Life is littered with checklists. On my laptop, I have a to-do list of potential future blogs.
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There’s been a drawn plan to replace a garden shed with a “summer house”, with a list of jobs to be done in a certain order. There wasn’t much point the new building arriving without preparation of the area, including demolishing and adapting the old shed, as part needed to be used as a bike store. My diary has been open, as a checklist, to see when I was working from home, so I could put some time to dump trips.
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8.50am, I was getting off the Magic (uni) bus at the Whitworth Hall, a bargain at £1 a trip and started wending my way towards the school, which took all of five minutes, the scale on the map being deceptive. I had arrived, as had quite a few, eager to meet up with Twitter colleagues. Some were easier to recognise than others, but the camaraderie was clear. Oohs, aahs and hugs aplenty and no-one had to speak in 140 characters. You could have a conversation. Even attending as a speaker, that was actually one of the highlights, as always; the incidental, informal chats.

It was clear that a huge effort had gone into the preparation, which eased everyone into the day, with coffee and cakes on arrival. Just like being in a large staffroom. We were made very welcome, into a beautiful, purpose built Primary School that was obviously valued, as demonstrated by the use of space, the high quality displays on every suitable surface and the smiling children who shook hands with everyone and welcomed us.

Eventually, we all had to settle down and listen to the warm welcomes, from a group who obviously valued their colleagues, enough to put such effort into the day. Lucy Powell, the local MP, and shadow SoS for Education, gave a short welcome and then took some questions. She seemed genuine in her admiration for teachers and, it seemed to me, was genuinely interested in children and their life chances, although there were hints of gaps in her understanding of education as a whole; but then that can apply to all politicians who live on soundbites.

Hywel Roberts was just as he always is, an incredible bundle of energy and ideas. Imagineering is a catch phrase, but it has a long pedigree and this is central to his approach. It would be wonderful to see him in action with children; he is well worth cloning, if you want children to develop as thinkers. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that I’d prefer his model of ideas-generation to many other more stylised approaches. I can still see the forest and the spooky house images. They were that powerful.

I stayed for the morning in the room assigned to assessment. There were 32 workshops available. Three that I wanted to attend clashed with mine after lunch. Staying in one place gave a stronger flavour of thinking in an area. I was able to listen to Jon Brunskill, Mike Tidd and Conor Heaven. Each, as you would imagine had a different slant to offer, the nuances enabling deeper reflection.

Jon was more philosophical in his approach, seeking to explore the purpose of Primary education. This could have taken all day, weekend, week, or even a lifetime. The purpose can seem to mean whatever a particular group wants it to mean, which after 45 years from starting my initial training, still creates a wide continuum of expressed views. I still hold to the view that all teachers need skills across the whole continuum, from which to choose when confronted with a learner need that is not satisfied by the prevailing approach. I also believe that we should by now, be able to assess for capability, rather than draw an arbitrary line and say that below this the children have failed. An example was an assertion that one third of Primary children leave without being able to read. They can read, for the most-part, but perhaps just below the level decreed as the expected standard. I think this has more to do with teachers’ lack of individual reader challenge, rather than the nuts and bolts of the reading process. Teachers teach reading, but children need to be cajoled and challenged to read, for themselves, between formal teaching sessions, with check systems in place. In that way, the dynamics of actual reading become as important as the phonics and the SPaG.

Mike Tidd was excellent, deserving his pre-eminence as a significant current thinker. What I appreciate about Mike is that he thinks and shares with everyone, through his blogs and other forms, freely and unambiguously. This session was no different. He took several aspects of current classroom practice and offered practical alternatives, including the invitation not to do some things; to think before putting huge effort into activities that may have limited impact. The room was packed, a clear recognition of the esteem with which he is held.
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Conor Heaven had a slight technical issue, in that he had mislaid his memory stick, perhaps in so doing living the modern metaphor; my memory is beginning to be stored elsewhere. Conor is great. Charming, engaging, a veritable Tigger to have around. His enthusiasm for teaching and learning is contagious. He drew us into his narrative, working with parts of his blog, a diagram drawn from the internet and his phone, where his presentation was available to him, as notes. My feeling was that I was with a natural teacher, prepared to go with the flow and make something work; it did Conor, thanks.
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Hopefully attached is the Powerpoint presentation that I used for the Primary Rocks Live event in Manchester on 19th March 2016. Those who attended the talk will be able to link the narrative. I will try to blog in detail over the next couple of days.

​The title of the talk was "All of the children, all of the time; know your children well".
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The quality of internal communication is likely to determine some aspects of ongoing development and effectiveness, if decisions taken in staff discussions are to be embedded in practice without significant alteration in personal practice.
It is possible to summarise aspects of practice which will have an impact on decisions that infer and confer an inclusive message is given to learners.

The school Learning and Teaching policy should be clear and unambiguous, well communicated, well implemented and monitored.

There should be the flexibility to adapt schemes of work to the needs of the children in each class, including individual needs. Teachers should be appraised of the necessary provision for, individual learning needs and whether this is supported by an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP), internal monitoring through the SEN register or as an able child. Teachers should be aware of expected outcomes at year end, at an individual level.

Lessons will be well planned and resourced, have articulated purpose, including learning challenge, and anticipated expectations within engaging contexts for learning. A range of T&L approaches used. All resources, including support staff and ICT are used appropriately and effectively to enhance learning.

Communication within classroom, effective engagement with learning and oral feedback and guidance, self and peer assessment, all support learning. Teacher’s written feedback offers guidance for future learning.

Lesson outcomes inform future planning. Teacher records demonstrate monitoring of progress and identify interventions made.

Reports to parents, when sent, are detailed, informative and support future learning.

Teachers as investigators

A significant aspect of teaching, is the ability to investigate anomalies, those moments where the teacher suspects that a child, or a group of children, may not fully understand what is being taught.

This teacher mind-set is supported by an internal schema which develops from the idea that the baseline plans have been based clearly on the prior learning achievements of the children in the class.

Overview plans that have a clear direction allow diversion then a return to the main plan.

Improvisation is a skill that is honed in practice, as teachers spot what they see as possible needs, then intervene to determine the nature of the problem.

This is where high quality questioning supports a scaffolded conversation, enabling the child to externalise what they are thinking and the precise nature of the issue so that the specifics can be addressed, rather than assume global, generic approaches, which do not support progress.

It may be that this process requires a level of modelling, of making explicit what they are thinking, through drawing, diagrams or physical representation, preferably from the child seeking to explain, but some, and especially younger children, may not have the vocabulary to explain their thinking. The teacher may have to unpick step by step, very patiently, where the block exists.

Knowing the process of how children develop as learners in a subject is essential teacher knowledge, complementing subject specific knowledge.

While the teacher has reached a level of expertise, the children are still learners. What is obvious to the teacher and other adults may not be so for the child. It is often the nuances of subject specific vocabulary that constitute the block, for a number of learners, not just specific groups.

Investigatory skill is such an important aspect of teaching, embedded in the teaching standards (6&5) that it should be the teacher remit to undertake investigation, so that any specific intervention support can be carefully guided. I would go as far as to argue that teachers should regularly be teaching those children in the class with the greatest identifiable need.

Differentiated, or tightly focused, lesson inputs can be a stage in investigation; if a group didn’t “get it” yesterday, start with a reprise for that group, with a challenge activity for the rest.

Where Teaching Assistants are guided to undertake activities with children, training should be given to support them in noting children’s responses, and any interventions needed, which supports teacher assessment after activity.

Investigation underpins personalisation of approaches. Working with Vauxhall Primary School in London, the head used the term “forensic” underpinning their investigation of children’s needs. As a result, tailored approaches were deployed, with the result at year 6, that the school regularly achieved 95% level 4+ outcomes.
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The idea of “find out what they don’t know and teach them” happens in an investigative, learning centred environment.
Teachers need to think like a detective, be forensic and take carefully planned actions, based on the evidence arising.

G.K Chesterton. The fatal metaphor of progress, which means leaving things behind us, has utterly obscured the real idea of growth, which means leaving things inside us.

During discussions within schools about children and their learning progress, a couple of diagrams began to develop to capture the essence of the schools. Over time, these became more refined, as new discussions added details and challenged earlier thoughts.
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The first diagram, based on a central theme of analyse, plan do, review, record, then sought to link the associated teacher actions that contributed to each cycle.

The whole supports the idea of expectation, from well understood baselines, with the intention of creating successive baselines that enable progress to be described.

