new artistic medium which Moorside students absolutely love.

Wouldn’t  be great if we could have an understanding with everyone involved that smart phones could also be brought into the classroom and used constructively?

Anyway, I must go and pack my bag for France. I'll report back next week on what it's like to accompany 31 Moorsiders to another country.

The News is Out!

You’ll know from our home page that I’m moving on at the end of term.

One of the things I’ve learnt over the years is that change is inevitable and that nothing stays the same. I’ve had eight unforgettable years at Moorside, but I’ve decided that now is the time for me to do something new.

Like Moorside, Marden High is a great school with great staff, students and community support. However, it offers a completely different set of challenges from those I took on here in 2003. If I tell you that Marden already has very high academic standards and that it’s full and oversubscribed, you’ll know what I mean. My job is to make it even better.

So you’ll understand that I’m very excited by the prospect of what lies ahead of me.

You’ll also understand that I’m very sad to go.

Especially, if you’ve read these blogs over the years. If you look back on them, a common message has been my intense pride of what Moorside stands for and of the great things which we have achieved through brilliant team work.

Well, those achievements will not change. Everyone knows what we’ve accomplished and they’re historical facts. What Moorside must do now is take full advantage of the transition to academy status and , knowing the people involved, I’m sure this will occur.

Anyway, another action packed term lies ahead. Year 11 are working hard, I’m glad to say, so we’ve high hopes of GCSE results. On Monday, there’s a meeting about America Day, date still unknown. I’ve already been asked to dress up as Abraham Lincoln – I’ll have to think about that one, especially if it comes with an invitation to the theatre. I’m accompanying the educational visit to France, there’s another football training camp in Spain, we’ll be meeting the students starting year 7 in September...I could go on.

Oh, and look out for my video blog about how we use new technology.

History Matters

Yesterday a group of us devoted the afternoon to analysing our predictions for this summer’s GCSE results. You’re never safe until the results actually arrive in mid August, but, all being well, we might well have cause for celebration because we’ll be making history.
 
And even if we don’t quite make the very high targets we’ve set for ourselves (and I’m not going to tell you what they are, just in case we do undershoot) the confidence and hard work of students and teachers are still very impressive and worthy of a school which is on the crest of a wave.
 
Well, so what? You might ask.
 
Moorside’s outstanding – everyone agrees – just look at the successive years of massive improvement. And all this from a school where ten years ago they’d actually started the demolition process and the results were the lowest in the area.
 
All of that is true.
 
And not only that but parents have been clamouring d for places at Moorside for some years now which shows how well we’ve won over community confidence. So what’s my point?
 
Well, it’s this.
 
The Moorside name disappears at midnight on December 31st, 2011. From that moment we will be Consett Academy and Moorside will have closed for business. Well, it won’t be quite as brutal as that. Our new sponsors assure us that it will be business as usual, but you might still think that staff heads would go down.
 
And in some schools you’d be right.
 
But not this lot.
 
Staff enthusiasm for doing the very best for the students in undimmed, even though legal closure of the school is in sight.
 
And I know that because of the exam meeting I ‘ve just mentioned,  a quite amazing breakfast meeting of the Teaching and Learning group and the full attendance by Humanities staff and students at the exam revision classes after school.
 
And all on the last day of a long, hard term which, by the look of them, has left quite a few teachers utterly exhausted.
 
Anyway, I hope you get my point.
 
So the Moorside staff show that we can go on improving even though we’re near the end of our history.
 
And speaking of history, on Wednesday night at our year 10 parents evening I met a very nice guy called Eric Symonds. Eric taught technology at Moorside in the sixties and wanted to tell me that he’d taught Paul Brasington who passed away recently. Eric also gave me a historical nugget which, as a total rock music anorak, really took my interest. Apparently, Moorside use to hold an end of year dance and in 1969 they hired a young band from Newcastle. Anyway, who should turn up but a very young Mark Knopfler destined for international superstardom in Dire Straits in the 1980’s. Apparently, Knopfler and co blew the roof of with an incredible performance.
 
