The rain it raineth every day (part 2)…

Posted on 11/06/2012 by jameswilding

As readers of my first Principal’s Blog of June will know, this sceptred Isle is doing my head in at present, what with ‘the rain that raineth every day’. How on earth is a child to learn to value the ‘Summer game’ when, despite the very best of a groundsman’s efforts, the green sward is actually unplayable without flippers and water-wings?

Back at school today, and it’s clear that whilst many enjoyed the ‘diamond’ celebrations, other teaching and support staff succombed to the typical teacher lergy – having burnt the candle at both ends by the end of May, those who permitted themsleves an exhausted slump let down their immune system barriers too!

There are so many more major education news stories breaking this week, it is going to be difficult to keep up. First things first then.

  • It is reported today that Mr Gove is moving rapidly forward with the dismantling of the National Curriculum at primary school level, and replacing it with something that is even more prescriptive than before. Having decided that NC levels don’t work, he has demanded that a replacement set of assessments need to be in place for May 2015. In the hands of skillful teachers, pretty much any curriculum is exciting imaginative and rewarding; I dread the compulsory arrival of ‘all pupils being able to recite their 12 times table at 9’ or the imposition of synthetic phonics over and above a more blended programme. What I think is right is that schools must present their pupils with real challenge. The current advantage for our kind of school is that we know this, and that all of our children must thrive, not just jump hoops. Read more about the Govt. proposals here – http://goo.gl/LMqK8
  • On the digital side, the ICT national curriculum has been retained, but schools are free to do something better, and I honestly think ISA schools can continue to lead from the front in this area. Critically important is to get the mix right, and a great picture of what needs to be achieved has been produced by NAACE.

The critique of this disapplication is that schools lack the imagination to devise a better curriculum and need firm guidance. This so smacks of NC dependency – as teachers I really do thing we should be able to devise great things for children to do, and they are very capable of leading us forward given some encouragement.

  • I fear the arrival of compulsory MFL at primary school level, one of the new recommendations; in the right hands, this can be a liberating experience, but how are state school teachers to differentiate between the increased requirements to encourage rote learning in English, Maths and Science, and not make that fundamental mistake of force feeding 7 year olds vocabulary and grammar to learn at the same time in the chosen target language. It really is a confusing call to arms – more of that below. In the meantime, I wonder how the British Dyslexia Association will advise their advice downwards to include 7 year olds on how SENCos can support MFL – http://goo.gl/iEaqT . Expect a new raft of ‘statementing’ to rapidly follow, as Parents, whose own education made none of these demands, show they have neither the ability or patience to keep up with Mr Gove’s new way of learning.
  • The whole problem to my mind in ‘going back to the future’, building in all these ‘memory’ challenges for children is that we don’t seem to have the 21st Century young adult in mind when going about the rough drafting of such changes, let alone the younger learner. Lordy me, how on earth are they to keep up with their recitation of Cargoes by John Masefield, a party piece apparently of mine, when aged 8 (perhaps the kind of verse Mr Gove has in mind?):

“Quinquireme of Nineveh from distant Ophir,

Rowing home to haven in sunny Palestine,

With a cargo of ivory,

And apes and peacocks,

Sandalwood, cedarwood, and sweet white wine.

Stately Spanish galleon coming from the Isthmus,

Dipping through the Tropics by the palm-green shores,

With a cargo of diamonds,

Emeralds, amythysts,

Topazes, and cinnamon, and gold moidores.

Dirty British coaster with a salt-caked smoke stack,

Butting through the Channel in the mad March days,

With a cargo of Tyne coal,

Road-rails, pig-lead,

Firewood, iron-ware, and cheap tin trays”.

  • Just think of the amazing curriculum week you could wrap this poem around, offering as it does in under 100 words a possible insight into everything a child should ever know, from the history of the ancients to the boom and bust cycles in our Island’s economy, with the whole problem of the mediterranean’s alternative economy to the Euro as a sandwich in the middle! As the DfE gently stated after Mr Gove announced his curriculum – they’ll be saying a bit more after the drafts have been further consulted upon! You can have your say here – http://www.education.gov.uk/consultations/
  • University status is now going to be conferred onto colleges down to 1000 students in size – http://goo.gl/eEYoj. What is happening here is that those specialist University colleges such as St Mary’s and Marjons can grow up and join the big boys, even though they are small – is this not grade inflation?

