I’ve taken part in the #nurture thread for the past few years, joining a group of people who share their recent highlights and hopes for the future. It’s not a novel idea, but perhaps as a series of shared blogs, the public nature might be irritating to some, as has been evidenced in my Twitter timeline.

Taking stock is a natural human instinct, which probably gave form to the two-headed Roman god Janus, from whom we get January. It can mean taking out the contents of a purse or wallet and checking how much cash you’ve got or perhaps a visit to the cashpoint, or online banking, especially at this time of year; can I afford yet another super-sized television?

Taking stock can mean counting your blessings, for the roof over your head, the season of gluttony and excess gift giving and receiving that you have just enjoyed, that you have a job which brings in regular amounts of money, enabling you to take advantage of holidays or replace the broken essential electrical items.

Of course, for some, taking stock might indicate all the above as negatives, in which case cutting cloth accordingly might be needed. Diets and exercise will be the subject of staffroom discussion. The current Twitter slow chat looking at teacher well-being may well, over time, conflate all these elements.

Contentment might be a useful reflection point. Am I happy with my lot? Is my discontent due to jealousy and envy, a desire for more? If nothing changes, will I retain a sense of balance? Because, when all is said and done, it is when aspects of life become unbalanced, they destabilise and can impact on other areas of life too. Life can often get in the way. You only have to have a cold for a while to know that. It could be worse.

Am I trying to fit in too much, around that which I must do, in an attempt to create a full life? Do I crave “busyness” and am I unhappy with stillness and, for example, nature (myself)?

“A change is as good as a rest”; some of the best moments this year have been during periods of activity. My bolthole of preference is a small cottage in France, which now has significant tree growth, requiring major works. Climbing and felling trees provides a good mix of exercise and pleasure at a job completed. With other garden tidying, the bonfire lasts a significant time, providing warmth and also time to stare into the flames and think. A holiday in the Forest of Dean and “meeting” a family of wild boar on the track, visiting St Ives and Barbara Hepworth’s house, while working in Cornwall, and spending three days walking in Paris would count as highlights.

With next year looming, I am slightly resisting setting any resolutions, as I am tempted to simply say “more of the same please”. I am happy with my lot.

There are places we’d like to visit and a number of interesting projects being discussed.

I know that I must get up and walk more, to go with the “green gym” of gardening and definitely the bike has to get greater use too. I’m not planning any marathons, nor other extended running. Hated it as a child, probably due to the inevitable cross country running the rain and still do, despite loving sport in general.

My blood doning has changed for 2016, from platelet donation to whole blood for sickle cell research; apparently my blood is suitable, as is a small portion of the population. That will reduce time needed, but I’ll miss the regularity of monthly visits.

Continuing to work with a couple of School Direct projects, as well as undergraduate and post-graduate schemes, gets me into schools regularly to support mentors and trainees.

I want to continue blogging about education for a while longer. There is just so much being discussed. With newest grandchildren being born on Boxing Day last year and in May of 2015, these two won’t leave education until 2033. Their world will be different to mine. They need to be able to understand it and find their own solutions to the problems that life will offer them. They will need to read, write and count, but, without an understanding of the world, these may not count for as much.

I’ll look forward to meeting people this year, at Teachmeets and at the Primary Rocks conference.

I’d like to play my bodhran again this year. Finding an outlet is not easy.

I’ll whisper that there’s a possible book, which is developing.

My biggest wish this year is for others, who do the daily hard work in educating children.

My stocktake on education.

The supply side is wrong. Government is in danger of getting in the way and becoming the problem.

The geographical need for school places should override the dogma about Free Schools and
Academisation is not necessarily the best route to improve a school. Ofsted along with internal and other audits should be used to inform decisions.

Teachers and their leaders, working in collegiate school teams, need the space and time to THINK RATIONALLY and develop approaches that are best suited to the needs of their communities.

Children need good school buildings that are fit for purpose and stocked with appropriate resources, enabling teachers to teach effectively and to deal with the evident need of the children in front of them.

Classrooms need teachers. There is developing evidence that teacher supply is not keeping up with demand. Without teachers, children will not be taught; simple. Will Government ministers and civil servants fill the gaps?

I want the mess that particularly surrounds assessment and SEND to be sorted, so that the systems around children are coherent, easy to understand and implement.

I’d like the skateboard or bike riding analogy to pertain to reading. Teach them, show them how, then let them have a go, checking regularly that they are safe secure and enjoying it. It’s not always just about the teaching. It can be about the quality of available literature and quality time made available to practice, on a book that is the right fit for the child to be able to practice comfortably.