The teacher/expectation mind-set:- analyse-plan-do-review-record

• expects something specific to change as a result of the carefully matched learning opportunities being offered, (analysis)
• supports the teacher in looking at the resulting activities and discerning the nuances of behaviour that suggest ease or difficulty being encountered. (planning)
• drives conversations seeking to unpick areas of concern or to understand the fact that they’ve taken five minutes to complete a task you’d planned for twenty-five. (doing)
• creates the baseline from which adjustments to the expectations are made, (review and adapt)
• ensures that the learner(s) make(s) progress and provides food for thought at the end of the lesson about next steps. (record keeping)

These statements were a common feature of schools displaying high quality inclusive practice.

It is, in reality the need to see children challenged within a lesson that an observer wishes to see. What have the children got to get their teeth into, to think about, to talk about and then to write about? That this will be different for different children seems to me to be self-evident, but then, I taught before the initial National Curriculum, quite often in an Integrated Day, group-based approach, which was then a feature of Primary practice. Group-based tasking was normal.

Rich experiences within which high quality language through mentally challenging projects were developed, across all subjects, each contributing to an enriched output.

Where high quality outcomes were shared with learners through display, or other sharing opportunities, they created a form of quality control and raised the general aspiration, especially as outcomes were developed through well-described processes, which, when elements were tweaked, enabled outcomes to be enhanced.
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So, the first word that needs to be evident in the classroom is challenge and how this is manifest and visible across the range of abilities. It can be embedded in personal challenge or learning targets, which can be the main focus within a broader tasking.

Improvement is the second word that needs to be in common use in the class. If the challenge is correct, then there will be some kind of outcome. Whatever the outcome, it is likely to be capable of improvement, so evaluating this with the individual, group or class through all available means, including technology should enable the children to talk through how they would seek to add even greater value to shared outcomes.

Drafting and redrafting of outcomes, with children learning and being coached to self-edit, against a set of criteria, enables some independent action before the teacher acts as the final arbiter. This element of progress is embedded in a post that looks at exercise books as personal learning organisers.
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There is a current need to track and evidence children against year based criteria. With each child likely to have significantly different needs at any one time, the idea of the flip out flaps on which to record the current need provides a scaffold for both the teacher and the child, to support discussion, coaching and feedback. The system was developed from the outcomes of the National Writing Project, around 1987, with regular tweaks to address changes over time. It could be a simple adjustment that still holds many benefits.

The use of display, as in WAGOLL (What A Good One Looks Like) walls can be a valuable asset to discussing improvement. It is a case of constantly putting desired quality in front of children, so that they can build a visual image of expectation and take some charge of their own efforts, evaluating different aspects of the learning process.

Every outcome should become a new baseline if the process of challenge and improving outcomes is embedded in classroom practice. Each successive outcome becomes a descriptor of progression.

Of course the issue then is how to find the right language to describe progress across a subject, so that there is a framework against which to make the judgement. The question is; how far have they travelled and where next?

Clarity, especially in early career decisions require clear frames of reference.

• The two practical teaching standards are (6) assessment and (5) adapting learning. If these are interpreted as “thinking on your feet” and “engaging and making adjustments to expectation and tasking”, they become active constituents of lessons, rather than being seen as something that is done after the lesson, as marking and feedback, although that contributes further to development and future progress.
• Learners and their teachers need mental maps of progress, supported by overt descriptors as reminders. Evidence of achievement can be noted and celebrated at the moment, but also as a collation of evidence at summative points, perhaps as formal reports.
• Progress is a fluid concept. Outcomes are reflection points, which can be used to determine advice, feedback, coaching need and the next appropriate steps.

 
The following demonstrates what can be said about inclusive schools.

The school provides a lively, challenging, stimulating and attractive environment in which each child enjoys working and is actively encouraged to take every opportunity to fully develop their academic, physical, artistic, spiritual and social abilities.

Pupils are set literacy and numeracy targets based on prior and anticipated attainment with a degree of challenge built in as they work to achieve personal, group and the whole class targets. Targets are shared with parents at Parents' Evening and through reports.

Assessment for Learning is used in the school with a range of other assessments, formal and informal used to support Teacher Assessment, to monitor children's achievements throughout the school, to track progress and inform target setting, tracked through APP style documents.

Children identified as needing reinforcement in Literacy or Numeracy or as having SEN are supported through a broad range of well organised interventions as small group work or 1.1 support for those with specific learning difficulties. Children on the SEN Code of Practice have individual plans to target their specific needs. 

Results have remained consistently high over a number of years.

The school expresses the view that it is very important that every child achieves to the best of their ability. Academic achievement is a high priority and the main focus. They also believe in giving each child the opportunity to feel successful by encouraging them to develop their unique gifts and talents in sports or the arts. This is seen as boosting their self-esteem and having a positive impact on their motivation to succeed academically.
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Specifics:-
·         Children are challenged to achieve.
·         Motivation is high, engendered by school and home working together.
·         Target setting and tracking is embedded, with accurate, helpful information being shared with parents, so that they are able to fully support the learning agenda.
·         AfL is embedded in practice as a tool that supports the evidence based approach to the curriculum.

Knowing the Children

The variability that one encounters when visiting a school is often greatest when working with the children. Their uniqueness can introduce you to relatively rare conditions or needs with which the school is learning to cope. Even when there are several members with a similar need, the differences are personal and there is little that one can do except seek to understand the needs of each and every child.

Knowing the children as well as possible as individuals allows for nuanced intervention where this may be necessary, minimising the disruptive effects that inevitably accompany any adult intervention.

Of course, the more one does this, the more refined become the judgements, from greater awareness. I would suggest that this principle would pertain across many aspects of life. There are two key ideas. Do you know what you are looking for and do you know what it will look like when you see it? Within this mindset, anomalies will be identified to be investigated in some form.

Learner attitudes.

While there will always be a range of attitudes with which children arrive at a school, deriving from their prior experiences, the preparation, modelling and articulation of expectations, from all the receiving adults working together as a coordinated team, provides the best possibility of children settling into their new environment.

Early years classes seek to provide settings that are similar to nursery or other pre-school group, enabling the children to feel comfortable in their new surroundings, within which they will begin the transition to more formalised periods of learning together.

It is important that positive attitudes are developed and maintained, as the children are then enabled to become more independent and active partners in their learning. Being offered opportunities, exploring, making mistakes and learning from these, across a range of challenges, supports a developing maturity.

Learner attitudes grow through understanding their place within the school, having a sense of belonging that derives from a good understanding of school expectation in terms of personal responsibility, for themselves, for their treatment of others and for their environment, as well as for their approach to their learning.

There are many schemes, some local as in Rights, Respects and Responsibility (Hampshire CC), or the UNICEF scheme, which provide background discussion topics that can be developed through assemblies, circle time or used to support one to one conversation.

Some schools extend these schemes to enable self-reference to adult support. This can often be seen in Primary schools as a form of lunchtime club, with a TA responsible for emotional literacy in charge. I have encountered self-reference opportunities in Secondaries, with different formulations of student support, including restorative counselling conversations.

A broad range of experiences that extend children’s understanding of their place in the world, through extending and broadening their minds, opening them to new possibilities is important, especially in areas of deprivation. Deprivation can be in cultural terms, with families not taking children to local areas of interest, libraries, galleries, museums or the local fields or the sea, even if they are close. Parent knowledge may preclude them from interpreting experiences to and with their children. An example may be an inability to move beyond the word “bird” to identify a blackbird, robin, pigeon, blue tit or wren.

After school clubs can offer areas not covered in the curriculum. This need not be a drain on teacher time, as a local sixth form college can be a source of willing workers able to offer a broad range of opportunities. These extra-curricular opportunities often provide opportunities for informal contacts that support in-lesson relationships.
Opportunities to do things together enhance a contributory, collaborative, collegiate approach to school, embedding formal PSHE into activities.

After a visit to a school, I was able to write the following about learner attitudes.

The children whom I met during the visit were, without exception, courteous, confident and articulate. They were allowed to speak freely and did so openly and honestly. They were a credit to the school. The discussions showed that the children were fully aware of their part in school life, could articulate their expectations and ambitions and knew in great detail how they could find the support that they needed should this occur.

They valued their school, their teachers and TAs, and saw how the school was enabling them to achieve at their best and represented a community that sees learning as the central feature of the establishment. There is a broad range of rewards, encouraging continuous involvement.

