Mrs Spencer – Primary Headteacher

This week we had a very special visitor to school.

One of our year 5 girls has been really poorly this year and has not been in school since February. Since February Abigail has had a major operation, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Abigail is now having physiotherapy and we are hoping that she will very soon be back in school.

Last Thursday Abigail came to visit us in school. We tried out the special lift, and generally enjoyed catching up with each other. Abigail is a very brave little girl. Please take the time to read her blog, and if you have time, please do offer her your comments and thoughts.  http://abigail.heathfieldcps.net/

Working in a Collaborative

Today marked the beginning of a new era…..

Whilst working with my rather wonderful LLE I was recently lucky enough to be invited to take part in a school collaborative project. In short we are a group of 5 single form/7 class schools, none of whom have a massive budget. We have all been concerned that over the next three years or so we will probably be facing cutbacks and will need to make savings. My school has always *bought* into most Local Authority service level agreements, however this time we have had started casting our net wider in order to obtain for the best possible value for money.

One of the difficulties that I have faced is that being a Headteacher of a small school, many administrative tasks have fallen to me. With the appointment of the ASBM I can now delegate many tasks previously carried out by myself, safe in the knowledge that they will actually be strategically and more thoroughly completed by a professional trained to carry out the task. My Office Manager and Office Administrator will both have bespoke on-site training in the day to day running of the school. My governors will be more effectively supported and informed at Finance and Premises meetings. Furthermore I am finally seeing the possibility of creating a 5 year plan for curriculum, finance and premises improvement.

Sadly my school cannot afford a full time ASBM and this is where the collaborative begins to make sense. Each school will be entitled to one morning or afternoon each week, depending on individual requirements. The ASBM will carry out similar tasks for all 5 schools, tidying up systems and creating standard operating procedures, thus saving time and energy. The ASBM will benchmark the schools within the group, thus identifying errors and anomalies, also finding best value for money and hopefully procuring consumables at a better rate. The ASBM will also be responsible for identifying funding streams and for bringing money into the group. The ASBM will coordinate half termly meetings within the group so that best practice can be shared.

So how have we afforded this project? For this year each partnership school has agreed to inject £1500 into the project. This when added to the substantial NCSL Project grant creates a very generous pot of money. The ASBM has one year to prove to the partnership that she provides not only a great service, but also a massive improvement in the capacity of the school to improve standards at pupil level. By releasing myself from many of the above tasks I will be able to devote more time, energy and strategic thinking into school improvement at all levels. By next April the ASBM will need to convince me that even without the aid of the NCSL grant she is worth every penny……. I am very optimistic that she will be able to do this.

Just as I am optimistic about the future power of local schools to support each other in the light of vastly decreased Local Authority support.

I’ve been a bit quiet lately on the blogging front. I’ve been thinking about my voice, why I blog and who I am talking to. I have come to the conclusion that what I should be doing is talking to myself – professionally!  The rationale for my blog is that I use it to evaluate school progress, developments, actions and the impact of such actions.

I was in Rochdale on Thursday and was listening to a great speaker (and current headteacher) who was able to simultaneously able to question our professional and moral imperative, make us laugh and inspire us to want to improve our game. There is absolutely no doubt that pupils who leave primary school ill equipped to cope with secondary education will be disadvantaged for many years to come.

I have been chewing over a nutty problem over the last few months which I have found hard to articulate. But I will try anyway! After all, I speak to many other Head teachers almost daily and my *challenge* or *problem* is the same one that many other schools in the North West and nationally are trying to resolve. We are after all a nation of *grafters* and many teachers work very long and very dedicated hours.

After three years of Headship the school has improved in many ways, pupil progress is improving, behaviour, attendance, all of which are key indicators for an *improving school* (Ofsted speak!). However we appear to have met a stumbling block. Pupil progress has improved and then stayed put. We are fighting hard every year to maintain the *good* that we work so hard for, nationally, this is an exhausting and ultimately unsustainable model.  

Schools have reached that key point where we now need to change our approaches in order to climb over that final hurdle and turn the *good* into *fantastic*. So many fellow Head teachers tell me that their staff are working very hard and yet the level of dedication and hard work is not reflected in terms of pupil outcomes.

*We are spending so much of our time and energy trying to

move the boulder up the mountain – the boulder is not shifting

but we are exhausted just trying to keep it where it is*

Over the next few weeks we will be trying out some new ideas, I believe that some small shifts and improvements in expectations and in our ability to reflect on the outcomes may help us to achieve the next stage in our pupil progress journey.

Step 1.

We will begin with real ownership by the pupils of their learning targets. More to follow shortly.

I was in Reception Class one morning this week carrying out one of my regular *Learning Walks*. I was quite thrilled to see the use of ICT to extend the opportunities for learning. The children had been given the task of recording their own learning for their Learning Journals using laminated name cards and a camera.

A group of three boys were busy carrying out their set task of organising a farm yard complete with farm animals enclosed in appropriate pens. I sat down beside them to listen to their conversation; all three boys in the group do have delayed language for a variety of reasons. Once we had established that the house was actually a farm house (more stories about farms needed in YR obviously), it was very clear that the boys knew exactly what their practical task was. They were also extremely competent with their use of the camera and with their technical confidence. No fear of technology here.

