Apparently teachers ‘enjoy’ 1,500 interactions every day. That’s without the emails. Any other profession would be on a go slow but, strangely, we always think we are doing too little. We fill our days and work nights too.
At the end of a long term, just when we are the point of collapse, along comes Christmas, or whatever we are calling it this year, with its demand that we be of good cheer. The staff may be shattered but the students are increasingly hyped-up and turbo-charged.
The only answer is to join in the festive spirit and have some fun. So, this year’s staff and student Band Aid recordings were screened in the final assembly in the Sports Hall to popular acclaim- thanks to the Media Department.
There’s plenty of talent here and the The Sound of Music DVD highlights was also great to see- another assembly item on our big screen. If you ordered a copy, the full length version should be on television soon near you.
At the evening Carol Service, choir and orchestra performances reminded us that Christmas was about to start. I understand why so many of us enjoy working here: the wonderful young people and the remarkable standards they achieve. The Christmas message of joy and hope filled the hall, as it did again the next day for the repeat performances on the final morning of term. It was magnificent.
We’ve had our own parties as well. The staff event was a triumph with our very own College magician, Brian Hodge, performing magic tricks that involved doves and rabbits- live ones! Brian is a fantastic Trustee and Governor of the College- a real inspiration. And he brought some true Christmas magic.
At last it’s time for turkey and telly. My two children, both of whom attended South Dartmoor, will join us for a family Christmas. After five years of freelancing, Alice has finally got a proper job (annual leave and a pension at 85) as an online reporter at Channel Four News. She cheerfully wounds the politicians as she tells the truth where they bring only spin and falsehoods. Her regular beat, Factcheck, (http://www.channel4.com/news/factcheck) even gives them a score out of 5 for honesty. I can imagine Gordon Brown asking his speech writers: 'Will this get me good marks from Alice on Channel Four? Should we knock a couple of zeros off that optimistic income prediction or do you think she won't notice?' He knows by now…. she always does notice.
Ed is now at the end of his fourth year at Oxford which followed four years at Durham which followed thirteen years in school so he can probably add up for himself how long that is. As his declared ambition is to go straight into retirement, I don’t think he’s got long to wait. The DPhil is still around the corner but he’s managing to live on air and avoid even a Saturday job stacking shelves in Sainsbury’s. He has had some of his original research published; it’s in a scientific language that’s incomprehensible to the lay person, though he could probably hold a conversation with Dr Who.
Happy Christmas to all blog readers!
Thursday, 18 December 2008
Tuesday, 9 December 2008
Nasty TV.com
Last week I took a phone call from ITN. Yes- it does sound exciting, doesn’t it? We’re in the media a lot but a call from ITN to ask you to feature in a good news story piece for ITN News- well, that’s worth saying yes to. Or is it?
The reporter, David Best, began by reassuring me that this was a programme for the great and the good. Had I heard of Jim Knight, the Education Minister? Of, course. Liz Reid, Chief Executive of SSAT? Yes, indeed. Steve Grainger, Chief Executive of the Youth Sport Trust? Attend his annual dinners. Devon Local Authority? Know them well. All were on board with the programme and would be taking part. What good company we were in. And we had been recommended as a Lead School. So far it seemed like a normal request for an interview. We have quite a lot of those. Then the sales pitch started.
He said that the programme they were making would be fronted by Martin Lewis, a familiar figure in news circles, and that we were invited to contribute a case study which a film crew would come down to shoot. He then gave me all kinds of prepared lines about media opportunities – but by this time I had become suspicious.
Good news topics would range from Every Child Matters to curriculum reform; from personalised learning to sport in the community. How, I wondered could one short piece cover everything that was going on in education? After all, didn’t he know that in the last year alone, there have been 135 changes to the laws involving schools? That means hardly a work day goes by without a new requirement.
