Ideas Hamsters

That veritable ideas hamster Doug Belshaw continues to come up with more exciting & interesting toys for your blog.

One of them, bubbl.us, worked really well with my year 4's as a visualisation of our disscussion about the reasons for settlement & migration over the centuries.

Incubation Times and Infectivity

You know how its important to think outside the box in school management? Well here's a little gem that might help school leaders in dveloping Health & safety policies!!

Incubation Times and Infectivity - Patient UK

Because you never know when you will be called upon to act as an epidemiologist - one of your many roles as a Head!

More On The Headship Crisis

In attempting to work through what it takes to aspire to headship, I have to wonder about the current bad press that the role of the Head is getting. Take this blog from Mr Read's 'How Not To Teach'. It is a distillation of the recent debate on the paucity of applicants for headships in the state sector.

His links make for interesting, and frightening, reading & I include them here as a ready reference:

Falling
numbers of applicants
The psychological effects on Heads
Health survey
Numbers
aspiring to headship

As someone aspiring to headship from the Independent Sector it is clear that the lack of contact with the classroom is a big factor in the alienation that Heads may feel. They become desk jockeys that no amount of Leadership Training ever prepares you for. If we are to be prepared for Headship I feel that we must be prepared for they administration that defines the role. That then will provide us with a very different skill set from the one that has been previously promoted.

As Mr. Read puts it...

With workload and hours a major issue it probably wasn’t brilliant timing
to demand that prospective Heads have to pass the National Professional
Qualification for Headteachers. Its supporters claim that it’s a rigorous course
that will prepare candidates for the managerial qualities needed in a modern
education system. An alternative view is that that the paper-laden NPQH is there
to churn out a line of lobotomised robots who will uncritically implement every
directive from the DfES rather than produce excellent pedagogues who can inspire
and enthuse a new generation of teachers.

However it has to be that unique blend of pedagogoue & pedant which makes for a sucessful head. And the NCSL must look to how this can be done & not march on with motivational courses which inspire but do not prepare.

Snow Day

When it snows...

With the excitement of our current snowy, winter wonderland, here is some advice to those who feel that they ought to add to the choas on the roads...

...stay home & build a snowman



Snow Day 07 on Vimeo

The Challenge of Headship

Independent Online Edition > Schools

To add my twopenny worth (from the Independent...)

In theory there has never been a better time to be a head teacher. In the
secondary sector, salaries have soared in recent years, with £100,000 packages
not unusual for the larger urban schools, while Brent in north-west London
recently advertised for a primary head at £90,000.

I have, at last reached my career enlightenment and finally understand that Headship is not simply a progression from Deputy. It is entirely another job altogether, one that we are not prepared for just by teaching for years.

As Peter Stanford, in the Independent points out:

She [Kerry George of the NAHT] also believes that imposing
career expectations from the commercial sector on to the teaching profession can
be a mistake. "There seems to be an assumption in government thinking," she
reflects, "that every classroom teacher has a headteacher's baton in their
knapsack. But that isn't why many people go into teaching and the whole way
teacher training is set up has little to do with an expectation that you may one
day end up as head."

And yet, I have met many inspiring teachers in both the Maintained & Independent Sectors who should be the leaders of their communities yet do not feel that it is for them. I am very afraid that what we will get are passionless, vision-free heads who are simply a safe pair of hands. And who's decision will that be?

A safe pair of hands is exactly what Authorities and Governors want, of course. But it is, I am convinced, only part of the story. A head has to carry their passion for education with them from their career as a teacher. However, they have to understand how to realise that vision in a way that carries the whole community along. Communicating to children, parents, governors and any others with an interest in the school. And the sooner that the teachers with real passion for education are trained how to do this, the better.

Use Your Head, Teach at Hornton

With the IAPS Aspiring Heads conference this weekend, a timely reminder of our priorities in leading a school. Now if only the governors who interview candidates were looking for the same person...

Who really Matters

With the IAPS Aspiring Heads Conference this weeken, here is a timely reminder as to where our priorities lie when leading a school.

Horton School Wants A Head

Now, if only the governors had the same person specification...

Miles Berry :: Weblog :: Those learning platform service providers in full...

For Future Reference...
Miles has listed a number of Learning Platform providers & points out the continued lack of air space being given to those open source providers like Moodle. Still bills, must be paid!

Miles Berry :: Weblog :: Those learning platform service providers in full...

Is this the future?

A fascinating read through the Primary IB information...

With our increasing disquiet over the National Curriculum, its constraints & its assessment, the time is approaching to reconsider just what & more importantly how we are delivering learning opportunities to our pupils.

IB Primary Years Programme curriculum framework overview

Public schools brace for a stern examination over soaring fees | News crumb | EducationGuardian.co.uk

Public schools brace for a stern examination over soaring fees

And so it begins...Last Sunday's Observer describes a scheme by the Scottish Charity Regulator to examine the public benefit provided by charities North of the Border.

This comes at a difficult time for independent schools. South of the border there is similar uncertainty following new legislation last month that will mean all UK charities (which include over 80 per cent of the country's 2,500 private schools) must now prove they provide sufficient benefit to the public to warrant the tax breaks they enjoy. For the schools, the breaks amount to about £100m year, mainly through rates relief.

It will be High School of Dundee that stands as the institution that will test out Scottish legislation on charitable status. But before we start to worry unduly, it appears that there will be some division between the regions. Perhaps devolution will have proved a benefit to some...

