Down in the Deeps

There’s a superb international flavour to the home page this week with the much anticipated arrival of our delightful Thai colleagues and the extraordinary diary of her Namibia trip from Jane Thomas. After spending the second week of the ‘holiday’ writing a project design for the British Council, it seemed really fitting for South Dartmoor to go international.

I learned that we’re not the first ‘blog-standard’ comprehensive after all. Another local school may have beaten us to the title because they use blogs as a regular form of communication between staff- for lesson ideas, records of meetings, and even photos and videos. These are the real thing and not the alternative story of daily life that I like to portray. But ‘real time’ reporting of another kind is being developed by the Government and we are now one of three pilot schools in the south west.

Meanwhile the video technology continues to offer us new ways to our job effectively. A broken fire alarm early in the week brought an instant confession as the culprit realised that all would be revealed by the cameras. Students saw an example of group bullying in assembly today- a screen shot of an outdoor area. One student was threatening another. But the assembled crowd of on-lookers were also bullies. All the research shows that if bullies are confronted by their peers, then they stop. This group, by their very presence, were inciting the bully when they could have taken the civilised step of walking away and reporting what was going on.

It’s a relief to be back to a day of ‘shallow’ learning after the going through the deeps yesterday. The staff reported back in our morning briefing on the vast range of activities that took place from Thai and Dreams and Teams-led sports in Year 7 to The Apprentice-style outdoor challenges from Phil Atherton’s vivid imagination with Year 9. This year group amazingly, now all have ‘heart start’ certificates, thanks to the hard work and organisation of Richard Woodland and his team. We’ve already had offers to be on standby in case of collapse. So who wants to volunteer to give Mr Hamlyn the kiss of life?

For Year 8, The Deeps offered visitors to Religious Studies and Modern Languages. Students were engrossed in the personal stories of members of religious groups who had fascinating stories of faith to tell. They polished up their French in the afternoon and were busy in role when I went round the department. In Science Year 10 were experimenting with everything that could move, explode make a smell or create a surprise. What must Mark Gale’s living room look like! Balloons attached to CDs floated across the desks at one point and demonstrated the principles of the hovercraft. And Year 11 had a terrific day in English- working at the very depths to secure those top grades in only a few weeks time. Keep up the pressure, English Department.

I attended a dinner that evening with some other invited heads from the region hosted by the Chief Executive of the National College for School Leadership. There’s no such thing as a free lunch or dinner and our role was to brief him on some of the educational issues facing schools and their leaders at the moment. By midnight we had solved most of the world’s problems. But things looked different in the morning. Deep or shallow, the success of everything we do is rooted in how and what we learn.

DCSF: Department for Controlling Seagull Faeces?

Wine and good food are great motivators! In London, at the imposing Institute of Directors in Pall Mall on Tuesday evening, the wine flowed freely and the conversation sparkled. So naturally I was happy to be as motivated as anyone could wish. As glass after glass was filled, I felt that there was plenty to be motivated about. The first 34 Trust Schools are coming to the end of their initial year of operation; there are now plans for a huge expansion of the scheme and we are involved in spreading the message. The dinner for Trust partners was about creating a national network- an exciting new source of expertise and energy.

We were represented at the dinner to develop a national network of Trust partners by our own partner, Capita Children’s Services. Both Phil Neale, Mr SIMS himself- the inventor of the data programmes that are now used in running the administration of most of the country’s schools, and Brian Hodge, our committed and hard working Trustee and Governor, attended in support. So did Mike Billington, our knowledgeable Chair of Governors who, I’m sure, could win on Mastermind on the topic, Trust Schools and how to become one.

I was almost late because I foolishly invited my wife into the Institute to admire the grandeur of the building which really is imposing. But instead of gazing respectfully at the chandeliers and portraits, she embarked on a thirty minute conversation with the receptionist about the current bizarre school holiday patterns and the meaning of the term DCSF- the new initials for the Education Department.

How to remember the order of the letters, never mind what they stand for? I use cows, sheep and frogs. I’ve heard less polite company refer to them as: ‘catching smelly farts.’ But in view of our recent hoax award my vote goes for: ‘controlling seagull faeces.’

But did the Institute of Directors’ receptionist need to know all this as I waited to be shown the meeting room? He thought so- more easily distracted than a Year 10 student in a Friday afternoon class.

By the end of an evening of networking and speeches, we had answered lots of questions about our Trust and the quality of the work Capita Children’s Services are doing with us. As we were about to leave- Brian and Mike for the overnight Paddington Sleeper train to Devon- we watched the amazing conjuring tricks of our Trustee who is also a registered children’s entertainer.

Blowing up and folding balloons into animal shapes with the dexterity of a Tesco shelf stacker, Brian amazed the (fortunately) tiny gathering left. Sir James, SSAT Chair and our host, had already gone and so the embarrassment was not too great! He literally missed a trick- thank goodness.

Clutching the compulsory freebie- a rather novel credit card-style memory stick, they dashed for their train, leaving a trail of burst balloons behind them, and I prepared for an early morning return to History interviews the next day. So far this week we have appointed five new teachers. At least the seagulls haven’t scared them off.