Subject: Weekly News Update 33
This week.....tell us
your views about science and maths. The Science and Learning Expert Group (jointly hosted
by the DCSF and Department for Business, Innovation and Skills) have
launched a consultation to examine opinions about the
strengths and weaknesses of current approaches science and
mathematics education. Joan Sjovoll, Head Teacher of
Framwellgate School in Durham is one of only six national
experts on the group. SCHOOLS NorthEast would welcome your
views to feed into our regional consultation response. To read
the questions click here:
can email your thoughts to think@schoolsnortheast.com
It’s also Child Safety Week so why
not plan an assembly or classroom activities on how to stay safe. Go to:
www.dcsf.gov.uk/everychildmatters/news-and-communications/news/140509nichildsafetyweek/
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SCHOOLS NorthEast EPIC Summit 2009...
Have you booked your place yet?
The inaugural SCHOOLS NorthEast EPIC Summit on the 8 October
at Wynyard Hall is a unique event that will combine
discussion of the big issues facing education and our region, with
practical guidance and inspiration to help you make a difference
in your school and community. Book your place to access a packed
programme over four zones:
Empower - Expert surgery sessions including:
·
PR and marketing
·
HR and legal advice
·
Engaging with business, parents and universities
·
Saving and generating money for your school
·
And free one on one media training session with TV Presenter Kim
Inglis (offered on a first come, first served basis)
Provoke - Latest thinking from national and regional leaders from
politics, education, business and beyond on issues
including:
·
Creativity in education
·
Primary learning
·
14-19 reforms
·
raising aspirations
·
tackling child poverty
·
education in the new economy
·
accountability and testing
·
and much more....
Inspire - Case studies, research and best practice from the frontline
including:
·
Making an impact
·
Realising your vision
·
Leading your community
·
Being an ambassador for your school
·
Promoting good relations
·
Building great schools
You will also have the chance to network with colleagues from
across the region, and make valuable contacts from both within
and outside the world of education in the designated ‘Connect
Zone’. And if that isn’t enough an exhibition of specially selected
organisations will give you access to new ideas, resources and
opportunities.
The EPIC Summit: your schools, your region, your agenda - don’t miss out on this energising
day.
Don’t forget that you can have all of this for only £72
(Primary Heads) and £90 (Secondary Heads) if you book before the
end of July. You’ll also receive 20% off any second bookings you make for
members of your leadership team. To get Early Bird
discount, go to – www.schoolsnortheast.com
and click
on the Summit logo in the middle of the homepage.
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Events
Find out ‘What The Open University can do for schools and
colleges’
You are invited to a conference to discover what The Open
University can do for your school, your teachers and your pupils. The
day-long event will introduce both current opportunities for schools
and new developments including the OpenLearn for Schools
scheme, an Apprenticeship pilot and the embedding of the Young
Applicants in Schools and Colleges Scheme into the 14-19
Diplomas. Information on CPD opportunities will also be
available. Refreshments and lunch will be served.
Date: Thursday 2 July at The Open University in
the North, Baltic Business Quarter, Gateshead from 10.00am to 3.00pm.
For more details contact Carol
Wilkinson - C.L.Wilkinson@open.ac.uk
or tel: 0191 4776100 Go to – www.schoolsnortheast.com/content/events.html
To download the flier/invite.
The Final ‘Bounce back’ Master Class
Book your place on the final
‘Bounce Back’ workshop and receive a Master Class in promoting happiness and building
optimism
and resilience in children,
young adults and their families. Following on from the success of previous
events, the final Master Class
offers even more advice to help
practitioners develop positive thinking strategies and
resilience in their pupils. Schools from South
Tyneside will report back on
delivering the UK Resilience Programme to children and young people of the
Borough. You will also
hear about the developments
with North Tyneside schools using the 6th ECM strand: Be Spirited.
Guest speaker Mary Gordon,
founder of 'Roots of Empathy'
in Canada, to talk about key strategies on 'how to foster resilience and
optimism in Early Childhood
and Families'. The workshops
have been organised by Gateshead and Newcastle City councils
and supported by GONE and
Northumbria University. The
cost per person is £99.
Date: Monday 6 July at Newcastle
Business School @ Northumbria University.
For more information or to sign
up, contact Helen Walker - helen.walker@newcastle.gov.uk, 0191 2115391.
From last week....
Tradecraft twilight workshop
Sign up for a free, practical workshop that aims to give
teachers across the region the opportunity to find out how Traidcraft can help
schools get involved with fair trade. Through fair trade,
schools can promote community cohesion and Every Child Matters and
integrate the global dimension into the life of their school.