Well, I love the idea of one of the world’s best guitarists doing his stuff on the Moorside stage. And wouldn’t it be great if we could find some photos of what sounds like a great gig?
 
And on that theme, we are starting to talk about ways in which we can celebrate Moorside’s history between now and Christmas. The school opened in 1958 (I think) so thousands of children and hundreds of staff have walked the corridors over the years – that makes for a lot of stories.
 
So if you have any film, photos, mementoes and recollections of Moorside you’d like to share before the academy opens, just let me know.
 

Talent Spotting

 
The media have a lot to answer for.
 
I was out with non-teacher friends last night and they’d all seen the national news reports about the school in Lancashire where the staff have gone on strike because of bad behaviour. Then with undertaker frowns they moved on to Waterloo Road. I knew at this point that Jamie’s Dream School was going to be next on the list, felt the blood pressure rising, took a deep breath and managed to change the subject.
 
Apart from the legendary Kes back in the sixties, I’ve never seen a true representation of British school life on television or on film. I did watch Teachers on Channel 4 a few years ago, but that was for only 2 reasons:
 
1.   I liked to spot the surreal cameo appearance of a donkey in the school corridors in every episode
2.   I was a huge fan of Brian, the PE teacher.
 
So it was an entertaining programme but a million miles from what it’s really like. And as for the   print media, they  are only interested in bad news stories like the upheaval in Lancashire and not the great work that most teachers do, often heroically in very challenging areas.
 
Anyway, you’d think that with that kind of media exposure no one would want to be a teacher.
 
Well, I’m pleased to say that you’d be wrong.
 
You see it’s recruitment season at Moorside and this week I’ve been immersed in interviews for new staff for September. Many of the candidates were young and brand new to teaching and the quality was awesome. In fact, I wish that we’d had ten jobs because we could have filled them easily.  We were presented with  talented and diligent young professionals who will go a long way and who are determined to give something back to young people, despite the media distortions.
 
Everyone knows that it’s stressful being interviewed, but it’s pretty hard on the other side of the table too. I hate having to tell good people they haven’t got the job, for instance. But staff selection is  one of the most important things a head does. You have to be good at spotting talent and sizing up whether or not someone will fit with the rest of the team and the Moorside ethos.
 
Mind you, we collect plenty of evidence before we decide.
 
Apart from considering the written application and the references, we see candidates in different situations throughout the day. The most important event is the lesson observation, of course, because teaching and learning come first at Moorside. We also involve the Student Council who hold their own interviews and provide valuable insights from the pupil viewpoint.
 
And just to finish off and you’re a teacher looking for a job, here are some of my highly subjective dos and don’ts at interview.
 
·        Dress for business. Teaching is a profession, so dress immaculately and practically for your subject environment and keep dressing that way if you get the job. Jacket and tie for men, preferably suit and definitely tie. My female colleagues say there should be no visible undergarments with complete coverage of the chest region. If it’s PE, bring your sports gear to change into, but first sight of you should be in your best bib and tucker.
 
·        Do lots of homework on the school, so that you know the place already when you arrive. Make an informal visit beforehand if you can. One of the successful candidates this week somehow found out  how we use the learning passport and included it in her lesson and that was impressive.
 
·        Leave nothing to chance with your lesson observation. You probably won’t get the job unless your lesson is graded as at least OFSTED Good. If you want more information for planning your lesson, contact the school before the interview day and don't be afraid of asking for prior attainment data so that you can differentiate without guesswork.
 
·        Don’t chew (I’m serious), constantly text in the staff room (it’s annoying) or (you won’t believe this) repeatedly swig from a bottle of water when you’re in the actual interview.
 
·        And don’t complain that the questions are hard during the interview and don’t keep saying that you’re nervous. We know that you’re nervous and would be worried if you weren’t. We’re nervous too because we might give the job to the wrong person. So  deal with it by concentrating with a single mind on giving the best impression of you.
 
Anyway, we’ve appointed some great young teachers who will start before the end of the summer term and I can’t wait to work with them. They will strengthen the excellent Moorside staff even further and help us look to the future with great optimism.
 