One of my google thingies is a search on all matters relating to ‘Closure of Independent Schools’ which automatically pops results into my in-box daily. As a result, I have been following the heoric struggles of a number of our independent schools in England to keep afloat despite the stormy economic weather we have faced for years now. Well done to Chetwynde School in Barrow that announced last week that it had found a mystery benefactor and its future was secured for next year – a story that has run for weeks – http://goo.gl/bnH0D. Bad luck to Norman Court School near Winchester that lost its benefactor, and is closing next month – http://goo.gl/3U282.

What amazes me is that there is now more than one English curriculum school a day opening outside of the UK, actually over 400 a year – that’s more than in ISA, HMC, GSA or SHMIS! There simply are not going to be enough English teachers around to keep them populated with suitable, qualfied teaching staff at this rate, but it’s a great British export of which we should be really proud. In many ways, it’s so easy if you are running a school abroad to work out what your first MFL is going to be – English of course, unless you are close to the Chinese economic area. Malaysia feels it has really struggled since it abandoned English as one of its core subjects, though its great rival Singapore is now much more actively teaching Mandarin. Do bear in mind that India overtakes China in 20 years time as the most populous nation, and since English is that countries dominant language of business and education, I guess our language will continue to give the rest a good run for their money.

But that growth of English education abroad does provide our sector in the UK real opportunities to find friends and partner up. I am a great advocate of cross-country blogging, where primary schools in Quads of Four join up to meet and write together – you can find out more from Deputy headteacher Dave Mitchell, and do give it a go! “QuadBlogging is a leg up to an audience for your class/school blog. Over the last 12 months 70,000 pupils have been involved in QuadBlogging from 2000 classes in over 35 countries. The concept is simple, either watch the short video to the right or keep reading…http://goo.gl/OVG7L “

And finally, spare a thought for those half-term holiday revellers whose caravans got caught in the floods in Wales – here some remarkable footage from YouTube.

(this newsletter was also published for the benefit of the 300 schools in ISA as part of a weekly briefing I provide).

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And the rain it raineth every day…(part 1)

Posted on 11/06/2012 by jameswilding

I studied Twelfth Night for my English Literature O’ Level extermination back in the day. That was the first time I was introduced to the heroic nature of clowns & fools, who are it must be said obligatory characters in Shakespeare’s plays. Now I am not going to bore you, dear reader, with an essay on the finer points of the Bard or indeed other authors, past and present. The simple fact is, whether writing Comedy or Tragedy, Shakespeare took it upon himself to introduce a character or group of characters, who by their words or actions could both lighten the load and bring broader social comment to bear.

The Fool inTwelfth night is introduced to us as Feste, but from that point onwards is simply referred to as ‘Fool’. Towards the end of the play, he has this song to give:

When that I was and a little tiny boy,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
A foolish thing was but a toy,
For the rain it raineth every day.

But when I came to man’s estate,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
‘Gainst knaves and thieves men shut their gate,
For the rain, it raineth every day.

But when I came, alas! to wive,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
By swaggering could I never thrive,
For the rain, it raineth every day.

But when I came unto my beds,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
With toss-pots still had drunken heads,
For the rain, it raineth every day.

A great while ago the world begun,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain.
But that’s all one, our play is done,
And we’ll strive to please you every day.

And in April, May and June 2012, hasn’t it just rained!  So we can of course be certain that whilst Twelfth Night is set on the Adriatic shores of modern Croatia, in practice our Will is drawing on his intimate knowledge of British weather.  So pity the modern day entertainers, be they actors, athletes, singers, sportsmen or whoever.  In that time of the year when the  calendar is crammed full of outdoor events, isn’t it a crying shame that the weather can’t be relied upon to behave and give us some balmy climate fit for purpose.

As I write, the rain is scudding across the window panes early morning as we return from half-term.  Like the Monarch of our Isles, we won’t be prevented from making a really good fist of school, at work and play for the remaining 5 weeks and weekends of term – didn’t the Queen do so well last weekend? But perhaps like that Fool from Shakespeare, I have been made somewhat melancholic by the interminable drizzle that has punctured our cricket season so effectively! Thanks goodness athletics, DofE, rowing and sailing seem slightly better prepared for a ‘wet’ life!

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Making sense of the noise…and building a better curriculum for the future.

