Cheaper than Counselling and goodness what happened Yesterday 22.3.13
Where have you all been? Actually I think that the Lilliputians got under my skin yesterday and the gremlins attacked. Apparently the blog was published yesterday with just the title of Cheaper than... It must have looked a little strange. I had meant to complete the blog yesterday but events including the phrase ' I'm a Head Teacher so there!' got in the way, meaning that I couldn't do this blog. However, I didn't mean to publish it at all. I think when my offspring are presented to me this evening I will have to interrogate them to see which one of them did it. That therefore is the, 'Goodness what happened yesterday!' Big apologies to those that logged on yesterday, like Old Mother Hubbard, the cupboard was bare!!!
Less rambling, more news. It is coming to the end of Friday and what a day it has been, a non stop whirlwind of events and busy, busy, busy with the job that I love to do. Having woke up to a fresh snowfall, I'm not sure who gave it permission to snow, I certainly didn't, it was onwards clearing snow again, in March!!! This time last year we were having our Summer. Mrs. Harris has stirred her tea leaves and she has assured me that we are going to have a brilliant Summer because it is so bad at the moment. Wishful thinking or is it worries about the Summer Fayre? We can only hope.
A quick fact. Yesterday I was a grump in the afternoon,(those who say what's new, tut, tut) why? Well lack of contact with the children, doing the mundane HT stuff, things getting in the way of progress and generally Thursdayitus. Today is a fresh day and one full of hope.
A great start to the day watching another class assembly. It was the turn of Class 4D and the result was brilliant. The hall was packed to the rafters with children and guests and I am sure like me they were very proud of their children. It was so entertaining, educating and created with such a class spirit it made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. I am sure we are going to be able to see some of it available on their class blog. Today was the last assembly from Year 4 and they have all been brilliant and all linked to their topic of Pharaohs. The standard of assemblies this year has been fantastic, each and everyone of them.
Onwards to the M7, was it going to be frustrating? Or was it going to be productive? Today was a good day. I had a little moan at them yesterday and they admitted themselves that their attitude wasn't 100% and that we needed to change. So today, ultra positive we attempted Level 4 word problems, similar questions to those that they will face in their upcoming SATs. Why Mr. R? Am I a glutton for punishment? No, remember doubting Thomas from a couple of days ago? What could go wrong? Everything! Ye of little faith. They were brilliant, in fact, inspired. Reading abilities aside (it shouldn't prevent mathematical ability) they understood what they were supposed to do and they got on, with a huge amount of success. I know I am surprised but hey that's teaching for you, everyday is surprising, every day new and yes everyday worthwhile! Hurrah for the Magnificent 7!!!!!!!
Next, visitors from Class 10M all proud of their work and all ready to fleece me of my shiny stickers, and here's me thinking they wanted me, not just my stickers. The progress that they have made with their writing is amazing. Thankyou 10M for sharing your Dear Zoo books with me, a pleasure to read, brownie points everybody.
Newsletter time. You can see a copy of the weekly newsletter below. The most important pieces of news are the change in pizza day next week, plus the successes in sporting events. We really do have a talented group of children in this school that don't even seem to need to try, they have natural ability. I wish!
The afternoon has been spent digitalising everything as well as visiting Class 3E to see their reports that they have produced from their Natural Disasters topic. The children were very proud of what they have achieved and I suppose the best thing was the intensity of the information that they were trying to tell me, it was non stop, it showed a great eagerness and the way they have enjoyed their learning. Round of applause to you all.
Just looking back at yesterday, it was great to see the Year 5 out in the garden planting raspberries etc and really looking after our allotments. They looked as though they had great fun as well as producing great reports about growing things such as tomatoes. The new curriculum that we have introduced really has had an impact on cross curricular writing and we see the children writing for enjoyment as well as seeing the purpose to writing. It makes you think that we have done the right thing!
Cheaper than counselling.....this was a discussion that Mrs. Pitt and I had this yesterday, random yes, but we were discussing blogging in general and how the children's class blogs had really taken off and we were discussing how writing has to have a purpose and I think I have found mine. Is this the reason why I blog???? Be quiet Mrs. P, not a word!!!!
That is it for this week, incredibly busy week next week. The first two days are spent with Mrs P. an interpreter and each member of staff, this will involve us looking at the progress each child is making in school. It is a really useful process because we ensure that we discuss every pupil and praise successes and highlight where we as a school can support even more. So for two days the blog will be exceedingly trivial and dull. I might just have to make things up to liven it up. We also have football matches galore, Easter services.....the list goes on and on.
Quick news, little un didn't get another HT award but his sister did, so she is now cock of the walk in our house, with smug grins returned and a little fist pumping!!! So I look forward to a weekend of One direction, Just Dance (Im fabulous at 'What make you beautiful,' who'd have thought someone so tall could throw such shapes in his own living room) sleeping and then working again ready for Monday. Take some time to talk, smile and then repeat!
Have fun everyone, Let's do it again on Monday, shall we?
Less rambling, more news. It is coming to the end of Friday and what a day it has been, a non stop whirlwind of events and busy, busy, busy with the job that I love to do. Having woke up to a fresh snowfall, I'm not sure who gave it permission to snow, I certainly didn't, it was onwards clearing snow again, in March!!! This time last year we were having our Summer. Mrs. Harris has stirred her tea leaves and she has assured me that we are going to have a brilliant Summer because it is so bad at the moment. Wishful thinking or is it worries about the Summer Fayre? We can only hope.
A quick fact. Yesterday I was a grump in the afternoon,(those who say what's new, tut, tut) why? Well lack of contact with the children, doing the mundane HT stuff, things getting in the way of progress and generally Thursdayitus. Today is a fresh day and one full of hope.
A great start to the day watching another class assembly. It was the turn of Class 4D and the result was brilliant. The hall was packed to the rafters with children and guests and I am sure like me they were very proud of their children. It was so entertaining, educating and created with such a class spirit it made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. I am sure we are going to be able to see some of it available on their class blog. Today was the last assembly from Year 4 and they have all been brilliant and all linked to their topic of Pharaohs. The standard of assemblies this year has been fantastic, each and everyone of them.
Onwards to the M7, was it going to be frustrating? Or was it going to be productive? Today was a good day. I had a little moan at them yesterday and they admitted themselves that their attitude wasn't 100% and that we needed to change. So today, ultra positive we attempted Level 4 word problems, similar questions to those that they will face in their upcoming SATs. Why Mr. R? Am I a glutton for punishment? No, remember doubting Thomas from a couple of days ago? What could go wrong? Everything! Ye of little faith. They were brilliant, in fact, inspired. Reading abilities aside (it shouldn't prevent mathematical ability) they understood what they were supposed to do and they got on, with a huge amount of success. I know I am surprised but hey that's teaching for you, everyday is surprising, every day new and yes everyday worthwhile! Hurrah for the Magnificent 7!!!!!!!
Next, visitors from Class 10M all proud of their work and all ready to fleece me of my shiny stickers, and here's me thinking they wanted me, not just my stickers. The progress that they have made with their writing is amazing. Thankyou 10M for sharing your Dear Zoo books with me, a pleasure to read, brownie points everybody.