Fair trade can also help fulfil the requirements for a range of schemes and
awards including: International Schools, Rights Respecting
Schools, Eco-schools and Fairtrade schools. Choose from three
remaining dates across the region:
Date: Tuesday 23 June at Ian Ramsey School, (North
Site Hall), Stockton from 4.00pm to 6.00pm
Date: Thursday 25 June at Traidcraft, Team Valley,
Gateshead from 4.00pm-6.00pm (refreshments at 3.30pm)
Date: Tuesday 30 June at St. Michael CE First School,
Alnwick from 4.00pm-6.00pm (refreshments at 3.30pm)
For more information or to book
a place (3 people per school), contact Becky – 0191 4973988, email: becky@traidcraft.co.uk, or go to –
www.traidcraft.co.uk/news_and_events/events/events_calendar/school_twilight_workshops/index.htm
FAO Secondary schools / Drama Teachers
TRY Performance festival
Keep your students busy this summer by sending them along to the
TRY (Theatre Royal Youth) Performance Festival. This brand
new, week-long festival is designed for individuals (16yrs+) as
well as groups, and offers workshops and performance opportunities.
Participants will have the chance to develop and showcase their
talent alongside groups from Italy and Germany. The Festival
Workshops are delivered by theatre professionals and will enable
participants to try new skills and share the ones they have already.
Skills workshops include:
·
Comedy improvisation
·
Stage combat
·
Physical approaches to acting
·
Puppetry
Participants will also have the opportunity to devise a short
piece to be performed to a public audience on the Saturday evening. An
aftershow party will round up the week. Costs: £95 per
participant, £275 for a group of 5 people, £500 for a group of 10 people.
Date: Monday 27 July to Saturday 1 August at The Theatre
Royal, Newcastle
For more information contact Theatre Royal Learning on 0191 244
2596 or to book please call the Theatre Royal Box Office on 08448 11 21 21.
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News round-up
SCHOOLS NorthEast in the news
·
SCHOOLS
NorthEast joins business leaders for the 1st Great North Revolution debate (Journal Live)
·
European
delegation endorses community project for science (One
NorthEast)
Regional news
·
The
Journal reveal cream of the crop in schools (Journal Live)
·
Hilary
French from Central Newcastle High School on caffeine addiction among children
(Radio 5 Live)
·
Young
Enterprise Awards Ceremony (baily)
·
North
East teachers honoured at prestigious ceremony (Journal Live)
·
North
East Awards celebrate top teachers (Journal
Live)
Northumberland
·
Pupils
take part in lifestyle week (News Post Leader)
·
Rock
Hall School reaches milestone (Journal
Live)
·
Pupils
take a look at car of the future (Journal
Live)
Tyne and Wear
·
Thousands
of pupils to be taught cycling safety (Journal Live)
·
Celebration
marks pupils' achievements (Sunderland Echo)
·
Teachers
lay down marker in school row (Journal
Live)
·
Pupils
boost charities' coffers (Sunderland Echo)
·
Circus
skills workshop thrills for youngsters at Big Top book launch (Sunderland
Echo)
·
X
Factor star has wow factor for pupils (Sunderland Echo)
·
Parents'
last-ditch bid to save school (Sunderland Echo)
·
Pupils
get preview of Walking With Dinosaurs (Chronicle Live)
Durham
·
School
holds early Fathers Day celebration (The Northern Echo)
·
Protest
over Durham academy school (Sunderland Echo)
·
Cooking
bus rolls into school (The Northern Echo)
·
School's
birthday plans (The Northern Echo)
·
Action
Heritage pupils make animated film (The Northern Echo)
Tees Valley
·
Teesside
High pupil celebrates attendance record (Gazette Live)
·
Catholic
secondary school to close (The Northern Echo)
·
Loss
of Teesside catholic school would be a 'tragedy' (Gazette Live)
·
Go
ahead for school expansion plans (The Northern Echo)
·
Meat
free Monday was Bydales School pupil's idea (Gazette Live)
·
Top
national honour for Grangetown school (Gazette Live)
·
Meet
Middlesbrough’s youngest lollipop man (Gazette Live)
·
School
pupils with special needs get £2.7m boost (Gazette Live)
·
Cash
to boost students' chances (The Northern Echo)
·
Second
Teesside school hit by swine flu (Gazette
Live)
·
Cleveland
Police’s air operations unit visits Stockton schools (Gazette Live)
·
East
Middlesbrough Learning Trust announced as new sponsor of Unity City Academy (Gazette
Live)
National news
English lessons
·
Ofsted
orders schools to brush up their English teaching (Guardian)
·
English
lessons 'could improve' (BBC News)
·
Ofsted:
English standards 'not good enough' (Daily
Telegraph)
·
White
working class boys bottom of the class in English (Independent)
Truancy
·
Autumn
truancy figures show rise (BBC News)
·
Truancy:
it's not just the pupils who bunk off (Independent)
·
Cheap
holidays blamed as more pupils skip school (Daily
Telegraph)
·
Truancy