The final full-length film would be screened throughout the day at the Education Show in Birmingham and a three minute edit would be appearing on national ITN news. Three minutes was the longest they normally screened an item for. During this patter, which lasted about half an hour, he slipped in the fact that private companies were sponsoring the programme and that £12,500 would be required from each contributor. Did that mean me?
We’d gone from a guest appearance on News at Ten with a Government Minister and some Chief Executives to a sales con trick in thirty minutes. I’d been robbed of a valuable half hour and some distinguished people had had their names taken in vain.
Did he really believe I could persuade the Governors to spend so much money on what was little more than advertising? And why would I bother, given the amount of free news and media coverage we generate because of the genuine quality of the work we’re doing?
I made no commitment but asked him for his e-mail address which he said was niceTV. So where was ITN? He hurriedly pointed out that this was a partnership organisation of ITN Consulting. I checked it out and it is a private company now fronted by Martin Lewis. Shameful.
It all sounded like a scam. The Local Authority decided to pull out of any agreement with the company when I briefed them. One thing is for sure - if I do anything in the media it’s because I want to have the work of South Dartmoor students and staff celebrated. And only if it’s free.
The reporter, David Best, began by reassuring me that this was a programme for the great and the good. Had I heard of Jim Knight, the Education Minister? Of, course. Liz Reid, Chief Executive of SSAT? Yes, indeed. Steve Grainger, Chief Executive of the Youth Sport Trust? Attend his annual dinners. Devon Local Authority? Know them well. All were on board with the programme and would be taking part. What good company we were in. And we had been recommended as a Lead School. So far it seemed like a normal request for an interview. We have quite a lot of those. Then the sales pitch started.
He said that the programme they were making would be fronted by Martin Lewis, a familiar figure in news circles, and that we were invited to contribute a case study which a film crew would come down to shoot. He then gave me all kinds of prepared lines about media opportunities – but by this time I had become suspicious.
Good news topics would range from Every Child Matters to curriculum reform; from personalised learning to sport in the community. How, I wondered could one short piece cover everything that was going on in education? After all, didn’t he know that in the last year alone, there have been 135 changes to the laws involving schools? That means hardly a work day goes by without a new requirement.
The final full-length film would be screened throughout the day at the Education Show in Birmingham and a three minute edit would be appearing on national ITN news. Three minutes was the longest they normally screened an item for. During this patter, which lasted about half an hour, he slipped in the fact that private companies were sponsoring the programme and that £12,500 would be required from each contributor. Did that mean me?
We’d gone from a guest appearance on News at Ten with a Government Minister and some Chief Executives to a sales con trick in thirty minutes. I’d been robbed of a valuable half hour and some distinguished people had had their names taken in vain.
Did he really believe I could persuade the Governors to spend so much money on what was little more than advertising? And why would I bother, given the amount of free news and media coverage we generate because of the genuine quality of the work we’re doing?
I made no commitment but asked him for his e-mail address which he said was niceTV. So where was ITN? He hurriedly pointed out that this was a partnership organisation of ITN Consulting. I checked it out and it is a private company now fronted by Martin Lewis. Shameful.
It all sounded like a scam. The Local Authority decided to pull out of any agreement with the company when I briefed them. One thing is for sure - if I do anything in the media it’s because I want to have the work of South Dartmoor students and staff celebrated. And only if it’s free.
Monday, 1 December 2008
The Moors and the Tors are Alive
One of the things that makes mine the best job in the world is being able to see our students performing to the very limits of their potential- out of their comfort zone and sometimes making me boggle-eyed with amazement.
I’ve interviewed many charming and totally dedicated Year 11 students recently and their self-confidence and commitment to achievement left me genuinely elated. So many are on track not just for the benchmark five A*-C high grades but for ten or more. When I go through their subjects with them and hear them speak with knowledge and authority about the wide range of options and the numerous tasks and projects they have to complete, I’m left thinking I should tell the world.
Malcolm Lee from the Sixth From did exactly this with great skill in two assemblies this week when he told the school about his project with Teignbridge Youth Council to change the perceptions of older people about the young. He used some interesting photographs and thought-provoking statements. Watch out for the campaign.