Newsletter time. You can see a copy of the weekly newsletter below. The most important pieces of news are the change in pizza day next week, plus the successes in sporting events. We really do have a talented group of children in this school that don't even seem to need to try, they have natural ability. I wish!
The afternoon has been spent digitalising everything as well as visiting Class 3E to see their reports that they have produced from their Natural Disasters topic. The children were very proud of what they have achieved and I suppose the best thing was the intensity of the information that they were trying to tell me, it was non stop, it showed a great eagerness and the way they have enjoyed their learning. Round of applause to you all.
Just looking back at yesterday, it was great to see the Year 5 out in the garden planting raspberries etc and really looking after our allotments. They looked as though they had great fun as well as producing great reports about growing things such as tomatoes. The new curriculum that we have introduced really has had an impact on cross curricular writing and we see the children writing for enjoyment as well as seeing the purpose to writing. It makes you think that we have done the right thing!
Cheaper than counselling.....this was a discussion that Mrs. Pitt and I had this yesterday, random yes, but we were discussing blogging in general and how the children's class blogs had really taken off and we were discussing how writing has to have a purpose and I think I have found mine. Is this the reason why I blog???? Be quiet Mrs. P, not a word!!!!
That is it for this week, incredibly busy week next week. The first two days are spent with Mrs P. an interpreter and each member of staff, this will involve us looking at the progress each child is making in school. It is a really useful process because we ensure that we discuss every pupil and praise successes and highlight where we as a school can support even more. So for two days the blog will be exceedingly trivial and dull. I might just have to make things up to liven it up. We also have football matches galore, Easter services.....the list goes on and on.
Quick news, little un didn't get another HT award but his sister did, so she is now cock of the walk in our house, with smug grins returned and a little fist pumping!!! So I look forward to a weekend of One direction, Just Dance (Im fabulous at 'What make you beautiful,' who'd have thought someone so tall could throw such shapes in his own living room) sleeping and then working again ready for Monday. Take some time to talk, smile and then repeat!
Have fun everyone, Let's do it again on Monday, shall we?
The invasion of the lilliputians 20.3.13
Incredibly busy day today which seemed endless, but from my point of view it was the essentials that needed completing. We were working at full speed and utilising every adult in school that we could. I'll explain more.
The picture and the title of the blog tonight is directly linked to an events that occurred today. The Lilliputians were the race that captured Gulliver and it is also a term that relates to small people. When you're breathing at my altitude then everyone is a Lilliputian. I only thought of the word because when I was driving to school this morning, I saw someone sat really close to the steering wheel, so close that you couldn't get a hand between them and the steering wheel and I pondered how small they must be. Bizarre thoughts eh? Welcome to my world. It did repeat again later on in the day but I will explain more in a bit.
So why so busy today? We were really busy with different things happening and maybe stretching ourselves thinly to cover everything, but certain events you cannot miss for the children.
The M7 continued their handwork today and especially Jack. Jack has been away for a couple of days and today he showed how great he is especially at being able to catch up. It was great to see how the rest of the group were so supportive of him and helped him through, what is more remarkable is that he performed better than most of the children. Retention plays a huge part in Numeracy and this is where my little lot fall down. It isn't only myself that has an additional group in School. Obviously the three class teachers of the year 6 all have a group plus Mrs. Pitt and Mrs. Green. We know that children learn better in smaller groups and that is why we have put this time commitment in place. So in the morning we have three members of staff as an addition to the teaching staff of Year 6. We really are giving these children every chance of succeeding. The word Lilliputians also occurred during this lesson because of the amount of space the children left each other to get into their chairs. You really would have to be minute to get in.
The rest of the morning was spent on finally registering the children for their Year 6 SATs test, it is a difficult decision whether to disapply for the sake of the child or whether to stretch to place them into a Level 6 test. In the end, decisions made and I hope Mr. Gove, who seems to have come under a lot of fire today, is happy with what he is putting the children through. (I promise not to go there again)
So here comes the part where we stretch the staff. We have a really enthusiastic group of children that participate in Tag Rugby after school on a Wednesday. They are coached by the Birmingham Exiles, they really enjoy their time with Andy and the rest of the coaches. Today was a warm up tournament for the Tag to Twickers competition, so 14 children set of with Miss O'Connor and Mrs. Green to firstly go and have fun but secondly with the endorsement from myself, 'Don't come back if you lose.' Now I' m not competitive in anyway, shape or form, and as long as they have fun that is all I am interested in. However, there a some schools that we enjoy playing against and most definitely winning against. Now Mrs. Green, is our Inclusion Manager and Miss O'Connor, is our Office Manager. They will now be known as Coach. Mrs. Pitt and myself would have gone but and I say but, the children don't want me there, because they lost last time I took them and Mrs. Pitt, well what do the Scottish know about rugby!!!! We sadly were too busy today, Mrs. Pitt in class for the afternoon, apparently she had pangs today and missed being in class, and I was swimming with 4D. So yes we were stretched thin, but as the Tag team didn't lose a single match, then today went beautifully well.
All in all, today was a good day, the staff are busy preparing data reports regarding the progress the children have made since December ready for meetings next week. I know it is a busy time all round but monitoring the progress is an essential part of my job because data is used to externally assess the school, no matter how skewed it is, to protect our school we look at the data of the children since they started with us and that is the data we present and what we presented to OFSTED when they visited us.
Really looking forward to Class 4D's assembly this week, they have been hard at it, making sure that it is the best they can do and apparently I might see a surprise in the introduction but they won't tell me any more!!!!!
Last bit of news.........8 in a row, yes the little un got another HT award today, he must have got it from his Dad...
(Disclaimer, I have nothing against small people, they are fabulous and amazing. I one day would like to be small again) Hope that did the trick!!!!
Have fun and please look at the work the children have completed on the pictures below, some very proud children and one very proud HT.
Up the Lilliputians!!!!
The picture and the title of the blog tonight is directly linked to an events that occurred today. The Lilliputians were the race that captured Gulliver and it is also a term that relates to small people. When you're breathing at my altitude then everyone is a Lilliputian. I only thought of the word because when I was driving to school this morning, I saw someone sat really close to the steering wheel, so close that you couldn't get a hand between them and the steering wheel and I pondered how small they must be. Bizarre thoughts eh? Welcome to my world. It did repeat again later on in the day but I will explain more in a bit.
So why so busy today? We were really busy with different things happening and maybe stretching ourselves thinly to cover everything, but certain events you cannot miss for the children.
The M7 continued their handwork today and especially Jack. Jack has been away for a couple of days and today he showed how great he is especially at being able to catch up. It was great to see how the rest of the group were so supportive of him and helped him through, what is more remarkable is that he performed better than most of the children. Retention plays a huge part in Numeracy and this is where my little lot fall down. It isn't only myself that has an additional group in School. Obviously the three class teachers of the year 6 all have a group plus Mrs. Pitt and Mrs. Green. We know that children learn better in smaller groups and that is why we have put this time commitment in place. So in the morning we have three members of staff as an addition to the teaching staff of Year 6. We really are giving these children every chance of succeeding. The word Lilliputians also occurred during this lesson because of the amount of space the children left each other to get into their chairs. You really would have to be minute to get in.