I’d want something to think, read, talk and write about, to be hallmarks of good practice. Quality thinking, talking and reading can then lead to quality writing, as children have something of quality to say.

I wish you all good health and much happiness during the coming year.
​Be well.​

At this reflective time in the year, can I ask three questions?

• What got you into teaching?
• If you are/have been a headteacher; what was your motivation?
• What would you do to improve the current system?
  

During the past couple of weeks, the question arose of how to deal with the impending significant teacher recruitment need, which apparently, according to the DfE is not a crisis. This is coupled with a subsidiary question of how to attract teachers to become head teachers, as there is apparently a non-crisis there too.

When I was interviewing for staff as a headteacher and when I am interviewing prospective entrants into the profession for ITE providers, I ask what on the surface is a relatively simple question; “What was the significant event that persuaded you that you could be a teacher?” This allows the interviewee to reflect on their past, but also to develop the theme through significant skills that they bring to bear on their role. This tipping point can be important to explore, especially where the candidate is a mature trainee, changing career course.

I have a vivid memory of one trainee who described how she had been involved in a summer residential scheme with a group of physically disabled children and supported them individually to overcome fears to be able to attempt to tackle a climbing wall. Another told of how he had worked in a refugee camp and learned that he could find innovative ways to help children learn without expensive resources. The insights and the obvious enjoyment of the experience came through and they both went on to become a very high grade prospective teachers.

While some get into teaching through their interactions with children, discovering that they can communicate effectively and make relationships, enabling their charges to attempt challenge, others love their subject and sharing their knowledge. Marrying the two creates a whole, which is the purpose of teacher training; the what and the how.

Why did I become a teacher?

I had a job with ICI, in a biological research station, nestled into an old quarry beside Brixham fishing harbour. Becoming a “scientist” had been my lifelong ambition. The reality, of counting bivalves and worms in bottom samples that we sourced from the North Sea off Teeside and Whitby, palled after several months, partly because of the horrendous effects of sea-sickness and partly the counting. Finish one tray, record, start another. When looking at colleagues who had progressed to Experimental Officer, it became clear that I’d be doing the same for years to come. I loved the outdoors, the environment, entomology, history, geography; in fact I was interested in the world around me. Ok, I was probably a bit geeky, in that respect.

A mature team colleague at Paignton Cricket Club had just finished his teaching course at St Lukes College, in Exeter. After talking with him, he suggested taking the train to chat to someone about the possibility of training. As it was June, the campus was empty, but a kind receptionist tracked the head of science to his room and sent me along. We chatted broadly, across science, but also sport (St Lukes was a PE college) and after half an hour asked if I wanted this to be an official interview. Fifteen minutes later, I was sent to fill in the application forms and started that September. That is a decision that I have never regretted, even when the going has got really tough. I found my natural niche.

Becoming a teacher was never designed to make me rich; perhaps comfortable was the best that could be hoped. I started teaching in the year of the Houghton award, where teacher pay was enhanced after many years of very low pay rises. Four times that income, plus a small borrowed deposit, was enough for the mortgage that bought the first house; I could aspire. Today, a teacher in similar position would need a mortgage ten times their income and a large deposit. That cultural shift may well have an impact on thinking.

Why become a headteacher?

In whatever role that I had in a school, I was always conscious to learn about and from the roles of those who were in leadership positions. Supporting, taking on aspects of roles, then the substantive posts ensured a gradual, upwards momentum. Promotion came from being able to describe implementing ideas, achievements and what I had learned from the journey. Working across cluster and area wide discussions meant that my name and “stock” were well known.

Eventually, having undertaken the Local Authority Deputy Head development programme, I applied for headships, was unlucky with two, but was appointed to the third, which turned out to be the “right place at the right time”.

The joy of headship is putting ideas into practice, developing and leading a team, sometimes from the front, often supporting the efforts of others. It is a heart, mind, body and soul job, as is every teacher role, but knowing that the buck firmly lands on your shoulders, periods of “slopey shoulders” or sweating blood and tears have to be short lived.

Making the school the best place for children and teachers to be was the central goal, which sometimes meant filtering external distractions, so that digression and diversion did not distract from the main thrust. If teachers know where they are going and have stability, they create the ideal environment for learning. Teacher insecurity creates learning insecurity, leading to depressed performance.

Improvements in the system?