And there are two more interviews next week.
 

America Day

A lot of people have been asking, “Are we having another Glastonbury Day?”
 
If you’re new to Moorside, you might not know about Glastonbury Day.
 
It was the most successful non-uniform fund raising event we’ve ever had. It happened last year on the first day of the real festival when we held our own version on campus with live bands playing on the field, a village of shops selling festival memorabilia which students had made in DT and lots of lessons on the environment and music tuition. It was a very happy and, believe it or not, highly educational day, brilliantly organised by the staff and student Council. Not only that, but we raised £1200 for Wateraid, one of Glastonbury's adopted charities.
 
In fact, it went so well that we’ve decided not to do it again. We just don’t think we can surpass it and we don’t want to spoil the memory by having a second go.
 
Sounds decisive doesn’t it?
 
But it’s left the Student Council and me scratching our heads to think about another idea. The thing about Glastonbury Day was that it proved to be a great vehicle for involving everyone, whatever their interests. So it’s been a challenge coming up with a substitute.
 
Some good ideas have been offered.
 
How about a royal wedding day? We couldn’t think of anyone to stand in for the royal couple and, if we did, what if we really married them by accident? Could be complicated.
 
Harry Potter? The flying could be a challenge and some kill joys might object to Moorside students practising white magic.
 
The Olympics? Great idea, but best saved until 2012, provided that having fun is on the academy agenda.
 
Then I was talking to some students about Glee which I’ve never seen. Somebody said, “Let’s have a Glee Day.” And then we came up with America Day because we  saw that every subject could contribute and that we could tap into teenage interest in all things American.
 
So ideas, please. Thomas Dunn has already suggested that we walk on the right in the corridors for the day so that’s a start.
 
Oh, and we’re going to stage it as near to the fourth of July as we can. That’s a Monday so we might have to sweet talk Christine Connolly into changing her carefully planned calendar.

Getting to Know Straight Away

Paul Brasington

A group of us attended Paul’s funeral last Monday. It was an extremely moving event and I’ll never forget the eulogy given by Paul’s best climbing friend. It encapsulated Paul’s great love of life and made us all keenly aware of the great loss caused by his early passing.

Getting to Know Straight Away

All teenagers have a double life.

It’s typical teenage behaviour to try to jeep your life in boxes filed family, friends and school. To have maximum lifestyle control, the trick is to make sure that those three know as little as possible about each other.

So when you come home from school and someone asks what you did today, the answer has got to be along the lines of: “Nothing”...or...”Usual stuff”...or...”It was boring”. And then you launch a decoy operation by descending on the contents of the fridge like a plague of locusts.

And it’s that kind of behaviour (and it’s completely normal, by the way) which explains why the annual reports to parents and carers often provoke surprise – pleasant and unpleasant. So you hear comments like: “I didn’t know she was so good at Maths.” “How long have you been a peer mentor?” or, depressingly, to me or the staff, “Why didn’t you tell me about this before?”

Anyway, we’re going to shake things up a bit and try to put an end to conversations like that.

You might already know that parents can access daily information about their kids on line via our virtual leaning environment. It’s called the parental portal. This means that you can find out all sorts of data about your little darling without having to ask them to give you their highly selective version of events. The parents who use it now absolutely love it, but we need to relaunch it so that even more can benefit.

Not only that, but we’re also going to shorten the annual report process (it takes a staggering 8 weeks to complete at present) and make it available via the internet. Parents will still receive the at a glance information we’ve always given about individual subjects as well as a comprehensive prose appraisal from the form tutor. We think we can have that to parents in a fortnight. So watch this space. Jeff Allan is leading the initiative and is planning to trial it first with year 10 next term.

Comic Relief Red Nose Day

Another happy day to add to the annals of Moorside thanks to the Student Council and many members of staff who all joined in with the utterly daft spirit of the event. By the end of the afternoon the cash total raised stood at £888 and this will no doubt increase in the final reckoning. It was a mad hair day too, so here are some photos:

Praise over criticism

If you know Moorside, you’ve probably come across this catch phrase of ours. It lies at the heart of how we try to motivate students and is a basic principle in our behaviour policy or DFL as we call it.
 