on the rise in England as 4.3m days of school are missed (Guardian)
Teenagers
·
Millions
to prevent 'lost generation' (bdaily)
·
Rise in young people classed as
Neet (Children and Young People Now)
·
Recession
fuels rise in number of jobless teens (The Independent)
·
Number
of teenagers not in work or school rises to 10.3% (Guardian)
A Levels
·
A-level
exam 'too difficult' (Sunday Express)
·
'Satnav'
A-levels lead pupils to answers (Daily
Telegraph)
·
Pupils
forget 'sat-nav' exams (Times)
Report Cards
·
Ed
Balls' plan to grade schools A to F 'will not help parents'
(Daily Mail)
·
Ed
Balls to ditch league tables in favour of school ‘report cards’
(Sunday Times)
SEN
·
Teacher
training to spot dyslexia (BBC News)
·
Funding
boost for pupils with dyslexia (The Independent)
Other educational news
·
Spelling
bee final tomorrow (Times)
·
Top
schools raise fees in excess of inflation (Financial Times)
·
Ballroom
dancing to be taught in schools (The Independent)
·
Schools
'too safe' teachers say (BBC News)
·
Ed
Balls considers ban on BNP teachers (Guardian)
·
Sir Alan trawls
classrooms for new Apprentice (TES)
·
Funding deal puts
teacher training at risk (TES)
·
Online markers lose
out on 10% of income (TES)
·
'I before E' rule:
file it under 'U' for Useless (TES)
·
Have
new diplomas defied their critics? (Times)
·
Segregated
schools do not affect pupils' exam results (The Independent)
·
Holidaybreak's
£31m cash call to buy schools (Independent)
·
Education
legislation is killing childhood, claim academics (Daily
Telegraph)
·
Appeal
over teachers' CRB checks (BBC News)
·
Tories
back Every Child Matters as cuts loom (Children and Young People Now)
·
Schools
minister in academy row (Children and Young People Now)
·
Abuse
claim teachers 'guilty until proven innocent', MPs told (Daily Telegraph)
·
Ed
Balls: schools in 'posh' areas have it easy (Daily Telegraph)
·
Balls'
warning to schools: two years to improve (Guardian)
·
Political
plans on Sats are flawed (Guardian)
·
Education
and business hand in hand (Guardian)
·
NCB head
calls on leaders to prevent undermining of reforms (Children
and Young People Now)
·
Pressure
on primary school places (BBC News)
·
One
in 10 children denied their first-choice primary school place (Guardian)
·
Demands
for ‘voluntary’ contributions to schools difficult to refuse (Guardian)
·
State
primary 'to open its own secondary school' (Daily Telegraph)
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Star pupils
There’s
too many to mention this week!
With the awards season
drawing to a close, schools across the North east have been celebrating their
achievements in both the
North East and Cumbria
Teaching Awards and The Journal School
Awards. Ten schools and teaching staff from the region were
announced as winners
in the North East and Cumbria Teaching Awards last week. They will now join the
other 136 finalists from
around the country for the UK National Teaching Awards held (and televised) in
October. Today, The Journal newspaper published
the list of finalists for the regional School Awards - the final of
which will be held on the 2 July at The Centre for Life in Newcastle.
We would like to offer
our congratulations to all of the winners and runners-up in both regional and
national awards, and wish those
going on to the next
and final rounds the best of luck!
To read the list of
runners-up and winners go to:
North East and Cumbria /
National Teaching Awards - www.teachingawards.com/winners/list?o=1&year=11&type=reg®ion=4
Journal School Awards - www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2009/06/22/we-reveal-cream-of-the-crop-in-schools-61634-23939043/2/
Could do better
Nature
Could your pupils be
suffering from nature-deficit disorder? It’s more than likely according to
Richard Louv, author of the bestseller:
'Last Child in the
Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder'. The book, due to hit
UK shelves on the 1 July, warns
of the physical and
mental suffering that today’s generation of children experience through lack of
(meaningful) contact with the
natural world. Louv
claims that alienation from nature can lead to a whole host of problems
including attention deficit disorder and
depression. With
recent reports by Play England that there has been a 90% decrease in the
distance from home a child is allowed
to play and Natural
England reporting that 81% of children would love to play outside, we think
it’s time to plan a few outdoor
adventures. With a
wealth of gorgeous countryside and nature right on our doorsteps in the North
East, this won’t be hard to do.
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Head to Head
Alan
White has been Head Teacher at Manor College of Technology in Hartlepool for
fourteen years. Previously Alan was Deputy
Head
at Acklam Grange School, Middlesbrough.