Posted on 23/05/2012 by jameswilding

I have been a bit quiet on the blogging front recently, in part because my time has been filled with some quite extraordinary school-based activity. Now that’s not just the usual business of school, busy every day clearly, and now with the examination season well under way, this morning we have over 600 children being put through their paces. That change in operational behaviour needs care and consideration to implement the short whole school exam season effectively.

The new business I am about is the whole scale review of our curriculum currently under way, brought about entirely through our own choice. Now the review is not just about the explicit set of classroom activities our teachers use to engage their pupils; we are including all of the other things we cause to make happen too, from homework, clubs, activities, trips, residentials and other opportunities.

Review does not mean whole root and branch reform of everything of course, because so much of what we do is effective, engaging, exciting and dare I say even fun. But I do suspect that our review is going to cause some more radical reorientation, because the removal of examination by bite-size does mean we have time to build and develop rather more carefully the reading, writing and investigative, skills of our pupils, so that they stand the test of terminal examination at the end of a 2, 3 or 4 year course. Let me explain further.

Currently, with a GCSE syllabus broken down into between 4 and 8 assessment events, with some resit opportunities for those modules’ controlled assessments which did not give high enough outcomes, there has been precious little time or need to build in deep reading and research activities. BBC GCSE bitesize and of course many other publishers, including the exam boards themselves, have produced umpteen examples of multiple choice assessments which learners have used to good effect to rehearse and improve their ability to respond under pressure. The examiners themselves have highlighted the very specific responses they are looking for in answers involving continuous prose, one way for Language, another way for Literature for example on the same extract. Successful learners have been able to quote this assessment mantra, understood the requirements to lay down with a trowel in like manner when answering questions on Shakespeare. It has been much less about the ‘book’ and much more about ‘pleasing the examiner’.

Put simply, short-termism has been the order of the day. If you can learn all that you need on Forces and Motion in 3 months, take an assessment on that knowledge and move-on, then there is neither time, space or need to build in activities that build more profound understanding and embed more permanently the subject skills and techniques required. But that comes to an end from this September for exam groups beneath Year 11, and it is quite clear that the long range intentions of those that manage UK exam factory plc. are to leverage similar change at A level too.

Exploring further the research evidence flowing out of Ofqual, OfSted, DfE, other national and international bodies, it’s clear that the England approach of National Curriculum levelling itself is running to the end of its course, providing now a corrupting influence over what happens in state schools, with its target-led approach to raising standards. In addition, whether it be for the early years, for specific subject based education such as Mathematics or more generally in terms of subject acceleration toward public examination below 16, early teaching of more advanced skills and subject matter is almost entirely counter-productive. Full-time socialisation might be important for those under 6, but starting academic work and losing a child’s natural curiosity to play at this age is wholly counterproductive. As yesterday’s report on Maths education shows by Sir Michael Wilshaw, Chief Inspector of Schools, , accelerating children towards GCSE grade C early “is at the expense of adequate understanding and mastery of mathematics needed to succeed at A level and beyond”.

One of the great purposes of Education to keep learners open to learning in all subject areas for as long as possible, to build innate competency as deeply as one can, and to refuse to let go of those ready to give-up, to keep them engaged so that when that next step of intellectual development happens, the individual child has remained open to the possibility that they ‘can’ achieve after all. The leading countries for achievement (as identified through the OECD and their PISA research) do so by starting education later, by having a less crowded curriculum, by using assessment testing for diagnostic purposes (rather than for league tables) for intervention and support, and by keeping their learners as broad as possible for as long as possible.

So it’s our job as educators to keep our young boys and girls open and prepared for future challenges. They need to be able to analyse, reason and communicate effectively, and have the capacity to continue learning throughout life. The fact that the word ‘teacher’ only appears in this essay twice is critically important; the process of education is not about ‘us’ the adults. We know our responsibility is to keep the child at the centre of each learning opportunity; the room they find to day-dream or switch off might be important too on occasion, though that’s another blog. Sure, there is a body of knowledge to wade through, poems to memorise, languages to practice and skills to acquire, but the plan needs to be long-term and joined up. It takes 7 years of practice, or 10,000 hours (dependent upon which research model you use) for a dancer to be genuinely able to improvise, for a sportsman to reach the peak of their game under pressure, or dare I say a Historian to write a great essay; that degree of discipline builds deep knowledge and technique, and we should wish that for all in our schools.

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#purposedu – my reason to go to work!