Many of the Year 11s are heavily engaged in sport and several are elite performers in their discipline, travelling to venues around the country and meeting young people from other schools. The commitment and talent are remarkable.
On Saturday we reached the climax of a dazzling seven show Sound of Music run. It was certainly the largest and probably the most impressive array of talent ever assembled on the South Dartmoor stage. Words from me can’t describe the quality of the achievement but the applause could and did.
One of the teachers in the audience earlier in the week told me that she had cried through the first night. ‘Why?’ I asked. ‘It’s not such a sad story- there is a happy ending.’ Still clutching a tissue, she replied, ‘Oh no. It’s not that. I wasn’t crying because of the story. I was crying because so many of these students are in my lessons and tutor group. They’ve been coming to my classes, doing their work and their homework- and yet they’ve also achieved all this!’ She was right, of course. We expect so much of them and they constantly surprise and amaze.
At a time when there are so many pressures on schools to achieve ever improved performance, it’s also wise to remember why so many staff are willing to give time to activities such as this. These commitment levels, this quality could never come from management targets or imposed Government requirements whatever the national initiative.
What we saw in The Sound of Music, and is in the matches played, the Dartmoor Club walks and the care staff show for the students is that old fashioned, unquantifiable thing called ‘a vocation’. This is why we have such dedication and service to young people from staff without counting the hours- though it must have been over eighty last week. (I was counting). It’s that spirit of giving the best of yourself in order to bring out the best in others.
This week South Dartmoor students set the hills alive with the sound of their music. And those melodies, those soaring notes also filled the moors and the Tors, the towns and the villages, the homes and the families. So… definitely the best job in the world.
I’ve interviewed many charming and totally dedicated Year 11 students recently and their self-confidence and commitment to achievement left me genuinely elated. So many are on track not just for the benchmark five A*-C high grades but for ten or more. When I go through their subjects with them and hear them speak with knowledge and authority about the wide range of options and the numerous tasks and projects they have to complete, I’m left thinking I should tell the world.
Malcolm Lee from the Sixth From did exactly this with great skill in two assemblies this week when he told the school about his project with Teignbridge Youth Council to change the perceptions of older people about the young. He used some interesting photographs and thought-provoking statements. Watch out for the campaign.
Many of the Year 11s are heavily engaged in sport and several are elite performers in their discipline, travelling to venues around the country and meeting young people from other schools. The commitment and talent are remarkable.
On Saturday we reached the climax of a dazzling seven show Sound of Music run. It was certainly the largest and probably the most impressive array of talent ever assembled on the South Dartmoor stage. Words from me can’t describe the quality of the achievement but the applause could and did.
One of the teachers in the audience earlier in the week told me that she had cried through the first night. ‘Why?’ I asked. ‘It’s not such a sad story- there is a happy ending.’ Still clutching a tissue, she replied, ‘Oh no. It’s not that. I wasn’t crying because of the story. I was crying because so many of these students are in my lessons and tutor group. They’ve been coming to my classes, doing their work and their homework- and yet they’ve also achieved all this!’ She was right, of course. We expect so much of them and they constantly surprise and amaze.
At a time when there are so many pressures on schools to achieve ever improved performance, it’s also wise to remember why so many staff are willing to give time to activities such as this. These commitment levels, this quality could never come from management targets or imposed Government requirements whatever the national initiative.
What we saw in The Sound of Music, and is in the matches played, the Dartmoor Club walks and the care staff show for the students is that old fashioned, unquantifiable thing called ‘a vocation’. This is why we have such dedication and service to young people from staff without counting the hours- though it must have been over eighty last week. (I was counting). It’s that spirit of giving the best of yourself in order to bring out the best in others.
This week South Dartmoor students set the hills alive with the sound of their music. And those melodies, those soaring notes also filled the moors and the Tors, the towns and the villages, the homes and the families. So… definitely the best job in the world.
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