"Open Sesame"

Open Day this week: we run two sessions during the day so prospective parents can see us in action. Both the presentations were packed- but the morning was standing room only with parents even having to sit on the gallery steps as we were so short of space. Year 7s, who have been with us only 3 weeks, acted as guides, showing just how quickly they have settled in and how knowledgeable about the school they are. I overheard one boy speaking with great authority to a group of parents about the detention system. Had he experienced that already?

This year we used the Website as a live link to illustrate the presentations. It’s a rich source of information and we put a lot of time into keeping up-to-date. In theory anything you need to know should be featured- and more besides.

Phil, our technician, strolled in half asleep just before we started, hunting for leads, loading his computer and pressing buttons. “My computer’s just crashed,” he whispered reassuringly as I stood up to speak! My reply is unprintable.

But it worked. Once on line, we were able to click onto photos, bulletins, policies and systems. What a treasure trove. How did we function without it? In these re-cycling aware times, it’s great not to have to print any paper. No trees died as a result of Open Day this year. As for the Prospectus, if size mattered, it would be a disaster. In fact, if Martin Burt reduces it further, we’ll need to give away a free microscope with each one.

The Internet has changed our lives. A colleague tells me that 12 years ago, when he began teaching, he used his new head teacher’s Christian name and was firmly rebuked: ‘Mr’ was the correct form of address. Now, staff can send and receive emails at all times of the day and night. Sometimes an issue, that might have taken several meetings to resolve, has been sorted on the over-night email trail. From the formality of surnames to the immediacy of email speak- quite a shift in culture.

As for the prospective parents and likely new students, none of us can predict the changes in education that technology will bring by the time they reach Year 12. We won’t return to paper, that’s for sure. The Learning Gateway will be a big feature. What else could we possibly want the Internet to do? Our Website is, literally, all-singing, all-dancing. Ralph Wickenden and John Whitehead see to that. The treasure trove will grow.

"On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog."

But we’ll always need technicians, and they’ll need sleep, so we’ll never eliminate the possibility of human error. Can someone just give Mr Widdeson a nudge?

How Many Senior Staff does it take to Change a Light Bulb?

It’s Thursday morning again (already). The Management Team are gathering at 8.20 for their caffeine fix in the Conference Room before our weekly scheduled meeting. We manage to cover three or four times as much, at this time, when we’re all fresh, as in end of school meetings.

As 9.00 draws near and the sounds of students outside can be heard, we hurry on through the business, aware that there is another important role for us outside the room. If we are all in here, who is outside looking after things….?

Today’s discussion is about that controversial topic, homework, or home learning as we call it, to use the latest educational jargon. We are a leading edge school, after all. Please don’t laugh- this one is too painful. Any OFSTED inspector will tell you that homework comes out as a negative on most homework consultations with parents. Why? Well some will say there is not enough set. Some will argue that there is far too much. If only we had a Goldilock’s response- ‘Not too hot and not too cold- just right.’ But this is a topic to raise rather than cool temperatures.

So the big question is: how to set a timetable that parents can follow, teachers can use and students will confess to. Sounds easy? Well think about this. There are over 30 different classes running each hour just in Key Stage 3. Each teacher has a different homework (oopps.. home learning) setting day and another day on which they will collect the work for marking or check it’s been done. Then there are the students. They will have yet another day, perhaps the weekend, when they get down to doing the tasks set. How do we record all this in a formal way that makes sense and allows us to be credible in doing what we say we will?

We’ve tried the ‘setting as required’ approach. It’s very sound educationally but a nightmare to check on and leaves so much to the student’s good organisation and will power. The forced night fixing (everyone will do Maths on Tuesday) is equally insane because the nights never match up to the slots and everyone ends up confused- especially the poor teachers.

Today we bat around the two approaches- laissez faire or lock-in. We’ve decided lock in is the only safe bet, when someone comes up with a genius of an idea- an individualised home learning (actually the jargon is personalised) timetable for each student! What’s more, it will even include action plans to reflect other pressures on students during the week- clubs and activities. We’ll state the night it’s set and required but they can chose, within these boundaries, when to do it and so create, with tutors, their personalised home learning timetables. There, I’ve got all the jargon in that last sentence!

A week later and grids for setting and deadlines are stuck firmly in Planners. Tutors are supporting the students as they write up their timetables. It’s surprising how many subjects are planned into Sundays.

So how many senior leaders did it take to change that particular light bulb? Well, about 30 but no one seems to change light bulbs these days- must be the new low energy types but that’s not a characteristic we’d recognise here.

"Go. Go now!"

“This is where I slept on the floor.”

“This is where I used to play my guitar.”

“From that window I used to watch for you coming out of the library.”