Posted on 08/05/2012 by jameswilding

I own and lead a full range all-ability school of 1000 pupils, sitting in that part of the eastern Thames Valley known as the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead. I believe the purpose of education is to provide for fully facilitated learning in all we can do. We plan and build confidence and happiness to a set of rules to guide boys and girls to share, forgive, listen, try, be honest, kind and helpful, and treat others as they would wish to be treated. The ‘Golden rules’ wash through everything we do. They form the foundation for each individual, so that they are caring, respectful, loyal, well-balanced, take responsibility and show integrity. Happiness and Self-worth are essential in the lives of both children and adults, and we try to manage that pupils, parents and staff have an exceptional experience of school, which should indeed be the happiest days of their lives.

But dig in further and you’ll find we ‘get’ learning’; it’s not just about knowledge and problem solving, essential though these are as skills. We build confident and resilient learners who also inquire, communicate, create, collaborate, reflect, think critically and take risks. And we can’t do this if all we know are subjects, so we play great sport and go outward bound (from a very young age) on both land and water, locally and in wild country. Classrooms can be anywhere, and we have hands-on in our local community, in the great museums of the country or abroad across the globe (in person or virtually). We compete, sing, act, paint, design, dance, make music, and perform at every age level, and such work does not play ‘second fiddle’ to the exam room.

Our children can graduate from our school at any age for other schools, primary, secondary and 6th Form, and we celebrate those successful departures as openly as we do those that leave having spent their entire lives in our learning establishment, secure in the knowledge that we have always held them as individuals at the core of the choices we helped them make so that they can become their best selves, and often achieving beyond their imaginations.

I have worked at Claires Court for 38 years; it embodies all that I feel it should, a no-blame culture in which children are able to make imaginative and often extraordinary choices. And our past pupils are in the main the most charming, engaging, generous and successful adults you could wish to meet, and few ever worried about whether they were in a league table or measured and deemed unworthy. Sure they learned to fail, but they got back up again, had another go, gained from their mistakes, became comfortable in their skin and stayed learners far longer than one dares to hope for! I engage in the debate of the purpose of education each day I come to work, I know that perhaps my greatest influence has been to articulate that pupose by modelling the best kind of education for children.
This Education is one fit for all, whatever their gender, ability, age or circumstance, and continues to give me ‘#purposedu’ each day, and at the age of 58, I know I am the luckiest man alive.

You can find out more about the Purpos/ed campaign here – http://purposed.org.uk/2012/04/500words-take-2/

 

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World Meningitis Day – Tuesday 24 April

Posted on 20/04/2012 by jameswilding

At our senior boys’ school, one of the four houses is known as Kelly House, named after Edward Kelly, who died aged 14 on 13th February 1996 of Meningitis. Edward’s health had been compromised at a much younger age by a digestive disorder, but he had learned to live through that into a robust and healthy adolescence.  He had gone to watch his beloved Wycombe Wanderers play earlier that evening, had felt ill and quickly succumbed to Meningitis, dying later the same night.  Edward’s family and friends grieved for his loss, but with great dignity, and shortly thereafter the country led a massive campaign to vaccinate against this disease.

Today I received an email from my good friend Joanne Harris, Headmistress of Hemdean House School, asking for support to raise awareness for World Meningitis day.  She attached a compelling letter from Alison Coneybeare, one of her governors, and I share its contents with you for that obvious reason of raising your awareness of this killer in our midst.  You can download a colour chart showing much on the identification of the illness here – http://goo.gl/PoYS3

On Tuesday 24 April 2012, the Confederation of Meningitis Organisations (CoMO) and its global members are encouraging individuals, families and communities to learn the signs and symptoms of meningitis, the importance of urgent treatment of the disease, and that prevention is available through vaccination against some forms of meningitis – as part of its fourth annual World Meningitis Day. Meningitis UK is the UK affiliate of the organisation.

To mark the day your school has kindly agreed to distribute this letter.

Our family has had first-hand experience of this devastating disease and by sharing the story of our daughter’s illness we hope to encourage you all to take 5 minutes today to learn the symptoms of meningitis: it could save the life of someone you love.

Our story

Our 8 month old daughter, Eleanor, contracted meningicoccal septicemia in April last year.  She had been unwell for a couple of days with cold-like symptoms – high peaking temperatures that paracetamol did not bring down, vomiting, being off her milk and food. I took her to the GPs’ surgery but unfortunately we could not see our usual doctor.  The doctor we saw diagnosed a viral throat infection.  I questioned him about the vomiting but he said it was just due to the temperatures. 