The rest of the morning was spent on finally registering the children for their Year 6 SATs test, it is a difficult decision whether to disapply for the sake of the child or whether to stretch to place them into a Level 6 test. In the end, decisions made and I hope Mr. Gove, who seems to have come under a lot of fire today, is happy with what he is putting the children through. (I promise not to go there again)
So here comes the part where we stretch the staff. We have a really enthusiastic group of children that participate in Tag Rugby after school on a Wednesday. They are coached by the Birmingham Exiles, they really enjoy their time with Andy and the rest of the coaches. Today was a warm up tournament for the Tag to Twickers competition, so 14 children set of with Miss O'Connor and Mrs. Green to firstly go and have fun but secondly with the endorsement from myself, 'Don't come back if you lose.' Now I' m not competitive in anyway, shape or form, and as long as they have fun that is all I am interested in. However, there a some schools that we enjoy playing against and most definitely winning against. Now Mrs. Green, is our Inclusion Manager and Miss O'Connor, is our Office Manager. They will now be known as Coach. Mrs. Pitt and myself would have gone but and I say but, the children don't want me there, because they lost last time I took them and Mrs. Pitt, well what do the Scottish know about rugby!!!! We sadly were too busy today, Mrs. Pitt in class for the afternoon, apparently she had pangs today and missed being in class, and I was swimming with 4D. So yes we were stretched thin, but as the Tag team didn't lose a single match, then today went beautifully well.
All in all, today was a good day, the staff are busy preparing data reports regarding the progress the children have made since December ready for meetings next week. I know it is a busy time all round but monitoring the progress is an essential part of my job because data is used to externally assess the school, no matter how skewed it is, to protect our school we look at the data of the children since they started with us and that is the data we present and what we presented to OFSTED when they visited us.
Really looking forward to Class 4D's assembly this week, they have been hard at it, making sure that it is the best they can do and apparently I might see a surprise in the introduction but they won't tell me any more!!!!!
Last bit of news.........8 in a row, yes the little un got another HT award today, he must have got it from his Dad...
(Disclaimer, I have nothing against small people, they are fabulous and amazing. I one day would like to be small again) Hope that did the trick!!!!
Have fun and please look at the work the children have completed on the pictures below, some very proud children and one very proud HT.
Up the Lilliputians!!!!
Doubting thomas 19.3.13
The picture to the left is an oil painting by the artist Gerrit van Honthorst and it depicts the moment that Thomas or Didymus doubted the resurrection of Jesus. Today I felt like Thomas, in that I made a huge mistake in underestimating the capabilities of a group of children. How wrong was I? Was it that they rose to the challenge? Or was it I just got it plain wrong?
Let me set the scene, it was a beautiful bright morning and I eagerly anticipated the arrival of the Magnificent 7. I was holding a mathematical discussion with Mrs. Pitt about reflection across the x, y axis. I told her what the M7 were doing in our group and how pleased I was with them, but I said categorically, that I was not going to even attempt the bus stop method of division with them, numbers hither and thither, it would only confuse them.
So onwards into the lesson and as always I like to challenge them into thinking that they can do anything, a little jedi mind trick and as always they fell for it, but under no circumstances was I going to try the bus stop division method because I thought that it would confuddle their brains having taught them a method that was already successful and whose only stumbling block was that it meant larger numbers were not accessible to them. Upon telling them this, their faces dropped, seeing it I asked them would they like to have a go and see if they could prove me wrong. What occurred(for my Welsh readers) from this point was truly a revelation (for my religious readers) they were truly amazing. We started by exploring the different elements of the method so that they understood it for themselves. Then simple divisions, where the number divides equally. Was that enough? No, they wanted more and they were still up for a challenge! So division with remainders occurring on all the numbers followed and they were not fazed by this at all. In the end the measly HT sticker I gave them really didn’t recognise their effort, but the adulation that they got from me was plenty. So where to go tomorrow? Shall we run before we can walk. Ye of little faith Mr. Rothwell. Okay, so tomorrow we turn the remainder into a quotient. Any doubters amongst you? Raise your hand if you dare.
Everything else in school news is going well, if anything the upcoming holiday only interferes with what we were doing, however none of us are complaining.
My afternoon was spent in the company of Mrs. P and Mr. Clarke and we were discussing the SATs test (booooooooooooo) for this year. I think by now, you may realise that I am not an advocate of testing children in this way neither am I an advocate of the way results are reported in the form of league tables and Value Added. What has that got to do with children, added to the inconsistencies of testing the children in the different Key Stages and the difficulties it poses for separate Junior Schools, it all adds up to complete farce. (My views) However, whilst the current incumbent, Mr. Gove feels it is necessary that these tests exist we shall adhere to them. Mr. Gove will never shift these tests and we have to thank him for the introduction of yet another test which is utterly pointless, badly thought out and ridiculous. All of these are backed up with the fact that the DFE (Department for Education) still have not released how the scores that the children receive will be transferred into levels. We are two months away from tests !!!! Says it all really!! So we spent the afternoon, looking at progress and which children to enter in to the Level 6 tests. Such fun!!
In other news, I hereby declare that we are famous, no longer infamous. I have attached a digital link to the latest Link2Ict newsletter where I conducted an interview about the role social media, in particular, Twitter, plays in school today. Have I made it??? I think not, back to the day job!! If you cannot view the link under School Spotlight then I have embedded another format lower down.
http://www.link2ict.org/newsletter/march2013/march.html
7 in a row, yes 7 in a row. The boy done good. Yes little un has achieved 7 HT awards in a row, his aim is 10 but it is fingers crossed that he doesn’t relax once he reaches the 10 and think that is it. And in other news, I have just finished the Brownie run and Little Geek has completed her sponsored silence for Comic Relief, she spent the time listing boy bands, she is very proud of herself and we are as well. It is now time to pay up. I did have to point out that New Order weren’t technically a boy band but weren’t far off. She only put this down because on the way, I bet her £100 that she couldn’t name the band I was listening to, knowing that she couldn’t, still we had a reet good sing a long to True Faith. Can’t beat a bit of New Order.
Sorry mega long blog.
In response to comments.
1. 4:30 in morning is a silly time to be reading it
2. Yes it should have said seriously not serious (I must proof read)
3. Plain Jane Superbrain
Let me set the scene, it was a beautiful bright morning and I eagerly anticipated the arrival of the Magnificent 7. I was holding a mathematical discussion with Mrs. Pitt about reflection across the x, y axis. I told her what the M7 were doing in our group and how pleased I was with them, but I said categorically, that I was not going to even attempt the bus stop method of division with them, numbers hither and thither, it would only confuse them.
So onwards into the lesson and as always I like to challenge them into thinking that they can do anything, a little jedi mind trick and as always they fell for it, but under no circumstances was I going to try the bus stop division method because I thought that it would confuddle their brains having taught them a method that was already successful and whose only stumbling block was that it meant larger numbers were not accessible to them. Upon telling them this, their faces dropped, seeing it I asked them would they like to have a go and see if they could prove me wrong. What occurred(for my Welsh readers) from this point was truly a revelation (for my religious readers) they were truly amazing. We started by exploring the different elements of the method so that they understood it for themselves. Then simple divisions, where the number divides equally. Was that enough? No, they wanted more and they were still up for a challenge! So division with remainders occurring on all the numbers followed and they were not fazed by this at all. In the end the measly HT sticker I gave them really didn’t recognise their effort, but the adulation that they got from me was plenty. So where to go tomorrow? Shall we run before we can walk. Ye of little faith Mr. Rothwell. Okay, so tomorrow we turn the remainder into a quotient. Any doubters amongst you? Raise your hand if you dare.