Teaching is teaching and of it’s time. It has to adapt to change and changing needs, but, over the past years, we have seen revolutions from politicians that have put pressures on the system, such that successful, experienced people left. This reduced the core of knowledge available, with new people learning to make things work for them. The fact that you are teaching one approach while a “new” version has to be developed and embedded in turn is stressful and an additional burden. If change was handled in evolutionary fashion, this would reduce the stress burdens of people who are at centre paid to think.

As a headteacher, having developed an approach that evidently “worked”, for me, my teachers and the children, who learned and learned to love learning, so that at transfer, they still wanted to learn, I made sure that Government initiatives were scrutinised to see what benefits were offered.

Rarely was there an adjustment of more than about 5%, which could be accommodated, but someone had to be detailed and supported to do the reading on behalf of colleagues.

Change does not necessarily mean improvement.

Governments see change as synonymous with improvement and then have to twist and turn as consequences become apparent to everyone.

I’d still encourage someone with aptitude and the right attitude to become a teacher, but also to develop themselves towards headship. Both are great jobs and they are very much needed. I sometimes think we need Governments to step back and let teachers get on with the job.

I'll be interested in your story.

Merry Christmas​

The introduction of the BBC B computer did not herald a significant shift in approach, as it could be a very limited piece of kit. However, it did allow for word processing, whole class discussions captured and printed. Turtle logo was very popular, especially for creating images, coding to make the turtle move around the board, leaving marks, lifting the pen and moving to another place, before drawing again. Exploring geometric shapes became more exciting, as basic squares could be transformed to flowers with a little shift and a repeat instruction. It needed time to “play” with what could be achieved. I can remember having to ensure that the computer screen had been safely seat belted in, to avoid it falling in the car; a condition of taking it home.

PCs, laptops and tablets have all superseded earlier technology and, as most people know, there is always something new in technology. When equipping my school with laptops for the first time, it was decide that the philosophy would be to see them as an alternative to the exercise book, so that, at a desk, children could use one or the other, depending on the need. It was seen as a significant benefit that drafting and redrafting would be easier with laptops, with each draft printed and reflected on between sessions. It did occasionally fall down with some teachers using the laptops to get children to type “neat” versions for display, having done paper drafts.
​
The interactive whiteboard, enabling images from around the world to be brought into the classroom at the touch of a button, to share interactive reading books as guided reading, to share pre-prepared lessons as a “storyboard”, or to link an electronic microscope to look at small objects amongst a wide range of experiences, enhanced learning.
​

Photos from the Musee Zadkine, Paris.

The notion of Language across the Curriculum has been around for a very long time. Harold Rosen was doing work on this in the 1960s. From time to time there have been small nudges in this direction, sometimes more overt expectations, but with what can, at times, seem like limited impact.

So, how about using the expertise derived from the English lesson to provide the drivers for language improvement across the curriculum?

There is a difference between Primary and Secondary in this regard, as the Primary teacher crosses all subject boundaries, while the Secondary teacher is likely to be a subject specialist. In Primary, as in Secondary, children do a lot of writing in many different subjects. They can move from an English lesson to Geography or History and do more writing in some form. At the same time, opportunities are missed to use experience as the basis for quality writing in English and without intervention, the quality of English in written form in other subjects might not be as good as it could be.

A visit to a school where high quality art work was on display, along with many other high quality displays, led to a discussion about the potential for that activity to lead to equally high quality writing about the process, or an evaluation of one’s own work, or a critique of another’s outcomes. Some examples would have lent themselves to interpretation as poetry or prose. The English lessons had been created to look at writing a recount, but had paid no attention to the art work.

Equally, the displays did not include any real modelling of adult language, such as questions, explanations, bullet point statements, model critiques, can all provide insights and expectations from learners.
 
High level engagement in subjects other than English supports the development of higher level English skills, purely and simply because the children develop the broader vocabulary and spoken structures within which they can explore ideas, through discussion, then to seek to express what they have encountered, as reported speech, prior to reported writing or writing instructions or some other non-fiction element. The deeper the engagement, supported by a high quality teacher model, the higher will be the quality of speech, reportage and subsequent attempts at writing.

Jerome Bruner wrote that “the language of education, if it is to be an invitation to reflection and culture creating, cannot be the so-called uncontaminated language of fact and 'objectivity'. It must express stance and must invite counter-stance, and in the process leave place for reflection, for meta-cognition. It is this that permits one to reach higher ground, this process of objectifying in language or image what one has thought and then turning around and re-considering it."