Praise over criticism sounds great, doesn’t it?
 
But it’s very hard to put into practice.
 
And to be honest, and please keep this to yourself, the student council say that we’re not very good at it. They say that they like lessons where the teacher sets a positive tone by using encouraging language and voicing praise for jobs well done. They think that good teachers give them a warm welcome and use our merit system in every lesson and that a consequence is a much better climate for learning.
 
As much as I don’t like to admit it, they must have a point, so I’m thinking of asking the Teaching and Learning Focus Group to prioritise praise over criticism for the rest of the school year to ensure that far more of Moorside lessons are as positive as the pupils want.
 
Bu just in case you think that I’m running the Consett equivalent of Dotheboys Hall, I want to say a few words in staff defence.
 
There’s definitely a link between achievement and motivation and that’s why we have a well developed system of merit points and awards which students can collect throughout the year. It’s a good system of praise and we even differentiate it for year 11. They have to work very hard so we put them on a special tariff which means that they automatically amass merits for meeting their learning targets, attending revision classes and good behaviour and attendance. Sixteen year olds tend to be a bit wacky, so we try to organise reward events for them which appeal to the teenage sense of irony.
 
Let’s take last night as an example.
 
Year 11 are doing well at the moment so we took over half of the year group out for a treat in Newcastle. At 3.05 pm they walked out of school to find an old fashioned, London Routemaster double decker bus waiting for them (and thanks to Elaine Robinson for tracking it down) and this conveyed them (slowly) to the Quayside with a restive queue of traffic behind it all the way to Gateshead. And yes we did have a sing song on the top deck with Hannah Collingwood as choir mistress who led raucous renditions of The Wheels on The Bus, Summer Holiday and, bizarrely, YMCA. We were dropped off at the Millennium Bridge for a photo opportunity and then walked in the rain to Uno’s Trattoria for pizza or pasta and soft drinks. The other customers looked devastated when all 63 of us marched in on their “the weekend starts here” glass of wine but they needn’t have worried. The students’ behaviour was excellent and they made me feel proud. Then back on the bus to Consett.
 
And they all thanked the six staff who gave up their Friday evening to accompany them.
 
So praise over criticism works both ways.
 

So Now We Know Part 2

So Now We Know Part 2
 
This week I could tell you about “Raising Achievement”, our excellent staff training day courtesy of the Teaching and Learning Group and The Student Council (brilliantly).
 
I could fill a paragraph or two about the year 11 case conference and how well some of them are doing and how committed the staff are to gaining historic GCSE results this year.
 
Or what about some quite barmy plans for Comic Relief Day or the London double decker bus which is going to whisk off some reward winners for a celebration meal in Newcastle?
 
All great things, but, as you’ll see on our home page, we’ve had some dramatic news.
 
We’ve been working on plans for  Consett Academy for several years now, so it does seem very last minute to bring in a new sponsor from outside. Obviously, we knew that might happen when the University of Durham withdrew its lead sponsorship, but I for one never predicted that the whole of the Durham Excellence in Education Partnership (aka DEEP ) would be kicked into touch.
 
This means that we’re in a completely new situation and will have to adjust to working with a new set of partners.
 
 And it might be really good.
 
Like Moorside, New College has transformed itself to outstanding status and we’ve certainly noticed that increasing numbers of our students are choosing it for A levels and other courses. Everyone involved seems to agree that the academy should bring back top quality sixth form provision to a Consett location and New College should be able to make that a reality.
 
Whatever happens, I can assure you that my staff and I will endeavour to make the project work and to collaborate fully with CCSC, New College and the county council. We’ll certainly do our level best to protect the children’s interests during the rapid changes which are surely on their way.
 
But one last thing.
 
You might know that we at Moorside proposed a local solution to the issue of lead sponsorship. We suggested that an association be formed entitled the Consett Parents Educational Collaborative. CPEC would have been an alliance of interested parties in Consett and would have  played a decisive role in leading the amalgamation of both secondary schools and determining the ethos and curriculum of the new academy.
 