Everything else in school news is going well, if anything the upcoming holiday only interferes with what we were doing, however none of us are complaining.
My afternoon was spent in the company of Mrs. P and Mr. Clarke and we were discussing the SATs test (booooooooooooo) for this year. I think by now, you may realise that I am not an advocate of testing children in this way neither am I an advocate of the way results are reported in the form of league tables and Value Added. What has that got to do with children, added to the inconsistencies of testing the children in the different Key Stages and the difficulties it poses for separate Junior Schools, it all adds up to complete farce. (My views) However, whilst the current incumbent, Mr. Gove feels it is necessary that these tests exist we shall adhere to them. Mr. Gove will never shift these tests and we have to thank him for the introduction of yet another test which is utterly pointless, badly thought out and ridiculous. All of these are backed up with the fact that the DFE (Department for Education) still have not released how the scores that the children receive will be transferred into levels. We are two months away from tests !!!! Says it all really!! So we spent the afternoon, looking at progress and which children to enter in to the Level 6 tests. Such fun!!
In other news, I hereby declare that we are famous, no longer infamous. I have attached a digital link to the latest Link2Ict newsletter where I conducted an interview about the role social media, in particular, Twitter, plays in school today. Have I made it??? I think not, back to the day job!! If you cannot view the link under School Spotlight then I have embedded another format lower down.
http://www.link2ict.org/newsletter/march2013/march.html
7 in a row, yes 7 in a row. The boy done good. Yes little un has achieved 7 HT awards in a row, his aim is 10 but it is fingers crossed that he doesn’t relax once he reaches the 10 and think that is it. And in other news, I have just finished the Brownie run and Little Geek has completed her sponsored silence for Comic Relief, she spent the time listing boy bands, she is very proud of herself and we are as well. It is now time to pay up. I did have to point out that New Order weren’t technically a boy band but weren’t far off. She only put this down because on the way, I bet her £100 that she couldn’t name the band I was listening to, knowing that she couldn’t, still we had a reet good sing a long to True Faith. Can’t beat a bit of New Order.
Sorry mega long blog.
In response to comments.
1. 4:30 in morning is a silly time to be reading it
2. Yes it should have said seriously not serious (I must proof read)
3. Plain Jane Superbrain
Relationships are key 18.3.13
A really slow day on the Twitter front today, it doesn't mean that nothing has happened today, what is does mean is that today was a very productive day and you know, one of those days.....
I suppose a Monday can be often a slower day than any other day, but I can assure you that before school we were working full pelt to ensure that everything was set for the day. I'm talking about what happens when teachers are ill. I am aware people can be off ill, this is not the issue, what is, is ensuring that the position is filled with someone that understands our children and our school. Having worked in four schools now, it is one of the biggest issues around. Children react differently to adults that are not their normal class teacher. They react differently to adults even if they are a member of staff in school. I suppose this boils down to how relationships are formed and the difficulty of forming relationships within a minute of arriving in class. The relationship a teacher builds up with their pupils is priceless. Knowing your pupils, knowing how they tick, what they like doing outside of school and taking an interest interest in what they do helps to build a firm foundation for success, it creates a bond of trust. You have to also look at it from the other angle of how the children view a new teacher in their class and one thatndoes not know the school. Are they prey?
The situation we created for ourselves was that we made a conscious decision at the start of the year to employ enough Lyndon Green staff so that we didn't have to cover using external agencies, however you can not account for early morning calls.
Another thing we have tried to do is to not call supply staff, 'supply' they are 'Guest Teachers,' we give them as much information about our school as possible as well as working with agencies so that they know what type of Teacher fits our school. Looking at the evidence though, the key is relationships and getting the right people to fit the right school and the right class. This is a difficult task but one which we always hope that we get right so that we find teachers that have the DNA of our school in them. One solution could be that I do a ward round everyday to give children and staff a 'tonic' to keep them fit and healthy. Anyway - Get Well Soon, PLEASE!!!!
So, another busy day and as you can see from the pictures on Twitter, our Year 6 have been recreating scenes from the book, 'Holes.' The character Stanley had to dig holes all day in the baking sun, sadly, no baking hot sun, but plenty of holes to dig. These will be used to help the Year 5 allotment topic. It was also a great opportunity to go worm hunting as you can see from the photos.
I arrived in school today to be met with a delivery that we have been waiting for from Ashridge Nurseries. Trees. I didn't think they would be so big but Miss Mabb didn't seem to mind, she was quite pleased.
It looks as though Class 10M have been learning about how to look after their eyes and what it is like to visit an Optician, they have been choosing some funky glasses. Miss Mills reminds me of a character from Neighbours along time ago. I think she was called Jane! Or is it more Deirdrie Barlow? I will have to Google it.
Another exciting delivery today was the new sync and charge units for our iPad minis. (Other Tablets are available) We have been increasing our ICT hardware for a while now and the tablets that we have in school are in such high demand that we cannot keep up with them. We don't use them to play games, although you can't beat a bit of Temple Run, but we are using them to support our learning as well as guide our learning. The children love them and as usual, pick them up so easily. There is not a lot they cannot do on them and their portability is great, especially on a wireless network that stretches into the grounds. So the new units will allow our children to be able to be the first to use the new tablets. They will be able to look down on those having to use the older models. Ipad snobbery. I am sure we all remember the BBC computers that we had in school, my how we have changed and how technology has changed. I have included a YouTube video called 'Shift Happens,' it is slightly out of date but incredibly frightening how quickly the world has changed.
I would like to take this opportunity to say how brilliant the m7 were today, they were truly magnificent. We had started division, but today we tentatively approached division with remainders. By the end of the session, they were flying. I am so impressed with them and the attitude that they displayed. It is great to see when a concept sticks, they all were full of confidence. However, tomorrow is a different day.
I bring you news of great joy and triumph from my youngest. There has been a long standing record in our house of five HT awards in a row from their school. This means that you get a sticker from the HT for getting five ticks in a day. Little geek was the record holder, we did think she was manufacturing them herself and searched her room for a printing press, but no, lo and behold she was genuinely earning them. Well tonight she is truly racked off with her brother as he came home with a sticker for the sixth day in a row. Ask him how he achieved it, he doesn't know, but his celebration in her face this evening was a picture. This is the same child that has so many notes from medical because he likes going because it is warm in there. Deliberately banging your head is not acceptable though.
That's it for this evening. In reply to comments made on the blog.
