06.18.10
Headteacher Blog – Young Authors
The children at Heathfield are amazing! I was looking through some books this week and found this…..How old do you think this young aspiring author is?
06.17.10
Jollies in Blackpool! Teachmeet June 2010
A BIG THANK YOU to all the lovely teachers that I met yesterday at the Blackpool Teachmeet. I had a fantastic evening (I don’t get out much!) and catching up with all my twitter friends was great fun. @mister_jim and Tom Sale did a fantastic job organising the event and keeping the crowd (particularly the twitterville crowd) under control.
The evening began with a presentation from Professor Heppell, education online expert and hugely inspirational leader for many of our innovative teaching folk. There were so many creative ideas, presented so well and clearly well within the capacity of many non techy folk like me. It’s not hard to preach to the already converted but when you can simplify a project so that folk like me can *get it* then we know that together we can make real progress in new technologies. I can’t remember the exact order of events but, here are just a few highlights of the evening…..
Zoe Ross presenting Guilty Pleasures, illustrating her obvious natural gift of perfect comedy timing, and Bill Lord using giraffes to illustrate the amazing writing potential of our youngest learners. I love to see samples of emergent writing; it takes me back to my very happy days in the EYFS. It was also a real pleasure to meet Simon Haughton who is tireless in his capacity to give support and advice on twitter to non techies like me.
@colport, @hgjohn @zoeross19 @primarypete_ @bevevans22 @DeputyMitchell @janweb21 @simonhaughton @Joga5 @ianaddison @spanishsam @jacksloan @mynictle @jacksloan @ideas_factory @mister jim @chrisrat
Did I enjoy myself? Absolutely! I feel really privileged to know such a dedicated group of fellow teachers! And I am so looking forward to meeting my twitter friends again! Thanks again guys for a great evening out! Superstars one and all!
06.13.10
Headteacher Blog – Wednesday: A Scary Evening Out
This next few weeks are going to be extremely busy at school. We are just in the process of organising all of our schedules and timetables for next year. Even in a small school such as ours, organising ICT, PE and Hall times is not easy. Some teachers will be changing year groups, Teaching Assistants also have to be allocated to classes and resources and equipment are being audited. Allocating the Teaching Assistant timetable is becoming an increasingly complex activity, we have a wealth of statistical and contextual data from which to draw and it is important that we make the best possible use of our “Human Resources”. How we can ensure that all of our children receive their educational entitlement is a huge priority, so many children have so many “special needs”.
Teachers are also busy writing reports and I have stacks of paper work to complete, The School Profile, the SEF, Governor Reports and evaluation of the School Development Plan (plus a few more bits and pieces).
On Wednesday I have been asked to attend a Teachmeet, this would mean leaving school at 3.30pm in order to drive up to Blackpool. However if I stay at work until 6.00pm as I usually do on a Wednesday I could get lots and lots of paper work done. Paper work is very important and we are all accountable but……
“BUSY IN THE THICK OF COMPLETING VERY THIN TASKS?”
However, if I am truly honest with myself I know that the reason that I don’t want to go to the Teachmeet is because I know that the teachers presenting and attending will make me feel like a dinosaur!!! The technology and the ideas that are being discussed on twitter are so beyond me that I think I will be overwhelmed! How do I understand it all? What if I look dumb? How do I keep up?
More importantly, what if I don’t attend? It’s hard enough keeping up with the children already! Avoidance is not the answer.
So I guess that it is time for me to be very brave and “FACE MY FEARS” – attend Teachmeet at Blackpool and meet all the lovely (and slightly scarily clever) tweeps that I have been talking to for so long…….
Take a deep breath…what is life but a leap of faith after all…….
AFTERTHOUGHT:
I really am such a selfish person. It didn’t occur to me that all of the very clever ICT bods on twitter might actually be nervous about presenting! I am so dumb at times!!
Good luck and thank you to Jan, Colin, Nicola, David and all the other good folk/presenters who are going to be helping me to be better at my job.
THANKS!
06.10.10
“Kindness” by Bernadette Ballezza
Some weeks ago I published a lovely short story written by a lady called Bernadette Ballezza. Today I was absolutely thrilled to get an email from Bernadette, who lives in the USA. I am constantly amazed by the power of blogging and how quickly messages travel from one continent to another. Bernadette has kindly given me permission to share some more of her ideas with you- I wonder how quickly my PLN can share this truly positive message and I wonder how many countries and continents we can influence for the better by just a few well chosen thoughts and comments?
KINDNESS by Bernadette Ballezza
We don’t always have to be brave.
Sometimes we lack valor.
We don’t always have to be fearless.
Sometimes we get lost in despair.
We don’t always have to be trusting.
Sometimes we have doubts.
We don’t always have to be right.
Sometimes we are to blame.
We don’t always have to be happy.
Sometimes we become disheartened.
We don’t always have to be the winner.
Sometimes we feel conquered.
We don’t always have to be infallible.
Sometimes we make mistakes.
We don’t always have to be grounded.
Sometimes we lose our way.
We don’t always have to be strong.
Sometimes we are fragile.
But we must always try to be kind.
Bernadette Ballezza
06.09.10
Headteacher Blog – Will This Matter A Year From Now?
Half term has just finished and once again at Heathfield we are back in the swing of things. New terms never start at a comfortable pace do they? You land in school at 8.00a.m.( if you are lazy like me!) and from there everything hits you at a superfast pace!
So much of what we do seems to be about creating and subsequently chasing a paper trail to evidence that we have completed certain mundane tasks. But this won’t inspire children and it certainly won’t develop within them a passion for learning.
Having been lucky enough to have had a week away on holiday it was lovely to arrive in school to see some beautiful new 3D displays in the entrance foyer. Year 3 have been learning about the Native American Indians and have been experimenting with Voicethread: Native American Indians
Year 4 have been learning about Australian life. We even have a “special visitor” coming into school to talk to the children this month, an Australian chap with Aborigine heritage! Fantastic! Year 4 have also been talking to a school in Australia and have recorded their learning on Voicethread.
Will this matter a year from now? Yes I think it will. Our staff are working so hard to create a stimulating and exciting learning environment for the children. The children will move on to their next class feeling enthused, positive and actively engaged in the learning process. Our children are learning to grapple with challenging concepts and they are gaining a global understanding of the world – not from text books but from real children in other continents. Fab!