Just in case you were wondering, we always knew that it was a long shot. For one thing, time was against us and it was obvious that the government would prefer a quick and tried and tested solution. After all, New College is already sponsoring the academy in Stanley.
 
Anyway, even though I’m disappointed that the idea won’t come to fruition, I don’t feel that our time and efforts have been wasted. I was amazed at the speed and enthusiasm of the widespread support our idea attracted. I learnt that there is huge local confidence in Consett educators (not just teachers, but governors and school based staff too) and that the community would have entrusted us to deliver the 21st century school it wants.
 
So if you played your part, many thanks to you.
 
The idea is not dead; it’s only sleeping. Perhaps we’ll be able to wake it up one day.
 

The Helicopter Boys

If you’re a regular follower of the twists and turns and ups and downs of the Moorside saga, I’ll bet you’re expecting me to rant about the dramatic academy news we’ve had this week.
 
Well, you’re wrong.
 
We need to let the dust settle after Durham University’s long rumoured withdrawal as lead sponsor. I just hope that the remaining sponsors will  look to the expertise in the two Consett schools to come up with a powerful local solution. This would win back the local community’s confidence in the academy project and then we could...
 
Now that’s enough.  I’ve already said too much.
 
Let’s talk about the Helicopter Boys.
 
You might recall that I came back to school after Christmas with a bit of a problem. One of my kids had given me a radio controlled helicopter and I crashed it in the dining room while the rest of the clan were engrossed in the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special. I decided that I needed flying lessons and had a hunch that some of the year 7 lads would be able to help.
 
Well, I was right and since then every Friday we’ve been meeting in the gym at lunchtime to fly or try to fly these amazing toys. And I’m still waiting to have a turn.
 
Anyway, one thing led to another. Someone suggested that we start a helicopter club so we asked Lindsey Bell, Extended Services Co-ordinator, if she had any funding left for lunchtime activities. Thankfully she said yes so we’re now on the point of buying some club helicopters and opening the membership much wider. The boys are also determined to see if we could mount a video camera on a helicopter so that we can take some aerial shots of Moorside - a brilliant idea.
 
You might thank that flying model helicopters isn’t very educational. If you heard the lads discussing how to repair broken propeller blades or weighing up the video camera possibility  or mulling over catalogues, choosing suitable machines to buy for the club, I’m sure you’d see the value. And, anyway, it’s fun, and harmless fun at that, and you should be able to have fun at school.
 
If you went to a school that was fun free zone like I did, you’d know what I mean. Actually, that’s a bit harsh on the boring old grammar school in which I was incarcerated. There were one or two teachers who brought their interests into school and gave us opportunities which  otherwise  we wouldn’t have had. Believe it or not, my school excelled at orienteering and provide a stream of athletes who competed internationally. At that time (i.e. the seventies) orienteering was a little known sport, but we loved it and if it hadn’t been for one teacher enthusiast it would never have come our way. Likewise with ham radio. There was an absolutely terrifying science teacher who was radio buff. He was a great guy when you got to know him and his enthusiasm for speaking to people all over the world, including King Hussein of Jordan, was very infectious.
 
This makes me realise that essential components in creating a school’s character (and like people all schools have unique identities) are the interests of the teachers. Let’s face it there would be no clubs, teams, trips, productions or concerts if teachers weren’t prepared to share their interests, passions and hobbies.
 
And a school would be a poor place without them.
 
PS: don’t you think that The Helicopter Boys would be a good name for a band?
 

So now we know!

Just imagine the scene.
 
It’s Friday evening after a happy day at Moorside: younger daughter  safely collected from the Kings Cross train for her birthday weekend;  logs are crackling in the wood burner; I’ve just poured a glass of something nice; and I’m savouring the prospect of a titanic England Wales rugby match at 8 o/clock.
 
Then a  momentous text message arrived.
 
It was  from one of the staff to say that they’d  just read this morning’s edition of The Journal which reported that Durham County Council has announced the go ahead of Consett Academy.
 