There are many layers of support for children’s behaviour needs, within the system, which allows intervention and decisions to be taken by both staff and children, being enabled to make “the right choices”. This is articulated through the “Going for Green” system, which was well understood.

The children are given responsibilities within the school, which they carry out with care, ensuring that their peers are able to learn effectively or are being supported emotionally. They value all that is available to them and take advantage of the many experiences available, in and out of normal school hours.

Induction and transfer arrangements are very effectively organised, with a significant body of evidence that shows clearly that the majority of children on the special needs register make good levels of progress within the school, specifically in reading and writing. There is a wide range of interventions, ably coordinated, utilising internal staff as well as external expertise. These interventions were highly valued by parents.

Specifics.

• Induction and transition arrangements very secure
• Communication systems in place throughout the school allowing children to articulate their views
• Children feel safe in the school and are regularly asked for their views
• Documentation illustrates the community feel of the school, with clear articulation of understanding individual needs, personalised approaches, broad understanding of the school community of individual needs and a strong support network surrounding children throughout their school experience.
• Children’s progress is tracked thoroughly.

Schools are often central features of their community, a place where disparate groups meet although outside the school gates they are often separate. Understandings that might be a part of an inclusive school values and ethos may be less visible in the adult community.

Community, in itself, can mean different things to a school. Their community will focus on the teachers and other adults in the school, the children in their classes and their families. The idea of family broadens the community, especially in an area with low mobility. A school can serve several generations of some families. Schools also have to have an eye to the next generations of students, so will look at earlier year opportunities and their links. The pupils of a school pass through the community, usually identifiably through their uniform. So, in reality, community has to mean everyone in a locality.

The idea of rights, respect and responsibilities, as often shared within school values, derived from community values, will have resonance within the wider community. Heads and senior staff can often spend significant amounts of time dealing with issues from within the wider community, as they affect their pupils, directly or indirectly.
From that point of view, a clear view of surrounding issues is essential to provide background information to support clarity of decision making. The school/setting needs to audit the local and wider community, seeing itself as a central player in the community, as a potential social amenity resource, but also seeking to use the local area as a resource for wider learning.

​Bring in the local police officer, or support officer, the crossing patrol, the caretaker, fire brigade, ambulance staff, to share their roles in keeping everyone safe, and to broaden the children's vies of themselves within their community. 

If the school/setting is involved in community life, with children visible, behaving, learning, sharing, being polite to passers-by, the reputation is enhanced. Where choirs, drama and music groups go out to sing, dance, play or perform, the school demonstrates the quality of the learning and the outward looking stance. Pupils going out of the school are essentially ambassadors for the school. Well-behaved children are noticed as much as less well-behaved groups. The public are now often quicker to comment on these things and with ease of communication, receiving an email from a positive member of the public, shared with the children, adds value to the visit.

The community is involved in the life of the school/setting. Where schools put on performances or other events, welcoming the community into the school enables a “soft sell” approach. Some parents have not had a good school experience. To cross the threshold can be a challenge for some. Informal events can provide the vehicle to show a welcoming face.

Links with local and wider clubs and organisations can provide additional expertise and resources that are shared to advantage pupils. If the community strengths are known, they can sometimes be used to enhance the curriculum or the extra-curricular activities offered. Parents with language skills, art, drama, music, writing or any other curriculum area, can sometimes be persuaded into school to share experiences.

Schools bring in a wide range of church groups, who may be able to support the collective worship aspect of school. Wildlife groups, historical associations, local museums all may have specific expertise to impart. Then there are the sports clubs, who may be able to support within the week or through after school clubs, with the link to the club encouraging wider participation. It all takes some time to coordinate, but opens the school and shows the school in it’s wider vision.  

As a community resource, the school may be able to host local group meetings, especially outside the school day, where other local amenities might not be available.

The school, as an education establishment, can see itself in a broader educational role, by signposting adults to available learning opportunities. This can be through local library opportunities to formal educational opportunities within local colleges. A large number of schools accept students on BTEC or NVQ routes for their practical experiences.

The hardest part of auditing the school in the community is in gaining a true picture of whether the school/setting is valued by the local community. If the school/setting has systems to canvas local opinion, evaluate outcomes and act on findings, then they may be in a better position to make decisions. However, many schools will rely on a canvasing a small group of committed parents, through the PTA or the Parent Governors. This will probably give a skewed image.

Parent questionnaires often suffer from poor returns. This is not totally surprising. To receive a questionnaire several pages long to fill in and return by a certain date, can be off-putting. Alternatives include smaller, regular, themed questions; one a week, or five a month. In that way the school can adopt a “You said, we thought, we did…” approach to issues arising in a timely manner. Using social media, Twitter or Facebook, is providing some schools with direct communication with community members.

Making sure that good news stories have broader readership, through regular press releases, puts the school into the community homes. Unless the school is proactive in this regard, much will go unnoticed. “Selling” the school may not come naturally, but the benefits need to be accrued.

Schools cannot divorce themselves from their community; it walks through the door daily, in the form of the children, their parents and other community members. To understand their environment in all it’s complexity, ensures that decisions can be clearer and have greater impact.

Proactive is always better than reactive.

For the past ten years I have had the pleasure of working with schools developing their inclusion practice and also specifics, such as their parent partnership approaches. These visits have allowed for many hours of conversations with the school, governors, management and teachers, as well as with the parents. These conversations, to some extent can be distilled to certain essentials.

Schools need parent support, for a wide range of needs that are ancillary to learning. Both want the same outcomes- success for the child.

I used this poem in communication with parents to represent the school view of the relationship. In the best instances it is a clear partnership.

I dreamed I stood in a studio and watched two sculptors there,
The clay they used was a young child’s mind and they fashioned it with care.

One was a teacher: the tools she used were books and music and art;
One was a parent with a guiding hand and gentle loving heart.

And when at last their work was done, they were proud of what they had wrought.
For the things they had worked into the child could never be sold or bought!

And each agreed she would have failed if she had worked alone.
For behind the parent stood the school, and behind the teacher the home!
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In all dealings with parents, communication is the key element of a successful journey. To be successful, this communication needs to be two way, whereas, in reality, it is often information from the school, being passed to the parents.

There is a need to explore all aspects of communication, from the “front of house” element, the smile on entry and early attention, to the internal and external formats to ensure that everyone knows what they need to know in a timeframe that allows the information to be useful and ensures as full a participation as possible.

“Front of house” is very important. If a parent feels able to approach the school, via the office and knows that “agreements” made will be carried through, they can go away happy, knowing that their child is safe and, if followed up with a reassuring call, the rest of the day is calm. A concerned parent can turn into a disgruntled parent quite quickly, with consequences within the home that might lead to negativity from children.

“Parent Voice” is a key aspect, in that, if parents feel that they have a partner voice, where they are enabled to be participants in discussion, they feel valued as part of the journey. Some schools have alternative arrangements, such as parent forum or parent council, but, in my experience, these can become small, almost cliques, which over time excludes the larger group of parents, especially as they can be self-selecting in the first place. Many schools rely on the narrower views, so then come across difficulties at the margins. A couple of schools chose to involve those parents who had, in the past, chosen to criticize the school. Interestingly, this approach did prove remarkably positive, as these parents suddenly felt they had a platform.

It is very important to have mechanisms by which general views are sought. This can be through questionnaires, but, in practice, especially if they are once a year, these are often large documents, which results in a small, unrepresentative response. Single questions (or small number, with a clear focus), on a regular basis, say once a month, can be a more viable methodology, especially if the school is seeking evidence on a specific topic. Some schools have adopted a post-it approach, whereby after an event a board is put at the exit, with two colours of post-it, one for WWW, another for EBI, of similar wording. The commentary provides a response that allows reflection on the outcomes of the event and food for thought for changes before another.

In asking questions, it is a good idea to feed back to the audience. Most of the schools with which I worked were happy with a “You said, we thought, we did” approach within either their website, newsletter or on a notice board, depending on the best approach for their parents. This loop demonstrates to the parents the value of involvement. They are encouraged to take an active part, in all aspects of school life.

The positivity of the involved parents improves the “word of mouth” aspects of relationships, so that they become the ambassadors for the school in their catchment, offering positive messages and encouragement to parents who might be feeling negativity.

The bottom line is that (the vast majority of) parents want to feel that they have a continuing role to play in their child’s school life. By making it easier for them to interact, in a variety of ways, the school demonstrates that they are welcome as partners. This positive partnership rubs off on the children, as it is clear that home and school work together, that it is not a one-way street, with either the school or the parent as the dominant partner.