To me, this statement implies the need for drafting and redrafting of ideas, thoughts and spoken language as well as in written forms. Ideas should be capable of an alternative viewpoint being presented, in ways that invite reflection, so that they might be reformed if needed.

Perhaps schools, especially Primary schools, need to make better use of broad activity to generate the stimulus for writing. Any ordered event, from a science experiment to a gymnastic sequence could provide the stimulus for talk, note taking or writing.

 If, during the first week of a half term there was a focus within English lessons on a specific aspect of language use, such as

• note making from texts,
• notes from listening to a speaker,
• writing up notes to make sense, or an ordered report,
• drafting and redrafting to improve
• critiquing and acting on critique

and if the focus and purpose was clear, in terms of the input, but also the potential for development and application across different groups, could this provide the stimulus for Language across the Curriculum?

Outcomes could be shared and be put together to form a portfolio of exemplars, with teacher critique and commentary to support colleague development and internal judgements. It is important that every teacher sees themselves as a teacher of English.

These internal investigations could also provide evidence of an internal hierarchy of skills and alert staff to shortcomings, improving practice from evidence. Portfolios could also provide a baseline of evidence for teacher judgement.

Linked blogs
​
Two page approach to writing (Embedding the whole writing process)
Using the exercise book as a personal organiser (SEN links)
Primary; all writing in one exercise book
Drafting and redrafting​

It’s December, with a week left of this term. Schools running down to the holidays. Lots of end of term activities planned; Christmas parties, presentations pantomimes, carol concerts. A few goodbyes and good luck to individuals who may be leaving, looking forward to welcoming new children and staff, reminding everyone that education never really ends. It goes round.

From January to March is a time for looking forward in general terms to the upcoming year.

As a head, I was concerned that teachers should not spend all of their summer holiday thinking about school issues, so, by July, as staffing for the year was generally secure, thoughts turned to plans for the next year and a closure in early July was focused on a review of the year just passing and overview planning for the year.

We had developed the idea of an annual plan that set out the timings of key topic areas in all the subjects. This allowed consideration of how topics could feed into literacy and numeracy and vice versa. It also determined when key visits would happen, so that all arrangements could be made adequately. Before the holiday, the general direction of the year was set.

Incorporated within the plan was a two week "free" topic to start the year. This was to be one of the teacher’s choosing, designed just to get to know the class well across a range of areas and to reset expectations.

On the second Friday of the September term, we had the first closure. The morning was largely admin for the year, setting out the development points, while the afternoon was used to create the medium term plan for the first half term. Therefore, on the second Friday, an overview of five/six weeks was established. This was the key plan that I took from staff.

​The short term interpretation and planning approach was left up to them, which ranged from outlines through to full lesson plans. Everyone was planned appropriately.

We shaped staff meetings to suit subject development needs, a period of heavy report writing was given support time, largely in February, when the key report and target review was written, prior to parent evenings.

Reports in the summer were summaries of the year, focused on personal development and achievement, with an A4 page created by the children to summarise the highlights of the year. From the infants to the year 6/7 (while we were still Middle), these documents were copied as development records. Parent meetings in the summer were by arrangement.

Planning helped everyone to know where they were going, how far they’d travelled and what still remained. To do otherwise put the staff and curriculum under extra stress.   

Forgive me for being distracted this morning when I am supposed to be reviewing scripts before a moderation meeting this afternoon, but I have just raised my eyes from the screen and spent several minutes looking out of the window. Admittedly, the first thing I looked at was the new raised bed edging and the upgraded small terrace which is ready to catch the spring morning sunshine around coffee time, which I completed yesterday. It is still a bit too early for the sunshine, but there is some about.

A couple of blue tits alighted on the fat ball feeders, to be chased away by a great tit, only to move to the seed feeder, where they proceeded to sort the seeds, throwing some to one side as rejects, much to the delight of the dunnock and the robin, squabbling over the bits on the ground. The names come easily, as they are embedded knowledge, but the behaviours always intrigue. I need to look in order to see. The world is a visual place.

To hear the spring calls of birds and to be able to identify some adds to this pleasure. Night sounds, of the three owl species that are found locally, or the call of the fox, while annoying in the early hours, creates a contact between the inside and outside world. The world is full of sounds.

Being outside is one of my delights. I like the feeling of the wind on my face. Growing up in the South West, by the sea, I’d often walk the promenade during strong winds, just to blow away the teenage angst. It was cathartic and restorative. I enjoy the sounds and feelings of the environment and always have had an interest in the natural world. This interest led to reading and finding out from a range of other sources. I like museums and galleries as a result and it is no surprise that I became an active conservationist and a leader of a local wildlife group for children.