1. The balaclava wearing OAP on Blackpool prom is my anti Jean
2. How could you not take me seriously with my wig?
I suppose a Monday can be often a slower day than any other day, but I can assure you that before school we were working full pelt to ensure that everything was set for the day. I'm talking about what happens when teachers are ill. I am aware people can be off ill, this is not the issue, what is, is ensuring that the position is filled with someone that understands our children and our school. Having worked in four schools now, it is one of the biggest issues around. Children react differently to adults that are not their normal class teacher. They react differently to adults even if they are a member of staff in school. I suppose this boils down to how relationships are formed and the difficulty of forming relationships within a minute of arriving in class. The relationship a teacher builds up with their pupils is priceless. Knowing your pupils, knowing how they tick, what they like doing outside of school and taking an interest interest in what they do helps to build a firm foundation for success, it creates a bond of trust. You have to also look at it from the other angle of how the children view a new teacher in their class and one thatndoes not know the school. Are they prey?
The situation we created for ourselves was that we made a conscious decision at the start of the year to employ enough Lyndon Green staff so that we didn't have to cover using external agencies, however you can not account for early morning calls.
Another thing we have tried to do is to not call supply staff, 'supply' they are 'Guest Teachers,' we give them as much information about our school as possible as well as working with agencies so that they know what type of Teacher fits our school. Looking at the evidence though, the key is relationships and getting the right people to fit the right school and the right class. This is a difficult task but one which we always hope that we get right so that we find teachers that have the DNA of our school in them. One solution could be that I do a ward round everyday to give children and staff a 'tonic' to keep them fit and healthy. Anyway - Get Well Soon, PLEASE!!!!
So, another busy day and as you can see from the pictures on Twitter, our Year 6 have been recreating scenes from the book, 'Holes.' The character Stanley had to dig holes all day in the baking sun, sadly, no baking hot sun, but plenty of holes to dig. These will be used to help the Year 5 allotment topic. It was also a great opportunity to go worm hunting as you can see from the photos.
I arrived in school today to be met with a delivery that we have been waiting for from Ashridge Nurseries. Trees. I didn't think they would be so big but Miss Mabb didn't seem to mind, she was quite pleased.
It looks as though Class 10M have been learning about how to look after their eyes and what it is like to visit an Optician, they have been choosing some funky glasses. Miss Mills reminds me of a character from Neighbours along time ago. I think she was called Jane! Or is it more Deirdrie Barlow? I will have to Google it.
Another exciting delivery today was the new sync and charge units for our iPad minis. (Other Tablets are available) We have been increasing our ICT hardware for a while now and the tablets that we have in school are in such high demand that we cannot keep up with them. We don't use them to play games, although you can't beat a bit of Temple Run, but we are using them to support our learning as well as guide our learning. The children love them and as usual, pick them up so easily. There is not a lot they cannot do on them and their portability is great, especially on a wireless network that stretches into the grounds. So the new units will allow our children to be able to be the first to use the new tablets. They will be able to look down on those having to use the older models. Ipad snobbery. I am sure we all remember the BBC computers that we had in school, my how we have changed and how technology has changed. I have included a YouTube video called 'Shift Happens,' it is slightly out of date but incredibly frightening how quickly the world has changed.
I would like to take this opportunity to say how brilliant the m7 were today, they were truly magnificent. We had started division, but today we tentatively approached division with remainders. By the end of the session, they were flying. I am so impressed with them and the attitude that they displayed. It is great to see when a concept sticks, they all were full of confidence. However, tomorrow is a different day.
I bring you news of great joy and triumph from my youngest. There has been a long standing record in our house of five HT awards in a row from their school. This means that you get a sticker from the HT for getting five ticks in a day. Little geek was the record holder, we did think she was manufacturing them herself and searched her room for a printing press, but no, lo and behold she was genuinely earning them. Well tonight she is truly racked off with her brother as he came home with a sticker for the sixth day in a row. Ask him how he achieved it, he doesn't know, but his celebration in her face this evening was a picture. This is the same child that has so many notes from medical because he likes going because it is warm in there. Deliberately banging your head is not acceptable though.
That's it for this evening. In reply to comments made on the blog.
1. The balaclava wearing OAP on Blackpool prom is my anti Jean
2. How could you not take me seriously with my wig?
Because we are worth it! 15.3.13
Another fun filled day and another week draws to a close. Apologies if you tried to read the blog yesterday and all it said was loading. Apparently, Weebly, that host the blog was experiencing a large volume of traffic and would upload it automatically. I don't know what happened or what time it eventually came online but yesterday had nearly 200 individual views which does not include any repeat visits. The pressure is mounting.
Today started brilliantly, After howls of laughter when I opened the doors to let the children into school and seeing so many supporting Comic Relief with fabulous hairdo's it was time for assembly. Now yesterday I wrote about how it was brewing into an epic assembly, with music, song and dance, well it lived up to its expectation!! The acting, the song, the dance and the overall impression that you were left with was fabulous. Looking out over the hall and watching the faces of yet another packed audience, you could see the enjoyment in their eyes and the concentration from the children was magnificent. A brilliant way to start Friday. No achievement certificates today but as we are always interested in attendance, it was great to be able to hand over the trophy to class 5E again. A brilliant 98.89%. Role models for the rest of the school.
Onwards throughout the day. No M7 today as the whole of Year 6 were visiting a local Secondary School to attend their Spring Fayre. Interesting choices made by the children on how to spend their money, from sweets to painting of nails. As long as the boys are happy with that shade of pink, then it is ok by me. It is good to be able to have the links with the secondary schools, even if it is just to support this project, it gives our children that are only 6 months away from joining a similar school the experience before they start. We have many pupils who are ready for secondary school, but we have those that if we could keep them an extra year, then we would. The key to a successful transition is preparation. We have to prepare our children to go from the home environment of one classroom, possibly two to have free passage as to how they get from one room to another and the ability to build relationships with more than one teacher. We know it is difficult and that some will take to it like a duck to water, others will find the whole experience challenging. Our job is to work closely with the children's next school so that they feel as comfortable as they can when they walk through the door of their new school.
The rest of the day has been incredibly calm, slightly unnerving really, but calm. The biggest buzz of the day came from the Year 3 returning from their residential. They looked shattered but all had a great time. I am sure that they will sleep well and have tales of new experiences and tales of bravery to recount to you, or some might just focus on the breakfasts (I am still very envious). A quick thankyou to the staff that have attended this residential for making it such a success. We couldn't do it without the dedication from you all and for giving your time. Thankyou!! That was the last residential for this year, out of 370 children we have had between 250 and 300 attend a residential experience this year, staggering when you consider it, however, beneficial in so many ways. The new season of trips away starts in September/October and we have already had a meeting with the parents of the Year 5 as their residential is for a week. It will come round very quickly.
Digital Friday is nearly drawing to a close, which means that our support for Comic Relief is nearly through as well, hence the volumising of the hair on the picture above. I have never had so much hair, but the cause is truly worth it. I will be glued to the TV this evening with little geek as the mighty One Direction will be appearing and we cannot miss that can we (zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, yes Ellie I am watching and I did see Harry, totally amazing, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz) It is always emotional watching the clips of the reasons why we are supporting the cause, but a fun nights TV and for the right reasons.
That is it, I am done for the week. Will soon be time to snooze, to refresh for the run into the Easter break. Once again, rest easy, have fun, laugh a lot but most of all let's do it again next week.