I was due to take Eleanor and her brothers to see her grandparents and following the doctor’s diagnosis we decided to go.  That night she vomited again but the next morning she seemed to be a little better and had a milk feed.  During the day she even had a little solid food. 

Then at about 8.00pm her breathing suddenly became laboured and rasping, her skin looked very pale and her eyes were just staring into the distance.  We called the on-call doctor and he told us to call the ambulance straight away.  As soon as they arrived they said she needed to go straight into hospital.  That journey to the hospital seemed to go on forever. On arrival Eleanor was immediately treated in A&E.  Looking back they started to prepare us for the worst even then.  They told me that  Eleanor had been overwhelmed by a bacterial infection.  They said that I should get her Dad there as soon as possible.

She had been in A&E for about five hours and was being transferred to Liverpool’s Alder Hey Children’s Hospital when the rash that many people associate with meningitis first started to appear.  We have no doubt that if we had waited for the rash to appear before calling the ambulance she would not be alive now.

Eleanor spent the next week in the Children’s Intensive Care Unit at Alder Hey.  She needed a huge amount of medical support just to stay alive. It was the longest week of our lives. She pulled through, but had to spend a further 6 weeks in hospital.  She has been left permanently disabled following the amputation of her right leg at the knee and varying amounts of her fingers on her left hand.  Just when we thought that we had got through everything we found out that she also has severe/profound hearing loss in one of her ears. The appointments seem endless – paediatrics, plastics, orthopaedics, physio, audiology, prosthetics.

What you should do

We are lucky that Eleanor is happy, beautiful and alive. Every year meningitis kills 300 people. While the disease can affect people of all ages, infants, children and adolescents are at an increased risk of infection. Please take the time to learn the symptoms and trust your instincts. I wish that I had pushed harder at that first doctor’s appointment.

A Meningitis UK-commissioned survey revealed that the UK public trusts GPs far more than other professions such as bankers, politicians, and journalists.

It showed 43 per cent of people trust GPs implicitly compared to just three per cent for bankers and one per cent for politicians, estate agents and journalists. However, findings also show that only 25 per cent of people will trust their instincts and take further action if they are still worried after receiving advice from a doctor. Meningitis UK wants people to have the confidence to trust their instincts if they suspect meningitis and to keep pushing at the doctor’s surgery if they still suspect the disease.

Should you wish to support the research of Meningitis UK or you can make a donation online at www.meningitisuk.org.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.  If you have any questions or concerns  please  go to the Meningitis UK  website where there is a wealth of support information.  You can find a pdf of the symptoms to download and keep to hand here – http://goo.gl/PoYS3 

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Missing April Fools Day

Posted on 18/04/2012 by jameswilding

I am sure I am not the only educator whose life is defined by School. Now that’s not to say that I don’t have another life, I do.  It’s not terribly exciting it must be said, but it suits me. My wife and I work together, but Jenny and I see very little of each other at work, so come the holidays and we get to know each other again, and engage in the kind of activities that consenting adults of a certain age do. 2 weeks of an Easter break and I can confirm that our garden is ‘fit to grow’, with the floral and veggie patches both breathing a sigh of relief that our attentions have been diverted back to school. Frankly, if we don’t have a groaning table of delights from early summer onwards, I’ll eat my gardening gloves!  Ok the 2 week break wasn’t actually that; Term ended on the Thursday, major staff workshops on the Friday and then 2 days of office time followed by 2 days at the Google Teacher Academy and my time off looks rather more like 10 days. But  the time spend with friends and family, recharging batteries and doing things not timed by ‘Bells’ was fabulous. We paid a great visit to the growing wealth of ‘Bletchley Park‘, the centre for WW2 code cracking and it is a real testament to human endeavour, past and present, and I’ll write about that more shortly.

However, I am defined by my professional life, and I go to work every day hoping to have a huge amount of fun.  Yes, I know it seems a bit unfashionable to say it, but Learning and Education ought to be the most fun thing that ever happens in one’s life.  School and University days really ought to be the happiest days, an extended period of ‘messy’ learning when we collaborate with all sorts of people, things, events and celebrations, bump and bruise our knees, shins and elbows a bit, make and lose friends, explore what we could possibly be sometime in the future and perhaps even dare to be someone or achieve something beyond our wildest imaginations.