In many ways, the simplicity of this is to find appropriate ways to engage fully with parents.

• Schools need to know the children, their parents and their community if the relationships are to be maintained, developed and enhanced.
• Where the school intake is very widely spread, some schools have taken parents evenings to a venue that better suited the parents, especially if they are reticent to step into a school building, as they had a poor experience.
• Some schools have “parent outreach” staff members, either teachers or support staff, who do home visits as necessary, or are the faces when a parent needs to come in and talk, with a role to follow through with whichever staff member is needed.
• Many schools send home an outline of the half term or the term ahead, with topics being encountered and suggesting ways in which the parents can help at home, by highlighting the probable home activities.
• Some schools ensure translation of written information or have essential language staff available to engage the parents during discussion.
• One school, knowing that they had a large population from a specific country, went to their meeting venue, spoke with the acknowledged leaders, used the venue for discussions and brought the leader(s) into the Governing body, ensuring visible representation.
• Teacher and school letters are often close typed, and written in ways that require a good level of education to understand the nuances. To know the parents and to make sure that newsletters are discussed in a heritage language, or with parents known to have reading issues, can be the difference between parental comfort and discomfort, enabling the children to participate fully in school life.
• Policies are often unreadable, even to the professional staff. A one page summary, written without jargon, supports broader understanding.
• Induction is a well-articulated system. There is a need to ensure that sufficient thought is given to this. First impressions count. This can be a case of well written paperwork, translated if needed into a heritage language or meetings that are timed to suit parents as well as teachers. If parents are asked what they want to know, then written materials can be created to ensure that this information is shared, as well as the essential school information.
• Some schools encourage parents to “Stay on and Play, Read, Talk, Plan, etc”, either at entry times or after school, which provides informal opportunities to chat and develop relationships.
• Parent and child activities, sometimes under the “Family Learning” umbrella, gives an opportunity to model quality talk, offer shared journeys and insights into family relationships.
• Where finance is an issue, limiting home activities, some school PTAs organise group entry prices to local areas of interest.
• One school invites parents to come into school in small batches to develop the idea of parents and children sharing books together, through teacher modelling. The opportunity to model skills with parents will pay dividends, especially if the support is available to all and non-attenders are followed up to ensure that the opportunity is equitable. There is still no guarantee of quality, but positive engagement may well outweigh lack of expertise, some support being better than none. Schools may need to determine quality and make some differentiated provision to back up any shortfall, using volunteer parents and TAs.
• Home activity, such as “talking homework” that involves extended engagement is more likely to have an impact on learning than a photocopied sheet to be undertaken in isolation, as children will have an opportunity to articulate their thinking.

Making parents into partners in the learning journey is an essential good. While they will acknowledge the work of the school, any negativity that can easily build, as a child encounters barriers to their learning progress, can become exaggerated within the home, as the parent seeks to make sense of what is happening.

Openness, honesty and excellent communication, in a range of formats, can support and maintain the positive partnership.

Ease of access, ease of communication, ease of movement. Making life as easy as possible for all parts of the community.

Over recent years, where schools have been built, rebuilt or refurbished, attention has been paid to the need to accommodate to the requirements of a wider variety of potential users of the site than might have previously been the case. I have visited a range of schools across the southern half of the UK and seen considerable innovation in the use of space and adaptations to particular needs, both in new and refurbished buildings. In the latter case, the refurbishment is often an ongoing project, with the school continuing to function while part of the school is effectively a building site.

It is certainly a truism in education that you have to work with what you have, as a basic resource. The spaces and the resources within the building have to work well to effect good inclusive practice. This blog assumes that while walking around the school site, attention is paid to the ease of access, and how the site could be remodelled to best possible use, probably with the least possible cost in the current climate.

Checking that the learning environment is well planned to support learning and teaching.

There is an obvious need for classroom spaces, of sufficient quantity and quality to house the number of classes of children. Quality is often determined by the amount of space, with a notional 55sq m for a classroom as what used to be the norm. This can vary from one style of school to another and can depend on the date of building. Some schools have large rectangular classrooms with areas for messy activity, as well as carpet areas. When I was a HT, my school was an open plan Scola building, with 35sq m “base areas” and the other 18sq m as “working corridors”.

Adaptations, in-house (me, as jobbing carpenter), to work spaces, such as creating art tables from 240cm by 120cm blockboard on top of linked paper trollies, enabled working space to be created, but still keeping corridor movement free. Sometimes it takes a bit of imagination. If you can think it, someone can design it.

The number of tables in a room can sometimes exceed the needs of the number of learners. It is well worth looking at the impact on space of too much furniture, as this can limit space for other valuable activities.

Classroom arrangements, including support staff deployment and use, support good learning. There is order and organisation of resources for accessibility and ease of movement. Differential resources for individual, including specialised, needs; eg more able learners and/or learners requiring additional support.

Spaces are now often created outside the classroom spaces, for withdrawal groups. This puts pressure on the broader availability of space. It is well worth while debating the merits, or otherwise, of such an approach. In an inclusive school, what does a child lose by being taken out of a classroom? Is 1:1 provision potentially very challenging to a child who knows that they are struggling to learn, as they are permanently in the spotlight?

How are additional adults deployed to support learning? These additional staff might have a specific remit, with an individual child, and may well have had some specialist training to the needs of that child, but the majority will be generalist support. It is well worth remembering that they are not always specialists, yet, in many cases, where they are deployed to support the lower achieving group, the needs may be greater than the skill or knowledge of the adult to support. There should be an interplay of responsibilities, with the classteacher spending an equal amount of time with this group, providing high quality teaching to needs, while the additional adult acts as “spotter” for broader needs. Activities can be planned to achieve this arrangement.  

Resources, the library and accessible ICT are arranged to support learning. Resources are purchased to identifiable need. Where resources are well ordered and easily accessible, children can become more independent in retrieval and return, a relatively low level activity, but which, in practice, can free up adult time. Learning to find information has always been a part of learning. Most schools retain a library, as well as now having good ICT equipment available to children. Children, well trained in information finding can become independent in this area, again freeing the teacher.

Freeing up adult time is important, as “freed time” can be deployed to support those in greater need. Whole class approaches can often embed practices that centre on the teacher as the provider, diminishing aspects of independence.

Where specialist kit is needed for an individual child, it is essential for all adults to be aware of it’s use and application, as any one of the adults could be called upon to resolve an issue. Examples might be: use of ICT to enhance learning across abilities; adaptive ICT for individual needs; additional resources and adaptations for disabled (differently abled) students.

Communication, oral and written, is effective in supporting teaching and learning, including parent needs for translation and interpretation.

Inclusive schools communicate effectively. I can say that after visiting a hundred schools unpicking their approaches, with a wide range of partners, children, parents and guardians and external professionals. Good communication is highly valued. The simplicity of a morning system, where a parent communicates a concern to the school, that is received by one member of staff, acknowledging the concern, passed to a relevant responsible member of staff to investigate or respond early, reduces parent anxiety substantially. The school is seen as caring and concerned and supportive of parents.

In many ways, communication has become much easier over the past forty years. From my early classroom days, where the home-school diary was the highlight of shared communication, today, it is possible to email, phone (fixed and mobile), text or put information on the school website, as well as the traditional hard copy methods.

Where other heritage languages are a part of the school community, some schools translate their written communications to specific parent needs, while some have a form of “parent buddy”, whose role is to interpret to peers who may not be able to read their own language or English. These buddies can accompany the peer parent into meetings to translate as needed.

There are systems such as the “Young Interpreters” scheme, developed by Hampshire county Council Ethnic Minorities support team, which trains children to support their language compatriots as they arrive in the school. This can enable the newcomer to feel a sense of belonging, as well as provide someone looking out for them.

Positive outcomes of participation in inclusive activities, leading to high quality learning, such as displays and photographs are evident.

With digital photographs easily effected these days, it is possible to keep a visual record of all sorts of activities. These images can be used to create written records, as they act as a storyboard, which can enhance recall and vocabulary and language used to describe the activity. Where a child has a problem transcribing, a scribe can secure the ideas and write these up, recording the child involvement, so that pleasure is derived from a piece of work on display.

The impact of having a piece of work on display cannot be underestimated. Pride is a positive motivator; having achieved this once, the child may strive to do so again. Work quality can be significantly enhanced. The display of work also tells the child that they are valued by the class teacher.

Celebrations of achievements at different levels and a variety of means.