Memories are being shared of 38 years ago – our first year at university. A group of us attended a Durham reunion at the weekend to mark the University’s 175th celebrations. We managed to gain entrance to the room I shared with another undergraduate during my first year at University College which is housed in Durham Castle. Although the room is now the office of the Theology Professor, I’m sure I could still detect a faint smell of Newcastle Brown.

The Great Hall is over a 100 feet long and 45 feet high – described as “the finest room in the north of England”. There we ate formal dinner every evening wearing black academic gowns. We sat through a formal Latin Grace at the start. Thirteen seconds was the record speed of recital! You might recognise the Great Hall as it was used for at least one of the Harry Potter films.
Durham itself so inspired Bill Bryson, the writer (and now University Chancellor) that he said: “Go. Go now. Take my car.” We bumped into him later on Saturday night during a dance in the Great Hall. Despite a long day, he cheerfully signed another copy of his book for me and I told him I was listening to him in the car on CD reading A Short History of Nearly Everything. He is a popular, lively and witty individual – great for the promotion of Durham. Though it actually needs no promotion as it is now a World Heritage Site and retains all the charm, magic and mystery it has held for hundreds of years.

During the reunion weekend, like undergraduates, we drank too much coffee (and wine), and swopped stories and memories – but there were no essays to write. Outside in the garden of the English Department, today’s lecturers treated us to poetry readings and sherry in the afternoon sun. It was a privileged time and one now enjoyed by more and more generations of undergraduates coming up soon as freshers at this and other universities across the country. Tonight, at our Presentation Evening, we will celebrate the success of students who are planning to take up university places in the next few days. University will be a transforming experience – even though I don’t think any of them (this year at least) are going to Durham!

Celebrations Begin

It’s Monday morning- 8.00 am and after a long summer break, the place is already buzzing. The staff are back, energy restored. From exotic, tropical locations to the beaches and countryside of Devon and Cornwall, they’ve returned tanned, rested and raring to go. Or perhaps they are just excitedly discussing their holiday adventures!

An hour later and the first briefing of the year is underway. There’s plenty to celebrate this year- a rise in already above average A level performance at A-C grade by 10%, a 7 percentage point rise in GCSE results and some outstanding progress in KS3 SATS, especially in the numbers gaining level 6. And, in addition, several students at GCSE and A Level gained some of the top marks in the country! What an accolade for them- and for their teachers.

A number of letters and emails from parents arrive, congratulating us on the results their children have achieved- always heart warming and really appreciated. Jonathan Timms sends me a financial contribution for the prizes to be awarded at Presentation Evening next week. He sums up how I feel: “I am delighted to enclose a cheque from the John Timms Prize Fund to help mark the efforts made by your students in the last year. Perhaps there should be awards for staff too!” What a lovely thought! But for most teachers the greatest rewards come from job satisfaction. And even as we bask in the glory of these results, we are thinking about the year ahead- the pressure is always on.

A press release from the DCSF (Department for Children, Schools and Families) names us as one of the first Trust schools in the country and the first in Devon. It’s all a bit scary! Although this is new and unchartered territory, our existing partnerships are well established so there is plenty of good practice to build on. This is another way in which we can continue the improvement drive, both results themselves and the quality of the experience for our students. The trustees will hold their first meeting later this month when long term plans will be made. Governors and staff are particularly pleased to have in our charitable Trust four highly successful organisations, each nationally recognised leaders in their area. I believe that schools need to look outwards and draw in the skills and talents in this way so the concept is one that I fully support.

The Local Authority will continue, I’m sure, to be an excellent provider of services for us and we intend to continue our close links and strong relationships with them. Devon’s support for its Trust Pathfinder schools and the Authority’s forward-thinking approaches have been recognised by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Two teachers from Science and Maths, joint appointments with the University of Exeter, will work across both organisations developing the kind of links that the Prime Minister has recently proposed should become the norm. Capita Children’s Services will continue with us in testing software and refining their products to help schools nationally on data analysis. TLO, the educational and publishing company, have plans to help us audit our teaching to generate greater consistency across the school. And, of course, we continue to rely on the enormous support and goodwill we have enjoyed for many years from E& J.W Glendinning Ltd, particularly in developing our sports provision. Will it all help improve results? I can’t prove that it will, but my gut feeling is that it will bring benefits we haven’t yet dreamed of.

Our Governing Body has the opportunity to grow in expertise as it takes on the new responsibilities that go with this. And we now become part of a new national network of Trust schools. I am convinced that a national Trust Partners Association will soon be formed. For the first time, businesses, charities and higher education establishments will have a voice in the education debate made meaningful by their direct association with schools through the growing Trust movement.

Perhaps, then, in the future, who knows, we will be discussing new awards after all- to recognise the contribution of partners as well as students and staff. As I think more about it, I realise that it’s not such a silly idea.