This is what The Journal said:
 
‘Durham County Council ended some of the uncertainty over its plans for an academy in Consett yesterday by saying they would be building a new academy and have begun advertising for a head. But a council spokeswoman said yesterday no announcement would be made for a further two weeks, adding: “An academy will be built. It was only in doubt if no funding had been forthcoming.” ‘
 
Well, that settles it then.
 
That’s a clear, unambiguous statement which removes the doubts we were led to have about whether or not Moorside would become an academy. And I must say, markedly different from previous communications which left all options open, including, I assume, lifting the closure notices on both Consett secondary schools.
 
Anyway, such dramatic news jolted me into work mode. I immediately found the article on the web and forwarded it to  all staff and governors.  Having been through reorganisations before I know that firm  information about what is going to happen is like gold dust. So I took the liberty of contacting everyone before they heard the news from another source.
 
I hope that I didn’t interrupt too many Indian take aways.
 
And I must take this chance to assure everyone that Moorside will co-operate fully with the sponsors and our partners at CCSC in planning for the opening of the academy in our present buildings on September 1st, 2011. There’s a daunting list of jobs to be done, but I think that the sponsors know that there’s a vast pool of talent and commitment in both schools. So we have the people to make this thing work.
 
Well, that was a bit serious, wasn’t it?
 
Next week I’ll tell you about The Helicopter Boys.

Show and Share

If I want to cheer myself up I go and watch some good teaching.
 
It’s a one of the perks of the job and I have the whole curriculum to choose from.
 
Not that teaching is easy. I still say that the hardest job anybody does in   school is teaching a good lesson. And if you’re not a teacher just imagine what it’s like to plan, prepare and deliver 22 one hour lessons a week. And here’s another thing, the next time you feel annoyed by a gang of teenagers on the bus, Metro or in the shopping centre, just spare a thought for the people who have to teach them iambic pentameter and quadratic equations.
 
And in teaching you can’t spread out the  hard work like you can in some jobs.
 
I know this because  for a few years I wasn’t a teacher. I was a local authority inspector . Now, before you get offended, I am not slagging off the great work done in other occupations. For reasons that I’ve forgotten, I chose to become an adviser for a local education authority and   I just couldn’t deal with the transition from  classroom to  office. So the fault was all mine. Even though working for the town hall  was a fascinatingly varied job, the teacher guilt was awful. I’d find myself sitting at my desk on a Monday afternoon, waiting for the rattle of the tea trolley, thinking (and I know that this is irrational), I should be teaching poetry to 9Z right now – that’s real work not like this pen pushing.
 
Anyway, it got the better of me in the end and I went back into a school  (I even took a drop in salary and, yes, my wife is a saint) because I missed the buzz of of learning.
 
And that special sense of community and teamwork you can get in a really good school.
 
Anyway, I’m leading up to telling you about Show and Share Week which has just ended. One of my ambitions has always been to work in  a school where it’s cool for the staff to talk about teaching and there’s a spirit of sharing good ideas, rather than a lot of cynical hot air like you get in some staff rooms.
 
I know I’m biased but I like to say that we’ve got that at Moorside.
 
One reason why I think that is because Rachel Harding suggested we have a Show and Share Week. She said that Moorside people do come to watch lessons but it’s always to judge them. Why can’t we have a system where you can visit a lesson to learn from someone else’s good practice?
 
Well, I thought that this was inspirational.
 
So we ear marked last week on the calendar as Show and Share Week and then brought out a prospectus of outstanding practice. We did this by asking subjects leaders to identify major strengths in their departments as well as  teachers and lessons where these would be on show. We then published the prospectus to staff who   chose lessons they’d like to visit.
 
(By the way,  I don’t know of any other school that does this and I’d love to hear from you if you do.)
 
And it did get  a bit competitive. I offered an Enrichment Drama lesson and only one punter signed up. Yet superstars like Mike Davis and Barry Marshall sold out immediately with tickets fetching a fortune on E-Bay. What have they got that I haven’t got?
 
