They who must not be named...

    Last week the 'Big O' rolled into my school - an event we had been bracing ourselves for since May. That's right. We'd been on high alert for an eye watering seven months (something akin to slow torture). Now I'm going to contradict the title of this post by mentioning them.

Ofsted.

    That wasn't so bad and in fact, the whole experience can be summed up in this way too. For my overseas readers, Ofsted (The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills) carries out school inspections. If you're a good school, you are inspected every three years. They come in with the expectation that you are still performing at the level of the last inspection. However, if they see anything that suggests otherwise, it turns into a 'full' inspection. In other words, they come back the next day with more inspectors (gulp). We were notified half way through the day before and what ensued in between was a flurry of activity, preparations, tweaks and pure panic!

    Their job is to improve standards in education and this can only be a good thing. However, you can't help the anxiety that comes with something like this. The grading you are given has wide implications; it will impact staff morale, parents' perceptions (present and future) and the wider community.

   Thankfully, the Ofsted inspectors saw all that they needed to see in one day and were very impressed by the young people in our care. The inspector that observed my lesson gave me some pertinent feedback, though we must remember that they only see a snapshot in time. We teachers know the contexts of our learners, their backgrounds, barriers and challenges. We know what real progress means for them and it isn't always reflected in black and white data, statistics, figures or a twenty minute observation.

    So the school breathed a collect sigh of relief. Until the next time...

(Un) stuck on you...

It can be a challenge to foster independence and resilience in students. How do you equip them with the tools to seek out solutions for themselves, rather than raising their hands at the first hurdle? In my school, we have a system where we encourage the learners to seek help from three other sources, before coming to the teacher. It's a fantastic way of making pupils more autonomous and they feel a real sense of achievement when they've worked things out for themselves. Here's an example of my 'I'm stuck' station. It is linked to a unit of work that I'm delivering on Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream:

In order for it to be used successfully by students, the suggestions have to be pertinent and tangible. For that, you need to put yourselves in the students' place. In other words, if I were a student, what would be a useful source of help in this particular unit? I use the help stations more frequently with the younger students as they tend to be needier. By cultivating their ability to overcome their own blocks in learning, we're fostering important life skills. I'm not saying it will free you up to sit at your desk with a hot drink but it does allow you to target the lower ability learners in the class.

In solidarity...

Now, more than ever, I truly appreciate my job as an educator. Education drives out ignorance, bigotry and intolerance. Like many of you, I am struggling to make sense of the horrific events that unfolded in Paris yesterday. I am full of so many questions and I know my youngsters will be too, on Monday. It is our duty to present young people with the facts and the facts are simple: no religion encourages bloodshed in its name. However, that doesn't stop people from using their faith to push an agenda, even a destructive one. The way to stop them from succeeding, from creating a culture of distrust and conflict among different religions and races, is to stand in solidarity. It. Is. That. Simple.

I needed an outlet for the many emotions that were welling up inside, so I created this. Friends have asked if they can use it on various social media platforms. Feel free to use as you please...spread the message far and wide.

All animals are equal?

It's always a pleasure to rediscover the joy in something as it's even better the second time around. This is certainly the case with George Orwell's Animal Farm. I first studied this as a student of fourteen, many moons ago. I had pretty much forgotten everything about it, bar the fact that it was a cracking story about revolutionary animals. The reason I've become reacquainted with this classic allegory is because it is a new text that I am teaching to my older students. My English department has changed exam boards this year, which means a host of new literature texts to choose from (yay!). Since this forms part of a GCSE qualification, I have to make sure that I'm up to speed on every aspect of the novella. This is where the joy comes in; my in depth research has woken me to its sheer brilliance. I'd forgotten what a wonderfully woven satire it was and how cleverly Orwell ridiculed totalitarianism and communism through it. The shenanigans of the pigs (so brilliantly named), as they go about betraying their own revolutionary principles, makes for fantastic reading. It also paves the way to teach youngsters the importance of democracy and integrity (as well as riotous activities like recreating the Battle of the Cowshed!). Last but not least, Orwell is responsible for crafting some of the most famous quotes, derived from literature. I certainly hope my students enjoy studying it as much as I enjoy teaching it.