Children like to feel good about their efforts. Knowing that the teacher notices that they have made effort, and that, as a result of this effort, their work is showing improvement, provides the basis for further effort and potential improvement.

Celebration can be simply reading a good phrase or sentence aloud for others to appreciate. It might be sharing the process used to solve a maths equation. It can be noted in terms of house points, raising a child on a star chart, or be certificated in some form, in class or within a celebration assembly.

A phone call or a postcard home broadens the positive web, making the child feel good within a broader group.

No system is “perfect”. The underlying organisation of the school enables the smooth running of the day job, of educating the range of children who inhabit the space. It is, always has been and always will be, a case of “best efforts”, identifying and accommodating to needs within the restrictions of the available spaces and resources.

Occasionally walk your school like a parent, or a new set of eyes. I have worked with schools on a mini project similar to the “secret shopper” scheme, to get an external view of arrival and being shown around the school. That can be an eye opener. Equally, some schools undertake small scale polls to ascertain the quality of communication at different points of the school.

Analyse need, plan to cater for anticipated need, communicate widely and effectively and regularly check in practice.

Everyone needs to feel a sense of belonging.

Could this be said about your school?

The school building, which meets the basic and extended needs of learners and staff, is carefully maintained. The main teaching spaces are large, light and airy, with a large number of very interesting displays and relevant ICT equipment. There is adequate space for teaching and learning, including spaces for small-group work and very well-equipped libraries, developed recently to a high standard. Classrooms use wall space to demonstrate learning points to pupils.

Very high quality displays present the work of pupils across the curriculum and encourage passers to stop and spend time to browse and admire. Some classrooms and some displays presented as a little cluttered, which could cause a slight sensory overload for some learners.

Outdoors, there is an excellent range fixed play equipment and a wide variety of small games are encouraged by the very motivated group of Play leaders (midday supervisors). There is a good-sized grass area used as often as the weather allows. Early Years and KS1 pupils have access to separate outdoor spaces, well equipped to support a broad range of experiential and physical play. The older children are also able to enjoy excellent facilities, developing imaginative play, as well as more usual physical play such as football. The very high quality outdoor provision from Early Years to Year 6 ensures that the learning continues outside class time. An interesting mix of physical challenge, experience, construction, musical instruments, small group games equipment and space for specific activity, such as dance, offer a broad range of opportunities for children to engage with friends in constructive activity.

The school has a large hall which lends itself well to whole-school events and productions. The year four children were preparing a concert during the first day. The excited voices were easy to hear, the quality of singing and the obvious enjoyment being communicated could be felt behind a closed door.
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Wheelchair access within the school is very good, as seen through the easy movement of several children during the visit.

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Over the next few weeks, I want to explore the idea of inclusion, reflecting on real school practices and suggesting areas which schools might like to consider if they wish to enhance or embed inclusive approaches.

The inclusion values of the school/setting; it’s an ethos thing.

Imagine someone visiting your school for the first time. They arrive in the area, to be confronted by a school site. I signage such that they can be easily directed to the reception area? En route, is there evidence that parents are welcomed into the school, eg a “Parent’s Notices” board, with current, useful information? Is the site clean, tidy and welcoming? At the entrance, is access easy? Are entry “phones” highlighted? Are reception staff instantly welcoming?

If parents have to sit and wait, is the area pleasant and is there appropriate material to read and interest the parent, possibly also a younger sibling? Where other heritage languages are spoken, are documents translated, to support understanding of a new school system? Are translators available if needed? Some schools have used other parents as “peer mentors”, while there is a child version of this approach, available through Hampshire CC EMTAS.

As the visitor (parent) is shown around, displays show that children’s work is valued and of a good quality, and can be discussed by the person leading the visit. It is clear that individual children are valued, as they are known and addressed by name. Any issues arising during the walk around are dealt with appropriately and professionally. Individual difference is valued, and evident in many different ways, such as a Rights, Respects and Responsibility display.

All staff, parents and Governors are committed to Inclusive practices.

Inclusion is a discussion item, in a range of fora, from the Governing Body and policy statements through staff discussion and including parent groups for feedback. There is evidence, from Governor and other meeting minutes, as well as correspondence, that the Inclusion discussion is an open agenda item.  

Staff are appointed to the school ethos and are expected to uphold these values. Induction, and ongoing, regular CPD, emphasises the values and the implementation of practice that might require adjustment to cater for developing needs. There is a clear (individual, Governor, whole school) plan for CPD in Inclusion, supported by external expertise where relevant. Child Protection lead staff are identified and well trained to effect their roles.

Inclusive practice is interpreted within clear behaviour guidelines that are well communicated, understood by all staff and adhered to by all. Strategies are clear, as are lines of responsibility and action.

There is effective management and organisation of inclusive practice throughout the school/setting. This is modelled to the school in personal behaviours, discussion, communications and appropriate action taken to circumstances.
There is effective personal support or mentoring available to individuals, staff and children. Identification of need is a whole staff/community remit, as each is the eyes/ears of the organisation, especially as children’s relationships can vary between staff members. Dealing with disclosure effectively is an essential element of safeguarding as well as inclusive practice. Good communication is key to early resolution.

There is effective induction and transition.

Entry into a new setting can be disorienting to a child, at any age, especially if this means that they do not know others in their peer group. Routines are explained carefully, where appropriate this is in picture/map form, with timetables clear, again pictorially if necessary.

Where all staff are fully involved in induction processes, keeping an eye on the new entrants, talking together and spotting and dealing with any vulnerabilities, the children will begin to have a feeling of belonging, which is an essential step.

The whole staff model school/setting expectations and develop good relationships with learners.

In class expectations should derive from general school articulation of behaviours, both in general behaviour terms, based on personal responsibility for actions, choices and consequences, but also in learning responsibilities and behaviours.

The teacher (inclusive) role is to identify barriers to learning and to plan to address evident needs. This can be through a variety of approaches that put the child’s needs at the centre of action, including appropriate and effective support.
Achievement by all is celebrated in a variety of forms; congratulatory comments, stickers or other extrinsic rewards, phone calls or postcards home, celebration assemblies, stars of the week, work shared or on display.

Pupils are well known. Plans for progress underpin all activity and Pupil Premium funding has an identifiable and measurable impact on pupil progress.

Reporting to parents, orally and in writing, supports parent-school dialogue and ultimately supports children’s learning.

Could something like this summarise your school?

X School sees itself as a caring school which:-

• Seeks maximum academic success for all children
• Is focussed on the pursuit of outstanding teaching and learning
• Is focussed in the interest of relationships for learning
• Understands and cares for each individual
• Is a loving, fun and humane school
• Works with parents and children to raise standards and achieve excellence

You may want to extend your reading on inclusion with the following linked and developing blogs;

Inclusive Learning Environments
Inclusion; Parent Partners
​Inclusion; Community
​Inclusion; management and governance
​Inclusion; Children's Attitudes
Inclusion; Children and Progress
​​Inclusion; Teachers
​Inclusion at Exemplar Primary
Inclusion is just doing your job
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Pas d'elle yeux rhone que nous

​'Twas ever thus...

When the first National Curriculum arrived in 1987, I was a Deputy in a First School, appointed because my career in Primary and Junior schools, offered insights and guidance into developing and enhancing the curriculum. We created a very strong approach to topic areas, high levels of literacy and maths.

When the first cohort took the SATs, the level 3 outcomes were challenged by the attached Junior School, which refused to believe that the children could achieve level 3 at year 2, even when faced with the moderated evidence. By the time they left us at the end of year 3, the vast majority, with guidance, were a secure level 3 and some showed achievement within aspects of level 4, across maths and English.

As a HT from 1990, the same conversations occurred with receiving Secondary Schools, not wishing to accept the evidence within portfolios. As a new HT, there was internal evidence that, despite being a through Primary, teachers taking year 3 classes were inclined not to fully accept year 2 colleague’s moderated judgements. It was a case of the classic, “I’ll get to know them by Christmas”.

As a result, progress across year 3 was demonstrably limited.

As this was an issue, internal moderation activities supported most staff discussions for a considerable time, seeking to establish clear, consistent levels of expectation, to support progress and raise the quality of teacher judgement.
Diminishing or ignoring what has gone before, while it might give the receiving teacher a false sense of their own achievement, has long term detrimental impact on the learners; it gradually demotivates. The year 4 and year 7 children regularly came back to school with tales of covering the same ground as in years 3 and 6.