STOP PRESS: New Follower, wasn't going to mention the OAP's but the silver surfer readership has increased by one. My Dads older sister is now reading this blog from her residential home in Blackpool, she's well known for the amount of fines she racks up down the promenade on her disability scooter. Welcome anti (that's how it's pronounced up north) Jean.
Today started brilliantly, After howls of laughter when I opened the doors to let the children into school and seeing so many supporting Comic Relief with fabulous hairdo's it was time for assembly. Now yesterday I wrote about how it was brewing into an epic assembly, with music, song and dance, well it lived up to its expectation!! The acting, the song, the dance and the overall impression that you were left with was fabulous. Looking out over the hall and watching the faces of yet another packed audience, you could see the enjoyment in their eyes and the concentration from the children was magnificent. A brilliant way to start Friday. No achievement certificates today but as we are always interested in attendance, it was great to be able to hand over the trophy to class 5E again. A brilliant 98.89%. Role models for the rest of the school.
Onwards throughout the day. No M7 today as the whole of Year 6 were visiting a local Secondary School to attend their Spring Fayre. Interesting choices made by the children on how to spend their money, from sweets to painting of nails. As long as the boys are happy with that shade of pink, then it is ok by me. It is good to be able to have the links with the secondary schools, even if it is just to support this project, it gives our children that are only 6 months away from joining a similar school the experience before they start. We have many pupils who are ready for secondary school, but we have those that if we could keep them an extra year, then we would. The key to a successful transition is preparation. We have to prepare our children to go from the home environment of one classroom, possibly two to have free passage as to how they get from one room to another and the ability to build relationships with more than one teacher. We know it is difficult and that some will take to it like a duck to water, others will find the whole experience challenging. Our job is to work closely with the children's next school so that they feel as comfortable as they can when they walk through the door of their new school.
The rest of the day has been incredibly calm, slightly unnerving really, but calm. The biggest buzz of the day came from the Year 3 returning from their residential. They looked shattered but all had a great time. I am sure that they will sleep well and have tales of new experiences and tales of bravery to recount to you, or some might just focus on the breakfasts (I am still very envious). A quick thankyou to the staff that have attended this residential for making it such a success. We couldn't do it without the dedication from you all and for giving your time. Thankyou!! That was the last residential for this year, out of 370 children we have had between 250 and 300 attend a residential experience this year, staggering when you consider it, however, beneficial in so many ways. The new season of trips away starts in September/October and we have already had a meeting with the parents of the Year 5 as their residential is for a week. It will come round very quickly.
Digital Friday is nearly drawing to a close, which means that our support for Comic Relief is nearly through as well, hence the volumising of the hair on the picture above. I have never had so much hair, but the cause is truly worth it. I will be glued to the TV this evening with little geek as the mighty One Direction will be appearing and we cannot miss that can we (zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, yes Ellie I am watching and I did see Harry, totally amazing, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz) It is always emotional watching the clips of the reasons why we are supporting the cause, but a fun nights TV and for the right reasons.
That is it, I am done for the week. Will soon be time to snooze, to refresh for the run into the Easter break. Once again, rest easy, have fun, laugh a lot but most of all let's do it again next week.
STOP PRESS: New Follower, wasn't going to mention the OAP's but the silver surfer readership has increased by one. My Dads older sister is now reading this blog from her residential home in Blackpool, she's well known for the amount of fines she racks up down the promenade on her disability scooter. Welcome anti (that's how it's pronounced up north) Jean.
once more unto the breach 14.3.13
Tonight's blog come courtesy of a snatched half an hour whilst my offspring are at their swimming lesson. Peace at last. Having survived the Papal announcement last night and the youngests desire to be Pope, I think we have moved on. No more mentions of future ambitions, I think he must be waiting for his calling!!!
Our twitter account has gone into meltdown today and yesterday, not only are the teachers in school tweeting like mad but the volume of tweets coming from the residential is amazing. Who needs to be there? I feel as though I am. Looking at the images coming back, you get the impression that the children are really having a great time. The worst picture that came back today was the one of the children having breakfast. How jealous were we? LOTS. We all wanted a cooked breakfast after seeing it and it even led to Mrs. Pitt requesting egg and chips for her lunch, I declined the offer and stuck to my usual of lettuce and pine nuts. Sadly the kitchen couldn't fulfil her wishes. It is great to see so many children enjoying their time away, whilst back at home parents pine for their children. Enjoy the peace and silence and rest assured that they are having a great time. They will return tomorrow with no energy and all they will want to do is sleep, whilst you will want to hear everything, you may find early teenage skills have been developed, it's called the grunt.
I also get the feeling some one is trying to bag the 5000th tweet!!!
I am currently investigating how to get a year long residential for my own two, but sadly the answer seems to be boarding school or a convent. I will look into both options a lot more.
The sounds coming from the hall today made me do a double take. I was looking for the arrival of Cleopatra, after investigating, it appears that it was Class 4S preparing for their assembly. I think it is going to be epic, possibly on the scale of Ben Hur, maybe slightly shorter but definitely on the grande scale.
Loads of great activities can be seen in the pictures below from school and whilst all those were happening in class, interviews were taking place for Lunchtime Supervisors. I've said this before that there is a hidden school day that no one sees but it is one that needs co-ordinating. It includes things like interviews, pupil progress meetings, diary reviews, mentoring etc. etc. And then there are 370 individuals with 370 differing personalities. When you add it all together, it adds up to brain frazzling fun, frustrating at times but fun. It only takes a smile to wipe away the brain frazzling.
The M7 (magnificent 7) were in particularly fine form today. How can one day you show how wonderful you are at multiplication and then the next day it's as if you have not been there. That's the beauty of teaching though, create a learning experience with a hook that allows the children to remember the pathway etc by remembering the hook, it acts as a trigger to the inner core of our brain.
Tomorrow sees our school supporting Comic Relief. It is mad hair day. I shall be donning a rather fetching tam o shanter with ginger trimmings. I quite like it!
Swimming is coming to an end, then it's the battle to look as though you haven't been dragged through a hedge backwards. Eldest is particularly great at this routine. So quite a short blog, more focused on the school tonight than previous. Must remember that this is the purpose, not a purging of my existence or a reminiscent tour through my memory, although it is fun.
Anyway time to do battle. Once more unto the breach, for England and St. George.....
If I'm not in tomorrow, the hedge won.
Our twitter account has gone into meltdown today and yesterday, not only are the teachers in school tweeting like mad but the volume of tweets coming from the residential is amazing. Who needs to be there? I feel as though I am. Looking at the images coming back, you get the impression that the children are really having a great time. The worst picture that came back today was the one of the children having breakfast. How jealous were we? LOTS. We all wanted a cooked breakfast after seeing it and it even led to Mrs. Pitt requesting egg and chips for her lunch, I declined the offer and stuck to my usual of lettuce and pine nuts. Sadly the kitchen couldn't fulfil her wishes. It is great to see so many children enjoying their time away, whilst back at home parents pine for their children. Enjoy the peace and silence and rest assured that they are having a great time. They will return tomorrow with no energy and all they will want to do is sleep, whilst you will want to hear everything, you may find early teenage skills have been developed, it's called the grunt.