 

Starry eyed...

The end of the academic year is tantalisingly close! When I'm in the midst of the continuous whirlwind that is teaching, I wonder how I'll make it to the end. Yet make it I do, as do countless others, again and again. It's at this time of the year that the Gold Stars come out. Our Principal invites us to take as many as we want, to give to other staff members. They're big enough to write a message of appreciation on or can speak volumes when given on their own. We constantly praise and reward our students but it's nice for the staff to acknowledge this in one another too. I received a gold star from one of my incredibly thoughtful colleagues, with a cone of popcorn attached! Since I can't eat cakes or chocolate (food intolerance), she made me something that I can ingest. The effort and thought that went into it is what makes it really special.

Letting your colleagues know that they are appreciated, inspirational and fabulous is a small but monumental act. A massive thank you to the one who put a huge smile on my face with the above. Consider this idea stolen!

The post with the most...

I'm a huge fan of Post-it notes in the classroom. They are a quick and easy way of getting a snapshot of the students' ideas in relation to a particular topic. In this activity, I asked students to write down what they learned about a character in a novel we've been reading. They had to stick their ideas inside the outline; a nice reflection of the internal aspect of a person. The students needed to be succinct and precise. This meant that I could reel off each comment quickly, praising and correcting misunderstandings where relevant. There are so many uses for the humble Post-it note in the classroom - I'm sure you'll hear plenty more from me on this subject!

Till we meet again...

It's that time of year when the oldest students leave the school, marking a significant milestone in their education. As a  personal goodbye gesture, I write my classes a poem that charts the times we've shared in the classroom. It's always met with surprise and joy; a poem crafted just for them! Some years (when I'm feeling particularly adventurous) I dedicate a line to each student, highlighting a memorable habit, characteristic or quirk. I am always touched by the very positive reaction the farewell poem receives. I deliver a reading of the poem after handing each student a copy as a keepsake. I somehow  manage to make it to the end without bursting into tears!

Here are excerpts from various poems written over the years:

Your Of Mice and Men accents made us laugh and cry

but we couldn’t agree on whether Lennie had to die.
Eddie Carbone had us somewhat perplexed
and his treatment of 'B' left us terribly vexed.
You were a sea of bafflement with Dickens’ words  
but rejoiced at the change that Scrooge had incurred.

~~~~~~ 

It’s time to rewind and go back to the start

of the GCSE dawn;  the very first part.

You cautiously shuffled up to my door,

wondering what horrors I had in store.

You looked at me with expressions of dread;

“A colourful bunch,” I quietly said.

Extroverts, introverts, big mouths and small,

the class of ’09 just had them all!

  
~~~~~~

You lived through the pain of subordinate clauses,

my ‘evil’ looks and expectant pauses.

We got to grips with papers one and two-

It was painful at best but you got through.

Ms. _______ and I, what a dynamic pair!

Between us we made sure that you were prepared.

You could count on her to keep out the gloom,

and constantly lose her keys in my room.

~~~~~~ 

As GCSE fledglings you came through my door,

unaware of the horrors that I had in store.

Through two years of poems, texts and plays,

you have made me smile in so many ways.

~~~~~~

You got stuck in to the weekly writing tasks

where some talent emerged; it’d been unmasked!

For some of you though it showcased the bizarre;

writing ridiculous things that left me quite scarred.

Your competitive natures saw you excel;

you wanted to be better and do everything well.

As a result, most are working at their best

and will surpass themselves in the final test.

~~~~~~

Our time together draws to a close

so here are some verses that I have composed.
They chart the highs and lows that we’ve shared,
so make yourself comfy – I hope you’re prepared.

~~~~~~ 

Conclusions end essays and this poem too;

I’m incredibly proud of each one of you.

It’s time to leave the ‘nest’ so go ahead and fly

and with a heavy heart, I must now say Goodbye.