A Principled view

At the start of the Autumn Term 2014, the Guardian Newspaper ran an article on Michael Rosen, Poet, former children’s laureate, broadcaster and scourge of the Coalition government, to coincide with the publication of his latest book, Good Ideas: How to be Your Child’s (and Your Own) Best Teacher.  The article is worth the read, here, covering in a few hundred words both Rosen’s own life story and the reasoning behind why he felt it was time to write anew on parenting.  I suspect he is so much luckier than most parents, given the 40 years of practice he has had been a Dad, and as a result much more relaxed now perhaps than he was with his first born. Indeed as the article alludes, his second son Eddie died, aged 18, of meningococcal septicaemia in 1999, and we are left in no doubt that father Rosen faced grief full on at that time.  It left him very much believing that with your children, “What do you do every minute, every hour… that’s what matters.”

Michael Rosen’s book is deeper than this, not just about living life for the moment, but being there with your children, catching them when their curiosity is piqued and running with them to explore ideas and celebrate the learning that follows. I share the same philosophy, and in terms of behaviour agree with author Margaret Goldthorpe in similar vein, when she reminds us that we should ‘catch children being good and praise them for that’. Margaret writes for schools rather than parents, helping teachers understand how to build better relationships both within school and with parents, so it’s not quite so easy to highlight one book that says it all. However, her ‘Stay Cool in School’ helps those working with 7-11 year olds how to put across some difficult messages, such as ‘handling the desire to show off’ or learning ‘to admit we were wrong’. What I like about this book is that the core messages come through understanding the issues that Jesus Christ highlighted through his ‘Sermon on the Mount’.

‘Stay Cool in School’ does not require the children to have Christian beliefs. But at a time when we are challenged to be espouse British values, it is no bad thing to have a look at the underlying christian beliefs that underpin our society.  Having a better understanding of the way Jesus of Nazareth said we should live is no bad thing around Christmas time, very much a time when children are curious about belief and faith.  Whether it be for adults or children, it’s no bad thing to consider the moral and ethical implications of Jesus’ advice for our lives in 2015, and help guide us in choosing the kind of politics we want our country run by, following May’s general election.

It’s Christmas Eve as I write this blog, stimulated by a wonderful article written by Anne Atkins, on why she is looking forward to a school christmas dinner up in Durham, where her daughter Rosie sings as a chorister at Durham Cathedral. No adult here by the way, Rosie is of school age and following in a very strong family tradition of singing for her supper, schooling and all. You can read that article here, in which we learn how Anne’s grandfather and father, herself, and now both husband and children are bound together by a tradition of caroling through the generations. What Anne highlights as part of her article is that Rosie could not have followed in her family’s tradition of singing at King’s College Cambridge, because that is a male only choir, true of many other great choral foundations. As a result, Rosie Atkins has had to travel 200 miles North to ‘earn her living’ at the Chorister School, in Durham Cathedral’s back yard.

Anne Atkins spoke at our Speech Day at the start of this last term, and gave us 3 bits of advice for the future – 1.  Dare to dream your dreams! 2. Let your dreams develop! 3. Never, never, never, never give  up! She clearly runs her family fortunes by these, or otherwise neither Roise or Mum would be looking forward to Christmas dinner on Christmas Day at school. I know just how ridiculously hard it is to train a voice to be good enough for cathedral choir; it’s not something that happens to a child, any more than does great acting, sportsmanship or academic achievement. What works for many is that that path to success has been trod before by members of the family, be they parents, grandparents or even more distant relatives up the family tree.

There can be no better time for most of our families than Christmas, a time when generations do indeed come together, if not in person, then enabled by the extraordinary developments of technology over the past 20 years or so, via web, app, twitter and webcam. What Rosen, Goldthorpe and Atkins show us in common is that wisdom comes through experiences, bitter or sweet, and not necessarily in equal measure. What their own experiences teach us about parenting is that there are no easy answers, but a pretty decent set of route maps visible to those that want to use one.

And finally…if there is one other Blog post of mine I’d want you to read before the close of the year it is this one: “You have only failed if you have given up. Until then, it is called Learning”. You see, Christmas comes with all sorts of family games and competitions, when some of the family members can’t understand why they keep hitting the snake (rather than the ladders) or run out of digital lives  or can’t quite get their Q to hit the Triple letter score. And I know, from that same generational experience that Anne Atkins refers to, that it is only a matter of time and practice before the ladders, lives and scrabble of life become available for those who strive.  Perhaps 2015?

As this Autumn term 2014 closes, it does so with newsletter, publications and reports galore for parents and pupils to read and enjoy.  Some of the creative writing in the Christmas edition of Scribblings is quite extraordinary, capturing in very different ways the ideas around remembrance.  As the Sporting Court Circular shows too, the sheer range and diversity of achievements by our pupils within sport last year raises the heart beat and takes my breath away – and I am just reading the prose, not participating in any way.

At the close of 2014 our community is some 1010 pupils and 200+ staff, working so successfully that we provide living testament to our belief that there is excellence within every child, whatever their starting points. We don’t select on artistic or creative ability and yet we are celebrating national awards holders in these fields. There is no reason for so many of our sportsmen and women to be selected for county and/or regional representation, other than they really do want to train hard, acquire the skills and put them to the test.

What the staff, be they teachers, coaches, instructors, administration or grounds staff show is an overwhelming dedication to the school, not because we ask them to show that, but because there is within our school a moral imperative to give every child that personal attention we know will make a difference.