However I was fascinated by their spatial awareness development and their perception of what can be seen through the camera lens. The boys had placed the name card at the front of the farm house but were taking photos of the back of the house. When I asked whose work was being recorded they happily retrieved the hidden name card, showed it to me and then put it back where it was. Hidden. When we looked through the lens we couldn’t see the name card.

I asked them to show me again and once again they retrieved the card, showed me and put it back. But the boys felt that this didn’t matter – THEY KNEW it was there. They could show me where it was on the photo even if it was hidden by the wall. Eventually one of the boys decided that he would put the name card where it could be seen on the photo, not hidden behind the house. However the other 2 boys still felt that the name card should be on the other side of the house.

So the boys can use the technology…..but the conceptual spatial understanding is in the early stages of development. So where do I take this discussion next?

Problem solving                             Thinking skills                             Conceptual awareness

There is an ancient Native American story about a tribal elder who is teaching his grandson about life.

“A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two fierce grey wolves.”

“One wolf is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego.”

“The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”

The tribal elder turned to his grandson and said, “The same fight is going on inside every other person too.”

The grandson thought about it for a little while and then  asked his grandfather, “Which one of the two fierce grey wolves will win?”

The old, wise Native American simply replied, “The one you feed.”

It is a truth universally acknowledged that most boys do not enjoy writing…….. So what is happening at Heathfield? Our boys are learning to LOVE the process of writing!

The story began about 14 months ago when Mr Mitchell started experimenting with blogging. Last year seemed to be all about learning to use free online tools, voicethread, primary pad, coveritlive and so on. Gradually however the interest in the tools seems to have been overtaken by the interest in writing itself. Mr Mitchell has been turning writing into an artform, ensuring that every piece has a real reason, a purpose and an audience. Gone are the days of writing “pretend” letters to “pretend” people. Our Year 6 children write instead to our School Advisor, to MPs and to anyone real who can be involved in the latest topic. David also works hard to involve local people, footballers, newspaper editors, real authors, in short anyone he can cajole or bully into helping him.

The combination of audience and real purpose seems to be the key. The Year 6 boys and girls now think that writing is “cool” and they enjoy going home to improve on their first drafts which were written at school.  Consequently our Year 5 and Year 4 boys, who look up to their older peers – (and what an influence older peers can be!!) are thinking that if Year 6 think it’s cool to write, then so do they! Now their siblings in Key Stage 1 want to be able to join in the fun and write stories too!

We are still on the journey. We haven’t arrived yet. But it’s a jolly good journey, we are learning to be a writing school, we are having fun and there are so many adventures yet to be enjoyed!

This month has gone so quickly! And January is always such a busy time of year! I am really pleased to see some of our Year 2 boys producing some great writing on the blog. There is no doubt that for boys, collaboration is often the key to engagement in writing. Linked with a topic based approach the standard of writing continues to improve massively. Our Year 2 children have REALLY enjoyed their themes this year, “Life in the Freezer” was a fantastic topic. The children learnt lots of key geography skills, learnt about wildlife and conservation and discovered the great adventurers “Shackleton” and “Scott”. Some of the letter writing written in the first person as though they were Scott was truly awe inspiring – for some of the class it was also the first time that they had discussed the very difficult theme of death.

Currently Year 2 are learning about castles – the boys and girls are fascinated and they are loving learning about this topic. I’m hoping to see some photos of the model castles on the blog soon.

Year 1 have just embarked on a “space” topic – great stuff! They already have their role play spce rocket set up in the Learning Zone….sadly I haven’t been invited to join in yet….

Never mind. I’m sure my turn will come!

Last Friday was a GREAT day for our pupils! Our classes have worked so hard on their blog that our Year 6 children have become quite famous and they received a special invitation to present at BETT 2011(London). As a non-techy person I was informed that BETT 2011 is the biggest national educational showcase for all things ICT.
What a playground! All the latest educational technology and most of the UK educational super-geeks all under one roof – and some of our Year 6 pupils got a chance to see and play! The 6 children and 4 staff set off at the crack of dawn from Wigan station. When I got up at 6.15am I already had a text on my phone saying that *Team Heathfield* were well on their way, rehearsing their presentations (whilst dipping into their packed lunches no doubt!) for the audience.
Throughout the day I could tell that @DeputyMitchell must be busy because twitterwise he was unusually quiet. However through the day there was a constant flow of kind comments from educators who had heard our children *speak*. I have even seen Binjameen presenting to a group of adults, demonstrating incredible maturity and expertise. (Many thanks @peterford) I was told, through the day, by various kind people that Heathfield children are, “awesome, intelligent, polite and well spoken!” Wow! Two of our boys, Raja and Binjameen, are so well known for their writing skills, that educators actually asked Mr Mitchell to introduce them!!!
Now I know that my pupils are the BEST IN THE WORLD but it is still lovely to be reminded! And once again, I am left feeling proud and happy. I wish I could have gone to BETT 2011, however hearing reports from a distance was rather lovely and I would like to say a BIG THANK YOU to Mr Mitchell, Miss Dackombe, Miss Wiggans and Mrs Powell for taking the children to enjoy this wonderful experience.
Finally I would like to say a HUGE THANK YOU to John Howarth, Scholastic (@chrisrat) and also Rising Stars (@andreacarr1) because without their help we could not have attended BETT 2011. Ours is a small school and without their assistance we could not have afforded the train fares. Because of these kind sponsors our pupils were able to see some amazing new software and were able to present to a real and appreciative audience. I know that @DeputyMitchell has a few more surprises up his sleeve. I will endeavour to keep up!

