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.