Unlike the Scottish legislation, the recently passed Charities Act 2006 in England and Wales makes no mention of fees; in fact, it leaves the term 'public benefit' undefined...according to some lawyers this means that all private schools need do is show they save the Exchequer money (which they do - about £2bn a year by educating over 600,000 pupils) and provide a service above that offered by the state (such as smaller class sizes or extra facilities).

With Schools like St. Paul's, Winchester & Eton laying foundations for the future where "widening access" will be a reality, then, of course, the future management of Independent Schools encourages us to look at this concept in an even broader sense.

With the advent of Every Child Matters in the Maintained Sector, we are certainly well placed to jump what Lord Sudbury calls "an extraordinarily low hurdle". But then, legislation in England does not include a review of fees when considering the public benefit of Independent Schools.

Why is all this ICT stuff so important?

The FordLog » Blog Archive » Gareth Davies on Phil Beadle

I think I've found a key quote that will allow us to understand precisely why web 2.0 initiatives are just so important.

To not be engaged in the forms of communication that this technology
affords means, as an English teacher, you are unable to inform and educate
students on how to become a constructive member of today’s society.

It comes from Gareth Davies, one of many educators who understand the relevancy of ICT in education today. What he writes, especially in this article is something that ought to allows to address the pedagogic implications in greater earnest.

Pupil Health & Safety

TeacherNet: Pupil Health & Safety

Just a reflection on the way last week started...

In the 12 years that I have been teaching PE and games no one has ever been seriously hurt until, that is, last Monday. What makes me laugh is that with all the angst & worry over health and safety in school sports, particulary rugby, the only child ever to damage themselves in one of my sessions is a 6 year old who was actually standing still at the time!

There we were, me and my Monday afternoon Year 1 football class. Running up and down, a few at a time, dribbling the ball. Then, from just over my right shoulder I hear a child crying. Turning round I saw X, who was waiting their turn, lying on the floor in what looked like a lot of pain.

Now as I mentioned above, I 've never encountered a serious injury. Also I've seen a lot of whinging kids who just had a bang. But there was a different quality to this little person's reaction. I could just sense it. So, I called for the nurse and she came running and dealt with the situation before the other 19 five and six year-olds ran amok!

Sure enough there was a broken arm. The child had simply over balanced while fiddling with the ball and fallen over. A freak accident.

So, the next time anyone tries to tell me how dangerous rugby is for young children...

BBC NEWS | Business | At-a-glance: The Stern Review

What price responsibility? Is this what we educate for? To promote a sustainable future? To engender a responsible attitude?

The Stern Review

The importance of literacy & numeracy is clear when placed in the context of the future with which our children have to contend. They have to be able to read & critically analyse reports & data presented to them & make up their own minds as to the role that they want to play in ensuring a sustainable future.

Parents 'want safer school trips'

Here's one to watch. If school management has any challenges, this is one of the biggest...

BBC NEWS | Education | Parents 'want safer school trips'

Four steps to being chucked on the scrapheap

EducationGuardian.co.uk - Four steps to being chucked on the scrapheap

As always - a little sense on our chaotic world & another opportunity to post on the occasional theme of: "Why the Independent Sector is best!"

Reading through the article by Phillip Beadle, above, is once again proof that established & experienced teachers (regardless of the sector in which they work) know how to create learning experiences for their pupils.

Some teachers believe that the four-part lesson plan is a move to
standardise to such an extent that anyone can deliver a lesson. It seeks to
take the element of professional judgment out of teaching, so that it is no
longer a graduate job, and lessons can be delivered by teaching
assistants.

He goes on to support the valuable work that teaching assistants do. However it highlights the essential freedoms that exisit in the indeepndent sector and how our colleagues in Maintained schools are continually harangued to conform to a model that many know to be unworkable, ineffective and uninspiring for both teacher and learner.

His message - To teach as you are inspired. Communicate with the pupils in a way that delivers your objectives so that they can be remembered and used!

Planet Under Pressure

BBC NEWS Science/Nature Introduction: Planet Under Pressure

So...turn off electrical items at the wall

Please Don't Tell The Head of Music!

BBC NEWS | Health | Music training boosts the brain

Well this will really prove a point! Scientifically proven: Music education improves brain function.

I certain it does. But then I listen to the year 3 music carousel & its my brain function that needs boosting!

School fee inflation 'slows down'

BBC NEWS | Business | School fee inflation 'slows down'

So what does it mean? Maybe the post-millenium building programme has ceased and we are not hiking our fees to pay for them! Perhaps we are keen not to turn off the new generations of parents somewhat apprehensive to take the plunge into Independent Education. The article ends with the quote:

"Despite the growing relative expense of sending a child to a private school, this has become a more popular option for parents.

In 2005/06 they accounted for 6.7% of all school places, up from 6.2% five years ago."

If fees cease to rise so rapidly we maybe seeing a rise in the numbers in Independent school places.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Are private schools thriving?

Very wel worth a read...

BBC NEWS | Education | Are private schools thriving?

The answer, according to Mike Baker, is yes, however...

"Some leading members of the independent sector are now warning against complacency."

In our increasingly pluralistic world the Independent education represents choice and accountability. Thus ensuring security for parents as they invest both financially and emotionally in their children's future. Away from the homogeneity and bureaucracy, foisted upon our colleagues in the maintained, surely Independent schools' survival is based on the opportunity to embrace new trends in Teaching and Learning whilst retaining the values which are being eroded.