So that’s how April Fools day fits in, the approved day of the year when we can really stretch the imaginations beyond breaking point, tease those whose eyes are not on this main prize (having some fun) and lift even the darkest mood for a few hours.  2012 so some great pranks, my favourites being (in no particular order)

Actually Google had a bit more fun than just this, introducing Google self-drive to Nascar racing, Google Fiber Bar to improve digestive efficiency and Google Tap to smart phones so users could use Morse Code.

OK, none of these 5 were quite as brilliant as the 1957 BBC spoof on Spaghetti farms, but such is the detail given in all 6 spoofs that they seem really quite likely, and a good many people took the bait, hook, line and stinker!  Growing up is all about learning how to differentiate between what’s important and what’s not, and increasingly in this world where information beyond our ken is just a finger tip away, it seems to me that that message is often best put over with a good deal of humour.

So not being in school for April 1 in 2012 means that we missed the opportunity for some serious fun; yep we can invent some April 1 activities (and I am during each of my Assemblies at the start of term) on other days, but it really isn’t quite the same is it. Like unpacking presents before Christmas.  But if you are an adolescent or teachers within Claires Court Schools, watch out for the advent of ‘Assembly Cricket‘ to rival the forthcoming test series against the West Indies, our ‘Commemoration‘ service rival to BBC’s ‘The Voice’ and ‘Strawberry Crumble‘, Claires Court’s version of the innovative ‘Rasberry Pi‘.

And in case you think I am slightly off the mark, consider this as I close; as 2012 moves towards Summer, have those in Public life that ought to know better really shown that they do?  One of this country’s greatest features, what makes its democracy so long lasting, is that we know how to poke fun and bring the mighty down. Satirical writing, be that in print, on the air or on screen does a huge amount to right wrongs and to put people in their place.  OK, not necessarily something that needs to inform every lesson, but certainly one that our children should have the opportunity to experience, and as part of that national psyche that is English!

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End of Term Lent Newsletter 2012

Posted on 02/04/2012 by jameswilding

http://goo.gl/ddWbJ takes you to the PDF of this term’s closing Newsletter.  You can see all sorts of interesting features I am trying to develop – QR codes taking you to a Google.doc version which can expand as the News grow within each section of the Newsletter.

OK, OK, I might be trying a bit hard, but as I am off with Mr Robson to the Google Teacher Academy in Wednesday, please be proud for our school to have 2 of us recognised for the contribution Google feel we are making to the world of digital learning.  This is what we are allowed to say about those 50 they have chosen from umpteen countries for this year’s event:

“How are GTA participants selected?
We look for these critical components:

  • Demonstrated experience leading professional development
  • Ability to reach large numbers of educators
  • Demonstrated experience in using technology in the classroom
  • A desire to collaborate with like-minded educators
  • A passion for teaching and students
  • The ability to overcome obstacles and solve problems; “Do-ers”
  • A personal spark and a passion for innovation

In addition, we try to select participants from a wide geographical area, from different schools/districts, and different roles/specialties.

Well the good news we are only 36 hours away from finding out, and I am really excited.  There is a wall of work after the event to ensure certification follows, but I feel sure we can accomplish those demands to ensure 2 of CCS educators qualify as Google Certified Teachers!

Wish us luck!

 

 

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Politics is the oldest profession of them all…

Posted on 02/04/2012 by jameswilding

Regular readers of my various blogs here and elsewhere, know that I have no idea who can fathom Mr Gove’s next actions. Some seem entirely straightforward – GCSEs to return to a linear format as of Autumn 2012, which is probably fine by me, though I have yet to see how the Exam boards are to translate this imperative into course specifications for teachers to develop into manageable schemes of work over the next few months.

But the breaking news today that A levels are to be owned by Russell Group Universities signals a change of such breath-taking audacity that it’s going to take some thinking through to understand the ramifications of it all. New A levels are to be introduced from September 2014, and it is the Russell Group Universities that are going to dictate the content and mode of assessment of these future replacement qualifications.

Now the really difficult thing is that Universities such as Cambridge have already declared that Mr Gove is wrong about A level reform; 2 years ago Cambridge admissions manager Geoff Parks suggested that interim results from AS levels were really useful for Universities as invaluable indicators of progress! Last December, Baroness Blackstone, writing in the Times Higher Education supplement had this to say about the growing stratification of elite University places into the hands of those who gain AAB at A level – “It is not, however, a diminution in fair access that concerns me most. What really worries me is a socially segregated system of higher education that is being reinforced and made more extreme.”