Sometimes, we just need a way in, to find a foothold into an experience that enables us to prolong our interest sufficiently long, so that the whole begins to make sense, to us. It is, after all, our way of being. I don’t know if anyone else sees the world as I do; I can only see it through my eyes and seek to explain what I see to you. I am intrigued by the Nordic noir series "The Bridge" at the moment, with a unique heroine, Saga, who, as a person with autism, has her own way of looking at the world.

I love to work with wood; part of me has always wished that, instead of being academic as a child, I had continued my interest and a developing teenage talent for woodworking and cabinet making. Triple science and two languages took away the practical subjects. Nowadays, I have to restrict myself to such things as garden edging, carpentry which has to be done, but to encounter a piece of well finished wooden furniture is a delight. The world is a tactile place.

Some buildings, landscapes and experiences just make one go “wow”, just by their majesty and splendour. There are hills in Dorset where driving to see family in Devon, to reach the brow of the hill opens up a vista that covers many miles.

My one sadness over the more recent past has been the loss of a sense of smell. As a gardener and lover of the outdoors, to lose an important sense must diminish the whole experience in ways that I cannot now tell. It may well impact on my sense of taste also, in some ways. Wearing glasses, I am aware that my sight is slightly less secure without them. So I am aware that I could be encountering some elements of sensory deprivation.

If a child does not learn to look, to listen, to feel they may well live in the world with a form of sensory deprivation, but of an unlearned kind. Their awareness of the world will be incomplete. They may be able to “experience” the world through their tablets or laptops, but only as voyeurs.

Sometimes, there is no substitute for real experience. Put on a coat and go and find out.   

Multiple factors come into play in teaching and learning. The teacher needs to have an understanding of child development that spans the full extent of the school age range, to know where the children have come from and where they are going, also to understand the range of needs that can be found in a class. Teachers at “transition” years, 2/3 and 6/7, would benefit from understanding the broader range to ease the transition process. So there is a need to understand progress and outcomes, teaching standard 2, across a very broad range of outcomes.

The absence of evidence across the 4-16/18 age range could be seen as a significant disadvantage in supporting decisions, which is why in other posts, I have suggested local, school based portfolios, leading to a broader picture.

Trainees and early career teachers don’t always have this range of understanding, as their experiences may have been restricted to specific classes. Some supply teachers could be in this position and I suppose a case could be made that Secondary teachers who only see learners a couple of times a week might also be in this group. This lack of understanding can lead to more generic, directive language, rather than dialogue; activity can be greater than the learning.

Stylised approaches, such as “all, most and some” with “bronze, silver and gold” alternatives, suggest challenge, but, in reality miss the point of focusing challenge in the right place. Visiting classes where the upper challenge could only be tackled when the lower challenges had been achieved suggested that the teacher did not have sufficient knowledge of the learners and that the more able should have been challenged at a higher level from the beginning. 

Knowledge of the wider expectation enables reflection on the needs of a class within that range. If, as a Primary teacher, you receive a different class each year, you start almost from scratch. While you may have come across members of the new class beforehand and may have had some transition time with them, they can still appear as an amorphous mass in September, so the initial teaching is also more nebulous as the teacher begins to tease out the individuals, with generic questions leading to more detailed follow up from answers. You get to know the children through the interactions, which lead to ever more nuanced dialogue.

The learning dialogue continue into tasking where challenges become more nuanced as the term and the year progresses. This tweaking and adapting to articulated need is the essential aspect of more personalised approaches. It is a case of getting closer to the learners, so that the impact of the multiple 1:1 conversations is purposeful and effective.
So, as time passes and the number of discussions builds, each supplying information to the participants, the teacher can challenge in more detailed fashion, while the learners can respond in kind. With nuanced outcomes comes focused coaching and feedback, which should, over time lead to progress.

Of course, the underpinning of this is dialogue, teachers and learners talking about the learning. In a classroom where dialogue is absent, the basis for focused, formative discussions may be absent, diminishing the learning experience for learners and teachers.
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Learners need something of quality to think about, to explore and to talk about. In talking, they show aspects, if not all, of their thinking. This gives aware teachers a clue as to next steps, for individuals and as a whole, which is the essence of informed teaching and learning. Talking learning supports all aspects of the teaching and learning cycle, as the evidence base is greater.