I also get the feeling some one is trying to bag the 5000th tweet!!!
I am currently investigating how to get a year long residential for my own two, but sadly the answer seems to be boarding school or a convent. I will look into both options a lot more.
The sounds coming from the hall today made me do a double take. I was looking for the arrival of Cleopatra, after investigating, it appears that it was Class 4S preparing for their assembly. I think it is going to be epic, possibly on the scale of Ben Hur, maybe slightly shorter but definitely on the grande scale.
Loads of great activities can be seen in the pictures below from school and whilst all those were happening in class, interviews were taking place for Lunchtime Supervisors. I've said this before that there is a hidden school day that no one sees but it is one that needs co-ordinating. It includes things like interviews, pupil progress meetings, diary reviews, mentoring etc. etc. And then there are 370 individuals with 370 differing personalities. When you add it all together, it adds up to brain frazzling fun, frustrating at times but fun. It only takes a smile to wipe away the brain frazzling.
The M7 (magnificent 7) were in particularly fine form today. How can one day you show how wonderful you are at multiplication and then the next day it's as if you have not been there. That's the beauty of teaching though, create a learning experience with a hook that allows the children to remember the pathway etc by remembering the hook, it acts as a trigger to the inner core of our brain.
Tomorrow sees our school supporting Comic Relief. It is mad hair day. I shall be donning a rather fetching tam o shanter with ginger trimmings. I quite like it!
Swimming is coming to an end, then it's the battle to look as though you haven't been dragged through a hedge backwards. Eldest is particularly great at this routine. So quite a short blog, more focused on the school tonight than previous. Must remember that this is the purpose, not a purging of my existence or a reminiscent tour through my memory, although it is fun.
Anyway time to do battle. Once more unto the breach, for England and St. George.....
If I'm not in tomorrow, the hedge won.
Just a wee blog !!! 13.3.13
Habemus Papum
It is funny how children are captivated by events. My children have been obsessed by the news coverage this evening from Rome, they found it fascinating to see the crowds waiting in St. Peter's Rome. It even led my youngest to ask, 'Daddy, can I be Pope?' Now to say no, could shatter an ambition, so it was a maybe. Have to take this seriously because I quite fancy retiring to Rome and maybe a Summer house in Tuscany. Those of you that know me well, know that my life's ambition is to relocate to Italy. now a big draw back to this ambition happened about 6 years ago on a visit to Italy for a family holiday, it started off brilliantly with the family spending a couple of days in Rome before moving to the countryside and the beautiful scenery of Tuscany. We decided that we would go to St. Peter's, as it held a significant role in what I believe in, great, couldn't wait, but to set the scene, little geek was 2, the temperature was in the mid 30s and she was a very active child, so using the pushchair around Rome was perfect, bribing her with the most sumptuous Gelato, it was easy. As we queued to enter St. Peter's basilica I was stopped by a burly Vatican Guard. The message was clear, no pushchair, ok in my best Italian I told him fine, I wish the Church the best of luck. And so it happened, little geek did her best Forrest Gump, and ran. Boy did she run, after many prayers of forgiveness bouncing round the inside of the basilica and with the guards slowly closing in, I managed to catch up with her and left with a huge grin on my face which basically said, 'I told you so..' As you can see I have so many happy memories of Rome and really the answer to the question about becoming Pope should actually be a resounding NO, I feel there probably is still a guard or two that can remember the day the Rothwell's arrived.
Such excitement today as it was the first residential for our Year 3's, they were so excited and today was a day that a child got one over on me. I love children with a spark and a sense of humour. I met one today. Terri is a brilliant pupil, full of beans and she was beaming knowing she was off on residential, but she met me in the corridor with a huge grin and she a statement that went like this, 'Mr. Rothwell I've got chicken pox!' Now at that point all I could think about was that I was about to destroy her world, I asked her to repeat it and she did, just as I was about to say that she wouldn't be able to go, she pulled out her t shirt and proudly showed me her chicken pox. A white t shirt with red polka dots. Knowing the impact she had, had on me she tootled off into class, leaving behind one drained HT. I love it though.
Lots of pictures this evening and the tweets from the residential are still coming through. They look as though they are having great fun and it is one of the first reasons why we used twitter, to make sure families could share in their children's experiences. We get lots of comments during the residentially and we are happy to retweet them. What's funny is that it is the parents that are a nervous wreck, whereas the pupils take it in their stride.
Other pictures from around school, show some children's books, tweeted because their teacher is proud of the effort that has been put in as well as homemade Pyramids that are stunning and beastly models that are being created from Year 6. Great stuff all round.
In quick news, the magnificent seven were exactly that, I had a little moan about attitude to them yesterday and what a difference a day makes. Brains in gear, everything clicking.
In reaction to comments made through last nights blog
1. Bleurgh back
2. One for all and all for one
3. Mrs. Pitt has a thistle shaped bath plug.
Such fun, I'm off to do the bins, cook tea and pretend to be Pope. ( I used to play at being a Priest when I was young, not so long ago then)
It is I Leclerc !! 12.3.13
'It is I Lelerc...........' said the man with a thousand faces. I wonder how many of you can remember where this very popular saying came from? Well I am back after a day away from the blog. I was twitching last night and think I have developed a blog dependence......I am sorry.
I can reassure you all that my facial features have returned to normal, well as normal as can be and that I will be taking as many preventative medicines as possible to prevent me from ever experiencing daytimetvitis. As I said in the blog on Friday, it was horrible... eugh, give me work anytime.
I couldn't blog last night as sadly I didn't have the time to fit it in. It takes me about 45 minutes (i know it doesn't look it) to complete each entry, but last night I had a meeting with the Governing Body of the school to review the work that we have been doing since the last meeting. This meant that after a mad dash home to feed and water the children, by the time I had got home it was 9:00 and I still hadn't eaten. Having had the house boiler deciding to reenact Niagra Falls on Sunday, there was still someone in my house trying to repair it. Sitting waiting for McDonalds at 10:00 at night on a Monday is a riveting way of spending time, however, I suppose whilst they were not doing a good impression of a fast food restaurant I did have a few spare moments that I could have constructed my blog, however, in all truth I did not have the energy or the inclination. Yes more calamities.
Right back to Lyndon Green and the work that we are doing. We started the morning with a whole school assembly that we like to call 'Mad Science.' It is not the first time that we have held a session with 'Mad Science' but the children enjoy these sessions as it is really interactive, slightly crazy but great fun. They get to see how Science can be fun. The children came out of the hall having enjoyed it thoroughly, it was brilliant. We will always welcome Mad Science back into school as the impact that they have is great. Whenever you do anything in school it has to have an impact because everything has to measurable so we can account for its monetary value. There are times however when impact is measured by children's talk and the buzz that is created, this was one of those occasions.
Yesterday and today saw the return of the magnificent seven and a return to multiplication . I tried a different angle with them over the last two days, I set them joint challenges to see if they could combine their brains to ensure that no mistakes were made. I can say now, I am very proud of them because they worked brilliantly well together and very few mistakes were made. Combining their skills ensured that they were logical in what they were doing, two great days and tomorrow is division. Oh they can't wait, but seeing as though they are the inverse operation of each other means that they can use their new found ability to solve division questions easily.