And by way of celebration of our staff and what they can do, please enjoy watching this short video of the Senior Boys School Staff Choir at the end of term Carol Service. All of the rehearsal is done in their own time, led by John Carr, our data manager, whose skills ensure boys and girls, young and old, receive reports published out of our database.  He is a remarkable musician, and digital film maker as well.  John is seen conducting the choir, having set up the cameras in the church prior to the service. Behind every successful man is an even more successful woman, and the Senior Boys Director of Curriculum, Pauline Carr, was also on hand to ensure the cameras behaved! Senior Boys’ Director of Music, Adrian Roach also deserves enormous credit, for providing an environment in school where singing is seen to be really cool, for being open to all kinds of music trends emerging amongst students and the wider world, and for being in the forefront and leading the digitising of our provision. Two of Adrian’s pupils are now in the staff choir, Lucy and Hannah Wardman, as of course is Adrian himself, second right.

O Magnum Mysterium – Victoria

As the 17th Century Japanese Poet identified, ‘An idea can turn to dust or magic, depending upon the talent that rubs against it’.  So to in schools, we need both children and staff to be open to the ‘concept’ of excellence, even though at the outset, neither will not really know what the outcome might resolve itself to be. If we were just to concentrate on Literacy and the STEM subjects, as so much rhetoric currently coming out of DfE and politicians mouths, then that would be a surefire guarantee we would have no music, no art, no creative or dramatic life. I love the fact that we are renowned for our Science, Technological and Mathematical provision, and that many children go on to pursue these disciplines at A level and University beyond. But with so much talent in every child, it really does fulfill our mission to ensure that we surface every bit of magic that lies therein.

Have a great break and see you in 2015!

A perfect storm is brewing within the Education community around English curriculum assessment, examination, marking and reporting. Michael Gove probably lost his job directly because of it, and his successor, Nicky Morgan is already in trouble over it with the Parliamentary Education Select Committee.

If you do not already know, everything in English national assessment terms has been changed. National curriculum levels have been scrapped because long-term research identified no lasting improvement in standards. Primary school training courses abound on assessing without levels, whilst Ofsted is now making it clear that marking and assessment methods are to be changed/reduced. At secondary level, GCSEs are in turmoil, with new grading systems and ‘fatter’ English and Maths subjects coming in next September, the rest to follow in 2016. Out with grades A* to G, in with grades 10 to 1, with 4 being the equivalent of a C. Most state secondary schools reacted by shortening their pre-GCSE programmes to Years 7 and 8 only, with GCSE courses starting in Year 9 and early takes in Year 10. But the DfE now insists GCSEs can only be taken at the end of Year 11! Many A Levels are also changing from September 2015 (Geography and others in 2016, Maths in 2017). When the subjects change, they are decoupled from the AS Levels taken at the end of Year 12, so that students are to be examined on 2 years’ work by terminal written exam. In the midst of this chaos, the government has now changed its league table structures for January 2015, and changed them again for January 2016. A considerable number of GCSE subjects are no longer to be counted, such as our own iGCSE English exam, even though they are and will remain accepted in England and all over the world. You simply could not make it up.

As Academic Principal of Claires Court, I am steering us clear of the turmoil. Having abandoned the National Curriculum 7 years ago, we are now adept at measuring attainment, progress and effort as was independently confirmed at inspection last March – http://www.clairescourt.com/files/CC_REPORT_with_cover_2014.pdf. Sections 3.27 to 3.31 describe how well we were doing then, and we have continued to develop our processes carefully. What we are not going to do is leave the English national examinations system (GCSE and A levels) not least because universities and employers in this country understand them as do all higher education institutions in Europe and America. Above all, as a nation we understand the framework, we have grown up with choice at 16 and the reduction of subjects studied in the Sixth Form. That flexibility means that our 18+ year olds are already becoming pretty specialist in what they know and can do really well. Accountants, scientists, medics, linguists, designers and actors all find their niche at this stage, and it also means that in-degree work placements and exchanges with other seats of learning and industry powerhouses can be arranged easily

If your child is in Early Years to Juniors at Claires Court, we have adjusted our reports significantly to reflect more accurately how your child is performing within his/her curriculum and against the Claires Court Essentials. At secondary level, our use of Attainment gradings for subject will continue, because they align closely with how we see performance mapping onto GCSE and A Level outcomes later on. We have reduced the content of the Year 7 to Year 9 December reports to ensure teachers and pupils spend more time on curriculum activity and skill development. For those pupils with learning differences and difficulties, their individual education plans will continue to be updated each term, to keep our focus on specific improvement clear. Early in the new year, our revised offer for GCSEs, old and new, will be published to assist Year 9 pupils and parents with option choices, and meetings to support parents in those choices are planned for early February. Even though our 2015 Sixth Form handbook is already published, we will update this shortly to reflect any changes made necessary by the roll-out of the new A Levels. As with the vast majority of our publications and policies, you will find them on our website either in the ‘Parent Area’ or under the ‘Academic’ tab.

We’ll continue to keep watch as those that steward our national qualifications bicker and argue and fail to act in a timely manner. We are supposed to be teaching a totally new harder Chemistry A level  syllabus  next Autumn, but that has still to be released because QCA want to toughen up the Maths component of it substantially.  AS with the new Maths A level (delayed until 2017 now), you can’t just toughen up requirements at A level without  permitting the time for toughening up below in Years9, 10 and 11. And therein lies the rub; just because central government has decided it wants our 16 year olds to compete more  strongly  against those in Shanghai, doesn’t mean to say that degree of progress is possible. A generation ago, just 8% of children went to University, now it is closer to 50%. That’s a better measure of real progress, with the vast majority of new well paid jobs emerging at the graduate level.

The remarkable mind that brought you QI, Blackadder and Spitting Image asks one of the world’s simplest but most significant questions – what do we really need to know? What should we teach our children, and what important information should all adults have at their disposal? Legendary producer John Lloyd turns his curiosity to knowledge itself, and questions whether intelligence is really all it’s cracked up to be.