As year 6 SATs are in Maths and English, I can see precisely why Secondaries showed concern, as predictions in other subjects were, illogically, based on these scores.

The current pressures on Primary education, to achieve at the end of year 6, apparently at a level 4a/5c equivalent in Maths and English will have unintended consequences, especially as I have yet to be convinced that the new outcomes will be accepted on transfer.

KS3 will effectively become the topic side of KS2, moved to a different phase, having to start at a lower start point, as Primaries progressively cut down on foundation subjects. The focus on arithmetic, as maths, may impact in science and technology, where accurate application of measures may need extensive practice. Children’s hand control and fine use of art and DT materials may need a period of familiarisation. Their general knowledge about the world may be less well developed.

In other words, a false economy.
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I recently met the parent of a child who went to Secondary with 3a/4c achievement, but a love of learning. He got good GCSE and A levels and went on to get a first class degree. He had learned to enjoy learning.

System fails children

​It has always struck me as odd that, within our English education system, we almost fetishise the idea of passing and failing. It was prevalent in my childhood, with the ubiquitous 11 plus, although it didn’t impact too much personally, as I lived in Australia between the ages of 7 and 11, returning to take the exam in a LEA office along with my sister, who, at 11 months difference in age was in the same year. I passed, she failed, which caused difficulties, as subsequent educational opportunities were significantly different.

Sifting out a few, at either extreme, causes a problem, for those that are not selected, as well as within the cohort of selectees. I can remember within my first Grammar School, selection was alive and well, even in an already selective cohort. We seem to like stratification, to establish a place in a hierarchy, especially if there is an instinctive feeling of superiority. Of course, what goes with that can be putting others down, sometimes very insensitively, such as comparison between siblings, “Why can’t you be like…?”

The current National Curriculum has embedded the idea of passing and failing; you are at or below a centrally determined national standard. Even the 9 scale new GCSE score has determined a pass level.

You would suppose that, in 2016, after many years of different systems, that we could come up with a system that values personal capability, celebrating what has been achieved, what can be used and applied effectively, and to know, and to be able to clearly describe those area that need some development and the steps to be taken to address them.

To some extent, the system of levels, when they came into practice in 1987, did offer the potential of describing capability, as they were general statement that sought to describe stepped progress, across a range of subjects. They were seen as potentially linking through to, and merging with, GCSE grades, to provide a ladder. Now we all know that learning is not linear, but, for children and for early career teachers, they did provide a relatively simple structure against which to make judgements and to give clear developmental advice to children and parents.

They were never perfect descriptors, any more than sub-levels, broken further into Assessing Pupil Progress tick boxes, but they were a guide. At any age it was feasible to have a general idea of what a level 2,3,4,5 piece of writing, or reading challenge, would look like, to be able to seek specifics for support and improvement.

Today, with terminal assessment of KS1 and 2 soon to be effected, the tick boxes will be rampant, as schools seek evidence for external moderators. It will inevitably distort T&L further, as tasks are set to demonstrate specific skills, and will seriously stress teachers further.

To get more children to a 4b equivalent could have been more easily effected.
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Sledgehammer anyone; I have a nut to crack.

Learning to teach is a process.

​There are no short cuts to becoming a teacher, in my opinion.

It is a mixture of art, science and craft, intermixed with individual personal qualities that are often hard to quantify, even if they can be described clearly.

Interviewing potential trainees is an interesting activity, trying to enable a candidate to share the best of themselves, to determine whether in one or three/four years they have the makings of a teacher. Their presentation as a potential professional is embedded, and likely to be judged, in their composure, body language, ability to engage with discussion and how they relate to other candidates within the group; trying to see them in a staffroom.

Before interview, they will have taken their maths and English tests and will have had to spend some purposeful time in a school. This latter point enables discussion about their insights and learning from those experiences, positive areas and their own understanding of their personal learning need. For subject specific applicants, drawing out their abilities to explain an idea might develop the conversation further. In a relatively short time, the interview has to determine their suitability; no one wants to waste three years of a young person’s time and money.

The key areas for any trainee in working towards becoming a teacher can be summed up in the teaching standards as 2,4,6,5,2; a cyclic rotation that starts with an awareness of what to expect form children of a certain age (TS2, progress and outcomes), gets embedded into planning for learning over time (TS4), raises teacher awareness within a lesson and between lessons about the need to intervene and adapt to evident need (TS6&5), resulting, hopefully in deeper clarity about the learning needs of the class from which to refine subsequent plans. It is a process of investigating anomalies along the way, identifying individuals and groups who may not be accessing the learning, refining the challenges to better match needs. Teachers are essentially learning detectives, especially where personal needs are concerned.

Knowing your subject is key, as is an acute awareness of the “audience”, which determines the appropriate vocabulary and visual modelling techniques; concrete artefacts, images, diagrams or other scaffolded schematic.
So, having got your “stuff” across, seen and worked with the children being actively involved, checking the outcomes for quality is important. What does a good piece of work for the year group in this subject look like? Is this good enough, good, or does it surpass expectation? This judgement is an important aspect. Discussions with classteachers are essential, to inform and moderate judgement. Reality is “Can I move all, some or none onto next step?”

It all takes time, and guidance and mentoring, especially on school experience is a key element. While the generic themes can be explored in lectures, it is in the heat of the classroom where the real decisions are made. These need substance to promote learning.
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Learning, for trainees and children, can be messy at times.

Thinking teachers as learning detectives

​In my mind, a significant aspect of teaching, as I have often blogged about, is the ability to investigate anomalies, those moments where the teacher suspects that a child, or a group of children, may not fully understand what is being taught.

This teacher mindset is supported by an internal schema which develops from the idea that the baseline plans have been based clearly on the prior learning achievements of the children in the class.

Overview plans that have a clear direction allow diversion then a return to the main plan.

Improvisation is a skill that is honed in practice, as teachers spot what they see as possible needs, then intervene to determine the nature of the problem.

This is where high quality questioning supports the scaffolded conversation, enabling the child to externalise what they are thinking and the precise nature of the issue so that the specifics can be addressed, rather than assume global, generic approaches, which do not support progress.

It may be that this process requires a level of modelling, of making explicit what they are thinking, through drawing, diagrams or physical representation, preferably from the child seeking to explain, but some, and especially younger children, may not have the vocabulary to explain their thinking. The teacher may have to unpick step by step, very patiently, where the block exists.

Knowing the process of how children develop as learners in the subject is essential teacher knowledge, to complement subject specific knowledge. While the teacher has reached a level of expertise, the children are still learners. What is obvious to the teacher and other adults may not be so for the child. It is often the nuances of vocabulary that constitute the block, for a number of learners, not just specific groups.

Investigatory skill is such an important aspect of teaching, embedded in the teaching standards (6&5) that it should be the teacher remit to undertake investigation, so that any specific intervention support can be carefully guided. I would go as far as to argue that teachers should be teaching those children in the class with the greatest identifiable need.
Differentiated lesson inputs can be a stage in investigation; if a group didn’t “get it” yesterday, start with a reprise for that group, with a challenge activity for the rest.

Teaching Assistants should be guided to undertake activities with children, with training given to support them in noting children’s responses, and any interventions needed, to support assessment after activity.

Investigation underpins personalisation of approaches. Working with Vauxhall Primary School in London, the head used the term “forensic” underpinning their investigation of children’s needs. As a result, tailored approaches were deployed, with the result at year 6, that the school regularly achieved 95% level 4+ outcomes.
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The idea of “find out what they don’t know and teach them” happens in an investigative, learning centred environment.
Think like a detective, be forensic and take carefully planned actions. Reflect, talk and share.

Topicality; it's in the news

​Things happen on a daily basis, filling the airwaves with stories of disasters; yesterday was the Didcot power station, knocking the European Union (the Boris, Michael and Dave show) story off top spot. Recently there was the report of the severe storm that hit parts of the island complex that makes up Fiji.

Every story has other stories embedded within them, if they are to be put into context and to seek understanding. In today’s world, it can be a case of blink, miss it and another breaking story takes the place of that emergency. Where is Didcot? Fortunately I have driven past this area and seen the Power station; today it was described as close to Oxford and to the east of the Cotswolds, which provided some context, coloured further by descriptions of the current decommissioning programme.

The EU story has another four months to go; after week one I am getting a little tired of the personality contest that is developing. If it wasn’t as important as it is, I might be tempted to switch off.