Kindness comes from the most unexpected places.

This week someone at school was so kind to me and said such lovely things that I almost cried. (It is after all an emotional time of year. That’s my excuse and I will cling to it).  In fact I was so embarrassed that I changed the subject very quickly. I still don’t know what I have done to deserve such kind words. But thanks. Truly humbling. Now I will truly aspire all the harder to fulfil that person’s expectations of me.

Peace comes from within.

Most of the teachers that I know are perfectionists. Including myself. However hard we try it’s just never good enough. A very worthy trait that can easily turn sour. Frustrations about our work can so easily control our thoughts and hence our mood. Will the thing that’s annoying me/you REALLY matter in three months time? If not let the frustration go, wave it goodbye and then close the door. Firmly. Permanently.

I’m lucky.

I have a home, a family; I have my Mum and Dad. I have 2 children who are gorgeous. I have a job and I have a fulfilling and meaningful life. At school children want to be with me. I have friends and colleagues who care about me deeply and who worry about me when things aren’t quite right.

Beauty really is all around me.

Whilst other people dare not go out in the snow and the ice for fear of hurting themselves I am able to enjoy the beauty of the day. Today I watched a few fieldfare in a tree, listened to some blackbirds shouting at each other and smiled at a group of Canada geese sliding on the ice.  

All because one person said some very kind things to me. Which I felt that I really didn’t deserve. Please do take the time to say those kind things. You might embarrass the person. But it really will make a difference.

Take the time.

Last September I was in the enviable position of starting the new year with a new Deputy Headteacher. At that point (September 2009) I had been in post for 3 terms and was just starting my 4^th term as Headteacher.

The term began well and Heathfield was looking great! Lots of young enthusiastic staff, great parents and lovely children. 2 or 3 weeks into the term David came to have a word with me. He had seen an ICT workshop day at a school in Manchester and he thought it looked rather interesting. Was there any possibility I could “spring” him for the day so that he could go and have a gander???

The ICT workshop day was at Chorlton Park Primary School, Manchester, and the whole event was supported through the SSAT, to which we were affiliated. My initial impressions about the SSAT eighteen months ago were rather mixed. I had seen some FANTASTIC CPD and some great looking conferences on the regular flyers but everything looked very High School orientated and I just wasn’t quite sure where our little primary school fitted in…….

So David Mitchell traipsed off to Chorlton Park for the day and came back a changed person…..

Initially David was speechless. He just didn’t talk for days about the event, I quickly realised he had had one of those *Eureka* moments and decided to let him have some thinking time. David then came for a chat; he talked about the AMAZING work going on at Chorlton Park and at the fantastic way that the children had become engaged in learning through blogging. Now you may have gathered through my various tweets and posts that I am a cautious and careful person; I like to think things through and I like to think of all the possible consequences. So my initial and fairly major concern was the E-Safety issue. It’s a sad fact that for Headteachers the top priority is to risk assess safeguarding issues before ANY other consideration.

David secured the services of John Sutton (twitter: @HGJohn) who has supported our school brilliantly through our blogging journey. John (Chorlton Park blogs)  and David convinced me that when organised well, blogging is perfectly E-safe and so the journey began. Snow fell and David began experimenting with learning from home on snow days. It was a huge success and the further snow falls in January proved the power of blogging when you have a great communications system (via our texting parents service). Our Year 6 students were becoming interested and engaged……

So in twelve months the journey has been fast and furious.

Blog *enlightenment* in November.

Year 6 blog set up at the end of December.

Year 6 *get it* in January.

In February 2 other experimental class blogs set up.

Tens of thousands of hits later we have children who see themselves as writers and who are engaging with the process of writing in a way that appeals to them and that makes sense to them. I cannot honestly think of a single genre that is not being used voluntarily by our children at weekends and in the evenings. Our parents are actively involved and they are posting comments with more frequency as the weeks pass.

The SSAT Toshiba ICT Learning Redesign Award…..

Yesterday we attended the SSAT National Conference at Birmingham. I am still in a state of glowing-pride-amazement. The atmosphere was warm and friendly and the single-minded quest for excellence was, for me, completely awe inspiring. It was a fantastic event with wonderful, exciting and inspirational speakers. Our school name was emblazoned thirty feet across the most enormous screen I have ever seen. How very special.

So we won the SSAT Toshiba Redesign Award. Wow.

My staff and my children won the SSAT Toshiba Redesign Award. Wow. Wow. Wow.

What a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago my Deputy asked me to let him take a risk. I think the prize was worth it. Thanks David.

And thanks SSAT for helping me to see how great my staff  are.