And Blackstone should know, having led two Universities through the expansion of University access over the last 20 years. She went on to say “The new conventional wisdom is that students with high A-level grades should all be corralled into so-called “top” universities, ie, those that are research intensive. These universities are deemed to be successful by being not just selective, but super-selective in their student recruitment. Now, every newspaper league table of universities heavily weights the input measure of students’ entry qualifications, encouraging universities to be ever more focused on candidates with three As or better.”

Now institutions such as Claires Court are well placed to take advantage of such strategic changes, because our Sixth Form diet is built upon a core of A levels subjects, blended together with an additional mix of vocational end extra-mural commitments. But one third of University places are achieved by other means, such as BTEC and Diploma courses, Now the latter are now dead, but the vocational courses are not, and for the past decade or more, these have provided University entrance for those whose abilities are not conducive to A level studies.

So thank you, Secretary of State for Education, for continuing to bring radical change to the education scene. Your latest positioning seems at odds with even the greatest Universities in the land in terms of A level structures, and just when employers are crying out for the education system to produce graduates with 21st Century skills, it seems very odd that you seem determined to place A levels into the hands of Universities who will have a vested interest in grooming students for their own needs.

We’ll have to wait and see, won’t we! What must be said, is that if University students for the most demanding under-graduate courses are increasingly found to be wanting in terms of study skills for their degree,, it will serve them ill if their first year of studies is just bringing them to scratch. A broad swathe of Universities feel that undergraduates know less and can do less than ever – read more of that in this article from the Daily Telegraph that is 10 years old – http://goo.gl/bYKSv! So let’s be clear, the problems listed have been worrying University entrance tutors for some years now.

This whole scenario reminds me of a very old joke: involving three passengers arguing about which of their professions was the oldest, on their train journey into work. The Builder made it quite clear that his was the first job, creating something from nothing. The Architect went one better, making it clear that it was his plans that preceded the builder, giving the latter plans on how to proceed from the chaos the Architect had found. The Politician trumped them both, declaring triumphantly that it was his that was the oldest profession of them all, creating as he had the Chaos in the first place!

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Our schools are run by the world’s best headteachers…(it says here)

Posted on 19/03/2012 by jameswilding

Across the country, Claires Court Schools have been participating in all sorts of ISA collaborative events, most notably drama and sports competitions as well as the Area meetings.  This time of year seems to be so full of activity, it’s difficult to know how to fit it all in, but pleasingly, as the OECD reports this week, since our schools are run by the world’s best headteachers, it’s actually a breeze for them.  Hem hem.

Suffice it to say that our Under 16 boys and girls won their respective national titles in sporting competition last week in Rugby 7s and Netball, now that’s an amazing turn-out!  You can find our contributions to BBC school report on the main school website and here – http://www.clairescourt.com/news-and-media/bbc-school-report/2012.  The amazing work of Felipe Foy and Anna Hitchin and their committee on the Ridgeway PTA not only delivered an amazing Easter Egg hunt at school on Saturday, but also permitted the rapid development and installation of Castle Watkins – http://goo.gl/CsPRf

Anyone who has heard me speak in recent months knows I am totally fed up with the obsession that now exists in the Press for highlighting that it’s the top secondary schools that make the difference in education.  Now this is such arrant nonsense, it makes my blood boil, so it’s just as well I am not reading the weekend Telegraph with its list of the top 120 secondary schools etc or indeed even reporting it.

And the arrival of Super-Sats papers for 11+ candidates is just more of the same isn’t it.  My school really does have some really able children of this age, but if they are to enjoy the childhood I expect them to have, then their curriculum needs to show breadth as much as it does depth, though we are now being warned that younger teaching entrants to the profession might not have the skills to develop curricular materials.  I dread reading next year that state primary schools are now cranking up the pressure further so that their most able get to solve quadratics etc., yet haven’t actually read widely, used maths in creative ways such as programming or waved a wet paintbrush in creative endeavour or spent more than 1 hour that week on athletic activity.  Oh, and the template for effective primary education so obviously visible in our schools is simply thrown away as state primary schools are allowed to grow to absurd super-sizes.

Anyway, rant over.  The blogosphere has been far more interesting this week, with the 300+ tweeters I follow reminding me (and therefore you) of some lovely pupil centred ideas (in the main).