As for Fiji, I have a memory of Suva the capital, as a result of a return journey from Australia, but that was in 1970, so it would have change somewhat.
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We have a combination of first and second/third hand experiences, with the majority being in the second-hand category; tales told to us by others, interpreting events through their own filters. A lot of what we hear or see on the radio or television is edited through the producer’s decisions to retain or dismiss aspects of a story. We get a flavour, but then have to use imagination to fill in the gaps and perhaps to empathise with people going through the disaster.
Few will have been in the vicinity of an explosion, the EU debate will have many, very complex elements, while, apart from those souls who venture out into the rain and wind of a gale, or were alive when the major storms of the past hit this country, many will not have an idea of the damage that a hurricane can cause.

There will be households where the news is not a significant part of the family habit, on the radio, the TV, PC or a newspaper. So it is possible for children to go through each day oblivious to what is going on in the wider world.
For that reason, I used news stories in assemblies, or in lessons, seeking to make the links between the children and the wider world, to open their eyes to issues, to human suffering or just to the fact that, all around them, other people’s lives were being disrupted; trying to make them children of the world.

When they came in themselves with stories, that they wanted to share, we knew that we had achieved a goal. They were showing an interest.
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That’s why topicality should have a place in school time; it’s the story of now.

Fiction and fact; can they read for understanding?

​A great deal of time is spent getting children to, first of all, learn to read while at the same time there is the aspiration that they will enjoy the whole experience of reading.

Almost for as long as I can remember, there have been surveys and apocryphal stories of a drop off in enjoyment, especially for boys as they get older. I can remember seeking out series of books that would appeal to the boys, with “boy themes”; football was common. Surprise! Some liked them, others didn’t. We tried non-fiction texts; again, some liked them and some didn’t.

It was while I was exploring reading and language development as part of a part time advanced diploma that I came across the idea of readability, especially with regard to non-fiction books. Using the available technology, it was possible to type in a piece of text, 100 words, and then to get an indication of the readability levels of the text. That this was often well above the reading ages of the children was not uncommon. The words were too hard.

Further exploration suggested two reasons for this, the words themselves were occasionally challenging their decoding and also that their background experiences did not support their understanding of the word, even if they could decode them. There was a link, both with the basics of reading, but also with their “knowledge” base.
On the basis of this, it became clear that the children needed a two pronged attack.

Each child was checked for their understanding, use and application of phonics rules; using any available adults for vulnerable individuals (usually me at playtime/lunchtime), or as a group test for more confident readers. Interventions were then planned; as there was no TA that was down to me.

The second aspect was to ensure that all reading material being used was checked for readability and glossaries of specific words that might cause difficulty were displayed within theme displays, added to as new words were explored. In that way, knowledge kept pace with the need. An “alphabetised glossary” became a part of every topic, could be incorporated into home activities and general class discussion, so enriching the experiences of all the learners, even those whose participation was sometimes patchy. It offered talking points, peer to peer, and teacher child.

Finding that background understanding was often a problem for the children, we also began to look at theming fiction reading material, so that themed collections would become a focus for the class, to take home and share, returning to class with food for discussion. Author selection and book selection was also much more carefully monitored to guide less confident teachers.

Where teacher confidence grew, in their knowledge of the available material, so did the reading confidence of the children.

It became the knowledgeable leading those with the need to know.
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You need know how, to be able to show how…

Thinking for yourself.

​On my personal blog, I have sought to reflect on my career, ideas that have developed over that time and also consider the current landscape. I hope that anyone reading the blogs will find something to think about and may find some of the ideas useful within their own practice. The blog will continue to develop, until it becomes just a reference piece. Others are rightly developing to take it's place.

In true Dewey style, I have my own personal thoughts and principles that have driven my own development and determined my actions, as a teacher, finally a headteacher and now as a consultant, assessor for national awards and ITE (university and School Direct) tutor.

My personal approach to learning.Since my early training I have been convinced
that the greatest service any teacher can do for children
in the earliest stages of education
is to instil a love of learning, to enjoy enquiring and to generate questions
which they can then seek to answer,
by a variety of means, and share with others.
To learn to think, to talk and to question is the birthright of every child.This simplification of a much broader approach
has been my guiding principle
both as a classroom teacher and as a head teacher,
seeking to harness children’s interests to become dynamic learners
in and out of school, both in school and all other settings.

The development of learning
through making explicit appropriate cross-curricular links,
starting from relevant first-hand experiences,
gives children both thematic overviews and the ability to explore,
discover and place relevant individual items of information within a wider context.
This is often now described as a metacognitive approach, learning about learning,
but I would argue that it is, and always has been, good education practice.
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Children need to have a grasp of where their current learning fits
into the wholeness of their knowledge,
to know where and how to store this for future use,
and to have skills of rapid recall,
so that the information or skill can be applied in other contexts.
Children should learn to become solution finders.

Keep staff and carry On; Tribal Memory

​Tribal memory

The concept of retaining tribal memory came up in a conversation with a teacher who has become a part time classroom assistant for a couple of years to run-down gently into full retirement. It linked with a documentary on TV about Anglo-Saxon Britons and the rites observed, including the sacrifice of the leaders if they failed in their duties. Familiar?

We discussed the ebb and flow of school development. Her school moved from a need to improve to outstanding and her current situation was in a school which moved from special measures to good. After long careers in schools, we reflected on how schools change over time, as new teams form and move forward, then slowly disintegrate as promotion or life takes over and changes the dynamics.

We agreed however, that there are no easy rides, however, it has probably been a truism that successful schools attract a significant field of applicants for posts, so choice is greater and potentially of higher calibre.

Continuity is maintained by those who stay; the “tribal elders”, the holders of the tribal narratives, the history and the myths, to share with newcomers. These myths can be positive in continuity, but cause problems, if poor approaches are retained.

If the leader leaves, like any tribe, the successor has to be selected and they will take time, especially if from outside the tribe, to understand the working methods of the group and the make-up of the group. This can be a difficult period. The need to make change, probably accepted by many, can be resisted by some, who see the articulation of the need for change as criticism of previous approaches.

Within any tribe, there can be factions, cliques and coteries, of supposedly like-minded colleagues. Long established, across all staff categories, they can be a source of strength or weakness. Some may see themselves as the real leaders in the group, especially at a time of change and seek to strengthen their positions. Minor politics can become a distraction from progress, especially if side issues develop, rather than substantive changes.

Change can be the catalyst for rapid improvements, if the leader’s vision and plan is clear, clearly articulated and effectively communicated with the members, with clarity of rationale based upon real internal understanding, involving tribal members in creating plans based on internal strengths and knowledge of individuals with specific skills and knowledge. Moving together and sharing success provides the feeling of tribal goodwill and self-worth.

The moral of this is that there should be a coherent narrative to be told and shared with new members of the tribe, so that they can quickly understand and establish their place within the tribal workings, ensuring the best available advice and support has impact, enabling the smooth and effective running of the group.
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Teachers staying in a school create the potential for development. Too much change can be destabilising and disabling.

Fifty shades of Gold; Golden handcuffs

When I heard the term golden handcuffs, with regard to teachers, I wondered if I had fallen into a new plotline for “Fifty Shades…” However, it would appear that Sir Michael Wilshaw, the retiring head of Ofsted was advocating some kind of “bung” to say thank you to some groups of teachers for doing their job for a few years after qualifying. This same group may well have already received a bursary to cover their Initial Teacher Education (ITE) fees and living costs. They may take a little while to really prove their worth. In the meantime, their colleagues, who may have been in post for significantly longer and will be doing the same job, well, will not receive the pot of gold, as they have already shown their willingness to stay in service. It could just begin to feel a little unbalanced, in a relatively short time.

In 1972, during my ITE period, Lord James of Rusholme produced a lengthy report looking into teacher education and seeking to reinforce quality provision across the whole sector. It is worth looking at what was proposed then.

1. teacher training should be seen as falling into three consecutive 'cycles': the first, personal education, the second, pre-service training and induction, the third, in-service education and training;
2. teacher training should be administered and planned by Regional Councils for Colleges and Departments of Education (RCCDEs);
3. a National Council for Teacher Education and Training (NCTET), linked with the RCCDEs and representing all branches of the teaching profession, should be established;
4. in the third cycle, all teachers in schools and full-time staff in FE colleges should be entitled to paid release for in-service education and training for not less than one school term every seven years;5. there should be a national network of 'professional centres';
6. teachers in schools and colleges should have opportunities to take part in curriculum development projects;

This was over forty years ago. Needless to say that it didn’t become a total reality, although some elements became part of my early career, especially 5 and 6, although both have largely gone.