Anyway, if you observed a lesson you had to fill in a form saying what you learnt and asking for advice from the observed teacher  – all on a neat user  friendly proforma  designed by our resident genius, Gem Horth.
 
We haven’t evaluated it properly yet, but very nearly all subjects offered access to lessons and 27 staff gave up their non-contact time to observe. So far the feedback has been good, but we’ll find out for certain in a meeting after school on Wednesday.
 
And whatever happens, I think we can say that Mary Hannon was right when she said that the concept of Show and Share Week showed the rich professional culture we have at Moorside.
 

In Praise of the Student Council

Timing is everything.

Take fish and chips.

Fish and chips can be the best meal in the world (and I know that Team IT agree with me because they practically live on the stuff) but the timing has got to be right.

First of all you have to be really hungry and secondly you should have just done something which justifies feasting on something so calorific. My preference would be after a long, cold and wet walk on a Northumberland beach in thick mist, ideally involving some serious sand dune jumping justified by the presence of small children. So you take your self to the brink of exhaustion and hypothermia and then head for a hot ,steamy cafe in Seahouses for haddock, chips and luminous green mushy peas with a jug of tea and thinly sliced white bread and butter served up a by a grumpy woman in a nylon tabard.

Nothing could be finer.

Anyway, just in case you've forgotten, I'm talking about timing and I must say that my timing was impeccable of Friday afternoon.

I'd realised that it had been a while since I'd had some quality time with our student council. Because of the opening of the academy in September, we have two momentous terms ahead of us so I need to be closely in touch with how the students feel. It's also vital that they feel part of the process and that they have a say in the inevitable changes. They’re the reasons why I decided to have an all afternoon meeting with them in The Phoenix Centre.

By the way, you might be surprised to learn that the student council is sometimes on the receiving end of adult criticism. The main complaint is that the group is unrepresentative of the full range of ages and abilities at Moorside. Well, there 's truth in this but it's not the fault of the student councillors. We should thank them for giving up their time every week for meetings and for the contributions they make to self evaluation, recruiting staff and fund raising. If there are any shortcomings, I suppose that they might lie with how we organise the student council. I guess that we could do more to ensure that more students put themselves forward, but for the time being we have to work with those who do volunteer, even though they tend to be female and in the top sets.

And if you'd been with me on Friday afternoon, I guarantee that you would have been impressed by them. Here was a group of young people passionately devoted to their school, united by a desire to improve it, especially it's climate for learning. In fact they were so passionate that Lindsey Bell and I couldn’t shut them up! We only covered half of the agenda, but still made great progress.

I particularly wanted their views on why girls tend to do better in exams. Thanks to them, by the end of the afternoon, I understood much more about what needs to happen in lessons to even up the gender gap. The main outcome was that the student council has agreed to run a workshop on this issue at our next staff training day on February 28. So the students will be teaching the staff which sounds good to me.

So, from my point of view, the timing oft this meeting was perfect because it re-focused me on the core business putting teaching and learning first. And I left work for the weekend reminded of what magnificent students we have at Moorside.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

We Did it Fair and Square

Wednesday was a big day.

Not only did we receive early entry results for English and Maths (brilliant, by the way) , but the government also published the performance league tables for secondary schools for 2010.

Now if you're a regular reader of these ramblings, you'll be thinking, here we go - this week’s edition is going to be another Morris bragfest about the Moorside GCSE scores last year.

Well,OK.

Point taken.

I promise to try to tone it down because I know that some of you get annoyed.

But can I just give you a couple of headlines?

Here we go.

First of all, 5+ A*- C GCSE grades (including English and Maths) - previously the gold standard for schools in this country. Our proportion of 62% ( we think it's 63, but that's for another blog) places us 11th out of 36 County Durham schools. Nearly all of the schools above us serve much more prosperous areas like Durham City, so that's a very good result and is our best ever.