Last night saw another Governing Body meeting. It certainly isn't a secret society, no funny handshakes and actually a recognition by us all for people voluntarily giving up their own time for the good of the school community should be congratulated. Another full agenda, but the pace was kept snappy. It isn't a forum for those involved to bring their individual issues to bear, it is an opportunity to question, support and celebrate the work of the school. I would expect any Governor that is elected to be fully supportive through wanting to make the school community a better place and if they think my team and I could look at things differently, then that view is always take on board. I look forward to welcoming all our Governors into school and to see them around school with our children is the ideological approach. Welcome to our new Governors, Mrs. Palmer and Mr. Dean, I hope you enjoy the ride.
Today has been non stop, after teaching it was down to catching up with Mrs. Pitt and strategising about future events to ensure that we have everything timetabled correctly. Today was also an exciting day, because we were being externally assessed for Dyslexic friendly status. We would be one of the first schools in Birmingham to gain this recognition and whilst I admit I hate badge chasing for schools, this would be a recognition of the work the school has been doing for awhile. Badge chasing isn't my thing, I don't want thousands of badges on our letter heads, I want our school to stand up for itself and I always welcome anyone, OFSTED included to assess our school, because I see it as a positive rather than a negative process, anything that helps and supports our improvements is always welcome. The assessment has now finished and it has been a real team effort to pull it all together with Mrs. Green acting as captain. We cannot say how it went officially, but I don't think we will be unhappy whatever the outcomes. I love it when a plan comes together! Thanks to ALL the staff for their full backing of this venture, I knew I could count on you all!
Onto yet another meeting and the joys of our Year Leaders, it is good to laugh and we make sure we do, usually at Mrs Wyatt's expense, but it has to be someone. Lots of feedback from book trawls and also forward planning for pupil progress interviews and lesson observations, lots to do, but let's all do it with a smile knowing that this is a job we all love.
Coming to a close for today, it's 19:49, tea is calling, no McDonalds this evening, and to top it all we now have heating and hot water, it means I can come out in public without deodorant/aftershave overkill. Little geek has just returned from Brownies with the best con ever. It goes like this, next week she is doing a sponsored silence at Brownies in aid of Comic Relief. I think it is great, however, I still have to pay subs for her to go and sit in silence whilst she colours...... Great stuff!!!!!! But a real worthy cause in the end. Mad hair day for us on Friday, I cannot wait!!!!
Year three residential tomorrow so yet another busy day in school, I just hope it warms up for them a little bit, however watching our Infant School on residential during this cold snap leaves me knowing they will be fine.
Thanks for reading. This is Leclerc signing out.
I can reassure you all that my facial features have returned to normal, well as normal as can be and that I will be taking as many preventative medicines as possible to prevent me from ever experiencing daytimetvitis. As I said in the blog on Friday, it was horrible... eugh, give me work anytime.
I couldn't blog last night as sadly I didn't have the time to fit it in. It takes me about 45 minutes (i know it doesn't look it) to complete each entry, but last night I had a meeting with the Governing Body of the school to review the work that we have been doing since the last meeting. This meant that after a mad dash home to feed and water the children, by the time I had got home it was 9:00 and I still hadn't eaten. Having had the house boiler deciding to reenact Niagra Falls on Sunday, there was still someone in my house trying to repair it. Sitting waiting for McDonalds at 10:00 at night on a Monday is a riveting way of spending time, however, I suppose whilst they were not doing a good impression of a fast food restaurant I did have a few spare moments that I could have constructed my blog, however, in all truth I did not have the energy or the inclination. Yes more calamities.
Right back to Lyndon Green and the work that we are doing. We started the morning with a whole school assembly that we like to call 'Mad Science.' It is not the first time that we have held a session with 'Mad Science' but the children enjoy these sessions as it is really interactive, slightly crazy but great fun. They get to see how Science can be fun. The children came out of the hall having enjoyed it thoroughly, it was brilliant. We will always welcome Mad Science back into school as the impact that they have is great. Whenever you do anything in school it has to have an impact because everything has to measurable so we can account for its monetary value. There are times however when impact is measured by children's talk and the buzz that is created, this was one of those occasions.
Yesterday and today saw the return of the magnificent seven and a return to multiplication . I tried a different angle with them over the last two days, I set them joint challenges to see if they could combine their brains to ensure that no mistakes were made. I can say now, I am very proud of them because they worked brilliantly well together and very few mistakes were made. Combining their skills ensured that they were logical in what they were doing, two great days and tomorrow is division. Oh they can't wait, but seeing as though they are the inverse operation of each other means that they can use their new found ability to solve division questions easily.
Last night saw another Governing Body meeting. It certainly isn't a secret society, no funny handshakes and actually a recognition by us all for people voluntarily giving up their own time for the good of the school community should be congratulated. Another full agenda, but the pace was kept snappy. It isn't a forum for those involved to bring their individual issues to bear, it is an opportunity to question, support and celebrate the work of the school. I would expect any Governor that is elected to be fully supportive through wanting to make the school community a better place and if they think my team and I could look at things differently, then that view is always take on board. I look forward to welcoming all our Governors into school and to see them around school with our children is the ideological approach. Welcome to our new Governors, Mrs. Palmer and Mr. Dean, I hope you enjoy the ride.
Today has been non stop, after teaching it was down to catching up with Mrs. Pitt and strategising about future events to ensure that we have everything timetabled correctly. Today was also an exciting day, because we were being externally assessed for Dyslexic friendly status. We would be one of the first schools in Birmingham to gain this recognition and whilst I admit I hate badge chasing for schools, this would be a recognition of the work the school has been doing for awhile. Badge chasing isn't my thing, I don't want thousands of badges on our letter heads, I want our school to stand up for itself and I always welcome anyone, OFSTED included to assess our school, because I see it as a positive rather than a negative process, anything that helps and supports our improvements is always welcome. The assessment has now finished and it has been a real team effort to pull it all together with Mrs. Green acting as captain. We cannot say how it went officially, but I don't think we will be unhappy whatever the outcomes. I love it when a plan comes together! Thanks to ALL the staff for their full backing of this venture, I knew I could count on you all!
Onto yet another meeting and the joys of our Year Leaders, it is good to laugh and we make sure we do, usually at Mrs Wyatt's expense, but it has to be someone. Lots of feedback from book trawls and also forward planning for pupil progress interviews and lesson observations, lots to do, but let's all do it with a smile knowing that this is a job we all love.
Coming to a close for today, it's 19:49, tea is calling, no McDonalds this evening, and to top it all we now have heating and hot water, it means I can come out in public without deodorant/aftershave overkill. Little geek has just returned from Brownies with the best con ever. It goes like this, next week she is doing a sponsored silence at Brownies in aid of Comic Relief. I think it is great, however, I still have to pay subs for her to go and sit in silence whilst she colours...... Great stuff!!!!!! But a real worthy cause in the end. Mad hair day for us on Friday, I cannot wait!!!!
Year three residential tomorrow so yet another busy day in school, I just hope it warms up for them a little bit, however watching our Infant School on residential during this cold snap leaves me knowing they will be fine.
Thanks for reading. This is Leclerc signing out.