  1.  LinkedIn – a place where professionals go looking to air their CV and get a better job have now 50 Great LinkedIn Groups for Academics http://t.co/5cbiyJvp
  2. Make your day and bring a smile to your face – they may be shutting Libraries in the UK, but here’s a charming lo-fi video – http://t.co/c0wn0kof – from the Public Library in Shutesbury, Massachusetts encouraging their community to gather around and help.  Fantabulous!
  3. In case you missed it first time around, here’s really what makes a Good Teacher – created by their pupils http://t.co/XYV3Vg9g
  4. This last week so the biggest viral hit ever make news – Kony12 plus some background can be found here – http://t.co/gRWufdDi
  5. Michael Rosen always brings a smile to my face when he writes.  He is now suggesting Headteachers write to parents to tell them about the benefits of books and reading – utterly brilliant idea – http://t.co/5HjMXBnt – Do it now!

A couple of ideas on the Techie-side

  1. Do you ever need to help someone down the phone and think “if only we could share screens”? – you can here – http://goo.gl/twPjM
  2. Five Awesome Virtual Field Trips for Students of All Ages – http://goo.gl/sPEfk

And finally, in a world that talks more about losers than unfortunates, here’s a small dose of Alain de Botton to guide you gently towards a kinder, gentler philosophy of success – http://goo.gl/DwbTc

Have a great last week or so of term!

Best wishes

James Wilding

jtw@clairescourt.com

james.wilding.wordpress.com

@james_wilding

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More than 5 years – trendsetting to extinction with the G-Wiz

Posted on 09/03/2012 by jameswilding

Over a year ago I posted about the joys of driving the (arguably) world’s worst car, the Reva G-Wiz.  For most of the 5 years or so that I have owned the wee beastie, I have been considered a trend setter; dear reader I want to assure you that after 61 months of ownership, I see no sign of others following in my footsteps and I can now declare myself up some kind of evolutionary blind alley.  I am so to speak, an endangered species!

The car still works brilliantly well for what it is; I am at the stage that every time I drive a mile in the car, I get money back in my pocket from the knowledge that the motoring is free and there is no car as economical.  Every now and then I spot a boy walking home from school; much to their dismay I stop and offer them a lift.  It’s like offering someone a lift with a leper, so rapidly do the boys scarper for the safety of the hedegerows! That’s the paradox of the car – ideal in practice, for everything I do in the locality, but the principle is just appalling.  Cars you see are so much more than a vehicle getting you from A to B,  they are required to be an extension of your personality, indeed perhaps even a mirror onto your soul.

But there in lies the rub; I have moved so far beyond that stereotype because they’re just so unhelpful.  Almost all my working life has been spent as a headteacher, with peers and strangers alike not just trying to work me out, but to pigeon hole me too.  And that’s what I don’t like.  I start each day seeking to refresh and renew, as well as to consolidate and affirm.  That’s important because each colleague or family I meet do indeed face new challenges and require support and guidance in equal measure.  There’s no point thinking that there is a formulaic answer for life’s problems; I have experience and professional knowledge to inform what I do, but like all good craftsmen, I know solutions need to be carefully tailored.

So when I bought my G-Wiz, I was looking for a unique solution to my daily work schedule that has me running around Maidenhead to be with my school community.  My friend Keith’s Harley did me proud in the 1990’s but as soon as I found out that the main cause of death for 50 year olds was big bike accidents, that ‘Sportster’ had to be returned to his garage for something safer.  To be honest, travelling at well below sub-sonic speeds my little car feels both safe and maneuverable, but as fans of Top Gear know,  the G-Wiz came out terribly in their crash-dummy test. That fount of all knowledge, Wikipedia informs us that “Experts at the Transport Research Laboratory were so concerned about the Indian-made G-Wiz that they refused to risk their more sophisticated £130,000 crash test dummies – full of electronic instruments – in the test for fear of them being wrecked“.

Sales figures of new G-Wizes are through the floor, the cost of transporting them to the UK and keeping them compliant is beyond any economic business model. But a little perhaps like all the other eccentric things the English are famous for, I am content with my current mode of travel, because it does just fit the bill and it is, after all, a collector’s item.  Who knows, one day I can show it off at the Antiques Roadshow; in the meantime, I’ll stay hugging the kerb except when avoiding the ‘sleeping policemen’, and cherish the last of the ‘Dodoes’ whilst it is with me!

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