Now the controversial bit - the English Baccalaureate. This is the new gold standard and has been imposed retrospectively by the coalition government. So schools are now judged according the percentage of leavers who gain A*- C in GCSE English, Maths, Science, History or Geography and a language. Believe it or not, the government has ranked schools according to this measure according to 2010 results, even though the EB was only introduced a few weeks ago. So we were preparing kids for a measure we didn't know existed!
Well, as it happens, we've done pretty well. Not surprisingly, the national average for the EB is only 16%. Our figure is 18% which a places us 7th out of 36 Durham schools. This time ALL of the schools above us serve much wealthier catchments. So, once again, we've done well. This wasn’t accidental, although I admit that during the process of designing our curriculum and deciding what subjects to offer we did not see the EB coming. Our EB figure is good because we have not sacrificed academic rigour in the race to gain high exam scores. The EB has been brought in because many secondary schools have sought to raise standards by using GCSE equivalents like BTEC. Frankly, these courses are easier and less reliant on formal exams and they can be used to give your league table placing a massive boost.

They are also much more interesting for certain youngsters. They’re often more relevant because they teach skills which can be applied in the work place and also can give a sense of achievement which can' t be gained for these students from traditional academic subjects like those in the EB.

And we do use them for certain classes, but we do so strategically so that we can ensure that all individuals are on the curriculum and career pathway which suits them. It's called differentiation which has been a watchword in effective schooling for many years now.

So we've done well in the EB because we think that students on course for university should experience the intellectual challenge of studying a modern language. This means that if you're in the top set, you have to take French. Sounds a bit heavy handed but they gain very high grades. We're also fortunate in having a strong Humanities faculty in which History and Geography are popular option subjects with some bright students choosing both. And I think you know how good our English, Maths and Science are.

In other words, Moorside 's results are not massaged upwards by choosing easy courses across the board. We've done it fairly and with the best interests of all of the students in mind so that they are prepared for their next career stage, whatever that might be. We could have taught courses which would have brought us over 90% 5 A*-C (although without English and Maths) but that wasn't right for us.

Now just in case you think I'm being smug, can I venture an opinion?

I'm completely opposed to the EB.

Given the rich wealth of the curriculum to choose from I don't agree that History, Geography and a language are essential or even appropriate for most young people. Design Technology, Art, Music, PE, RE, Drama, Sociology, Psychology... Where do I stop? ...are all equally important. All of them can be fascinating for students of all abilities and all can be intellectually challenging. Yes, even PE before you say anything at the back.

So what would I do?

First of all choose one measure and stick to it, giving schools advance warning. Then assess schools according to students' scores in their best 8 subjects with added weighting for English, Maths, Science and ICT all of which should be compulsory for obvious reasons in the 21st century. That 's a no less rigorous solution, but would allow schools to offer inclusive curriculum offers, tailored to the needs of their own students.

Sounds a bit like what we do already at Moorside to me.

See you next week.

New Year...New Era?

First of all, a happy new year to all of my readers.


As you might know, I’m very good at holidays and I must say that I’ve had a happy (even fun packed) Christmas break and some lovely presents. Books and music in abundance, of course, and a radio controlled helicopter which I crash landed in the dining room. I’m hoping that some of the bright sparks in year 7 will show me how to fly it one lunchtime this week.


Anyway, I like to squeeze every ounce out of my time off, so I’ve just treated myself to an icy solo traverse of the Simonside ridge before resuming normal service tomorrow.

And, as always, I’m dying to get back.

Linda Rodham has produced some fascinating data on year 11 which shows that we might score some very good results again this summer so that will be our main focus. Also, I was bombarded with new ideas by the staff last term, so watch this space for news about what we’re going to do with thinking skills, reading for pleasure, boys dance, I-Pads and, believe it or not, jewellery making.

But the big issue in 2011 will be whether or not we become an academy and the massive changes that might follow.


You’ll know from our home page that an offer of over 20 million pounds has been made by the government for the new building. There’s some doubt that this will be enough for the iconic accommodation for 1700 pupils which the sponsors envisage, but we should know if the offer is accepted by the end of this month.


I just want to restate my commitment that, whatever happens, my staff and I will do our best to make sure that the students come first and that Moorside’s standards continue to rise.


So 2011 might see the start of a new era, with many of us doing different jobs and working in a different way.


But the Moorside spirit will go on.