The bit that encouraged me to get out into the world to teach, rather than stay on longer, as I was invited to do, was point 4, the opportunity to return for a period of in-service training, after seven years in service. For a teacher of seven years’ experience that would cost somewhere around £10000, so can appear expensive. However, having the potential of a sabbatical period, with study creating an incentive for the next seven years, might just be the fillip needed to restore equilibrium.

We need to start rewarding teachers for long service, not for a short period as a stop gap. That way the system can grow utilising the stability engendered.
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If someone has had a bursary to cover their training costs, I think they already owe something back; three years doesn’t seem too much to ask.

Marking time

On my main blog, I have a number of posts on marking, looking to make it a realistic aspect of a teacher life, while ensuring that children can participate fully and utilise advice and feedback effectively.

In “Marking; keep it simple”, the main premise is that the child targets should be on a fold out sheet that can be seen within a lesson, to guide teacher-child conversation, but also be a guide for marking later. It can incorporate non-negotiables, as they appear in earlier scripts.

In “Marking”, there is a discussion of marking as a dialogue between the teacher and the learner. I also question the place of homework where that generates marking load.

Homework can create additional marking need, but, if the activity is considered within the learning dynamics of the topic, does not necessarily need to do so.
Consider as home activity:-
• Draft from notes taken in a lesson, to be brought back as first draft, for editing in class.
• Summarise what has been learned into three key pieces of information. Boxed, it becomes a form of revision note.
• “Drawing and colouring” to save class time for discussion.
• Personal research which adds to the lesson.
• Reading a piece of text before the lesson.

None of the above needs detailed marking, as they are part of continuous effort.
As children mature as learners, they can begin to direct the teacher to areas for marking. If, say, adjectives have been the subject of learning, then the child can be asked to highlight the adjectives used, so they are easy to see.

In “Is marking moderation step 1”, the teacher is acting as quality control, feeding back to the child where their work is ok and where there are areas for improvement. Teacher judgement is key to these stages.
Moderation stage 1; teacher child conversation.
Moderation stage 2; teacher-teacher conversation.
Moderation stage 3; school-area conversation.
Moderation stage 4; school-national outcomes conversation.

In “Back to Marking”, in addition to the above, I also suggest a number of key steps to consider.
• As an organisation, schools should set marking expectations that are clear, concise and achievable and have impact on learning.
• Plan mark loads over a known timescale, so that books are marked appropriately in timescales that enable feedback to be useful. If a whole week of devoted to “assessment activity” it is not surprising if workloads are heavy, especially as they usually back onto school holidays.

Learners should see themselves as active partners in work review. It should be done with and through, not always done to. Marking in a lesson is a very supportive strategy, especially for struggling learners, where immediacy of response is needed.

There are no easy solutions, as this area is often unique to the teacher and their interpretation of expectations. But it is worth significant consideration.

The header photo comes from the blog, "Exercise Books as Personal Organisers".

One word, expectation, keeps coming into play in current discussion, but the different interpretations can sometimes be unhelpful. Just saying “I/we have high expectations” can become a mantra. Expectations have to be realistic, achievable in stages and with a clear articulation of the whole journey; keeping an eye on the “big picture”. “By the end of this year…” has to be planned and shared over appropriate timescales.

​In many ways, behaviour expectations are the easier to articulate, in terms of the school and the class. It is the nuances of learner expectation where considerable thought is needed. 

The term expectation does have the benefit of anticipating a dynamic event, so I have been considering an expectation mind-set. Some teachers intuitively have these skills, they are natural project planners, while others may need to reflect further to embed expectation in every aspect of their toolkit. While some aspects are natural, others take time and effort to embed to provide 3D expectations; the linearity of anticipated learning and the breadth of achievement.

Take writing as an example. Working with early career teachers, it is clear that they do not have an understanding of the progressive improvements that children can make; what it looks and reads like. This can take a considerable time if they focus on the children’s outcomes on a day to day basis, as the build-up of knowledge can be slow. Taking examples from the year above or below can provide additional insights.

As a comparator, selecting a set of books and seeking to put them in order of quality can develop an understanding of the range of outcomes. Describing the differences and thereby the improvements seen, creates a series of “steps” of progress. By identifying the essential steps, it is possible to articulate to learners their personal progress steps and it is this personal understanding that drives the learner effort.

Expectations and how they are derived, described and aspired to, have to be premised on notions of what it is reasonable to expect of any participant in an activity. While, in the early stages of a career, or perhaps in the early weeks of a new year with a new age group class, these expectations are somewhat generic, over time, they become more specific as the class outcomes show the nuanced differences between the children.

All expectation has to be premised on knowing the participants/learners well, otherwise inappropriate expectations, based on inaccurate assumptions, can create tension, both in the learners and the teacher. The fine tuning of expectations to individual needs/capabilities would seem to be the significant aspiration of all human systems.

As I write this in March, the school year is half way through. Teachers who have worked with the same class for the past six months have a very good insight into their children at an individual level, which will manifest itself in many nuanced ways that can have impact on learning.

Knowledge of the children derives from records and discussions with teachers, parents or other adults who have worked with them before. While it is important to use this information to develop the structural elements of running the class, care should be taken to allow every child to develop a good relationship with the new teacher. Knowledge of prior capabilities, as escribed through the records, may enable the teacher to define challenge levels for the class, with adaptations to different needs.

Despite the “mastery” mystery agenda, children will still exist in a stratified world; you can’t stop some achieving easier than others. Even within “whole class teaching”, observation demonstrates that teachers will adjust their language form and vocabulary to suit individuals.

Growing a learner mind-set:-
Can a child, as a learner, exceed what (s)he perceive as current capabilities? With encouragement, carefully set challenges, guidance, support and a clear visual model of what is being sought, (s)he can put effort into trying to do so.
What if (s)he achieves at the aspirational level? On achievement, (s)he has the understanding of the effort across the whole process that is needed and what it feels like to achieve, so that (s)he can repeat the process and seek to repeat and possibly surpass those outcomes.
By showing that (s)he has that new capability, it is reasonable to see it as a new baseline of expectation. If the teacher then sets a slightly higher goal, (s)he can then seek to make further progress, by unpicking what (s)he has to do next.

The teacher/expectation mind-set that enables this:-

• expects something specific to change as a result of the carefully matched learning opportunities being offered,
• supports her or him in looking at the resulting activities and discerning the nuances of behaviour that suggest ease or difficulty being encountered.
• drives conversations seeking to unpick areas of concern or to understand the fact that they’ve taken five minutes to complete a task you’d planned for twenty-five.
• creates the start point from which adjustments to the expectations are made
• ensures that the learner(s) make(s) progress and provides food for thought at the end of the lesson about next steps.

Defining what “good” is helps the articulation of expectation. What is a “good” outcome for a year two child might be considered “average” for a year four child and “poor” for a year six/seven child, and yet, each of the children concerned still needs reasonable expectations of progress, so that they can maintain and possibly enhance their progress through focused effort. Every child will have a number of images; themselves and their own achievements; their learning journey to make progress; a view of what others are achieving and to which they aspire. This has to be realistic, if it is not to become debilitating for some. Care has to be taken with the use of "WAGOLLs" What A Good One Looks Like. It is important that the child understands the process of development, not just see an end product, to be able to follow the instructions, not just copy.

Expectation mind-set in a teacher supports the preparation and the mental rehearsal of a lesson, in which a teacher anticipates the points in the lesson where (possibly specific) learners could exhibit misunderstanding or simply encounter a block. This allows preparations which ensure that issues are addressed appropriately and in a timely way.

Clarity of expectation is essential, both in quantitative and qualitative terms. Quantitative expectations can determine how much is achieved in a time scale, whereas qualitative will determine the depth of challenge. These expectations can be set out as “Success Criteria”, sharing the elements that make up a quality outcome. These also form the framework for context marking, while there will also be personal expectations. An example would be writing a letter, with context specific criteria, and individualised sentence construction or spelling needs.
Every planned “loop” through a theme provides new evidence for the teacher to refine their understanding of the learners in their class. Over time, and certainly by the summer term, a classteacher, like any good coach, knows the children in detail and can interact with ease with learning and other needs.

Then the cycle starts again, hopefully building on what has been achieved.

Why not take exercise books to the new class to establish baselines from the beginning of the term? They can go home after the first couple of weeks.

​Not all children will be world class high jumpers, but they need the chance to have a go at their own level.