Last
week was very
productive – we made several great appointments, I saw four excellent SLT
presentations to the Governors’
Q
& S Committee and as a Trustee of The HMS Trincomalee Trust I had the
opportunity to mix with Knights of the Realm, Captains
and
Commodores at the AGM and Annual Dinner on Wednesday evening – I didn’t have to
be reminded this year that no one stands
on
the Mess Deck when the President toasts HM The Queen!
The
two best things that happened at school last week were: (1) Brilliant
appointments – Spanish and Mandarin MFL Specialists –
both
native speakers – I am determined that Manor is going to be a successful centre
for MFL – we now offer German, French,
Spanish,
Mandarin, Italian and Latin! MFL is compulsory for about 90 children in each
Year Group at KS4 – we are diversifying and
determined
to develop a love of MFL..Next year I will write this in Mandarin – I am going
to learn alongside the children! (2) Shaking
hands
with about 1100 primary children at our four Partner Primary Sports Days –
they are organised by our Junior Sports Leaders.
The biggest disappointment at school last week was having to
disappoint lots of very talented (and often young) applicants by
telling them that they had not succeeded at interview –
interviewing is by far the most difficult job I have to do as Head Teacher –
for most applicants interviews are going to be a disappointing
experience - we do our best during debriefs/feedback to restore
confidence. Some of the candidates we have not appointed are
seriously talented – it’s very difficult having to tell them that they
have been unsuccessful.
The
funniest thing that has happened at school last week was watching a big
County standard sportsman being clean bowled
by
a female member of staff in her first ever over in her very first cricket match
– she did three laps of the pitch pursued by adoring
team
mates! England 20-20 Women’s team next year!
The one thing that would have made my job easier last week.....I have often thought
about having a PA – I’m just not sure how it
would work – I like to be accessible at all times and the idea
that someone would receive calls/ organise my diary is not that appealing.
I ring some schools and it takes 15 minutes just to access the
PA and to be honest I am often not that impressed.
I have four things to do before the end of term: prepare Articles of
Memoranda for a proposed Trust Manor is forming with another
Secondary School and our local Sixth Form College, finish the 3
Year Development Plan, prepare and publish the Governors’ Annual
Report to Parents (yes we still do one but it is more like an
illustrated Year Book) and rewrite the SEF.
My hero of last week was the successful Spanish MFL candidate (Alicia Rubio – Durham
University) who was asked to teach German
(her third language) to a middle/low ability class as part of
the interview day - the children were so entranced they practically applauded
her.
My
villain of last week was the absolutely delightful Year 11 girl who, in a beautifully
written card, thanked me for five great years at
Manor
and for being ‘like a Grandfather’ to her – I now know that retirement must be
imminent.
If
my school was doing a ‘dance’....? I would love it to be the waltz but it rarely is – the only
constant we have at Manor is relentless
change
(I have had 14 years of it) and BSF has added to the mix with countless urgent
deadlines – so the dance has to be the quick
step!
My question for next week’s Head is: ‘To lead others
you must walk behind them’. To what extent do you agree with this old
Chinese proverb?
If you would like to take part
in our regular ‘Head to Head’ feature and tell us all about your week, please
contact the team at
info@schoolsnortheast.com
or call us on 0191 2805037.
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Funding and opportunities
Free
Cookbooks for your kids!
Help
your pupils learn how to cook tasty and nutritious food in class and at home
with the next in the series of FREE cookbooks from
The
DCSF. 'Real meals: simple cooking — cold food that tastes great' is now
available to download online for free and is full of exciting
recipes
that pupils could use for their packed lunches or summer holiday picnics. Copies
for every Year 6 pupils are also available free
of charge to primary schools.
To download the book, sign in
to Teachernet - www.teachernet.gov.uk/wholeschool/healthyliving/schoolfoodanddrink/realmeals/
Whilst
we’re on the topic of food......
Apply
for a local food grant
As
part of The Big Lottery’s Changing Spaces programme, Local Food is a £50
million programme that distributes lottery
grants to a
variety
of food-related projects to help make locally grown food accessible and affordable to
local communities. If your school is
currently involved in a
food-related project and needs funds to continue with it, or if you would
benefit from a little help to start a
project that fits the bill, go
to - www.localfoodgrants.org/news?aid=1558
to find out if you would be eligible. The deadline for applications
for grants under the Local Food
programme has now been extended to Friday the 21 August.
FAO
Secondary schools
Free
books for Year 7 pupils
Last
year over 672,000 year 7 pupils in England received a free book and were given
the opportunity to meet the authors though the
Booktrust’s
Booked Up programme. The programme continues this year and the list of
twelve specially selected titles is available online
now for your Year 7 pupils to choose from. The FREE books
will be delivered to your school. Register today and get your Year 7 pupils
passionate
about reading!
Go
to - http://www.bookedup.org.uk/Public-Library-space
From
last week.....
Young
Poet’s Competition...for pupils who have the giggle factor
To
celebrate their 25th anniversary, The Children’s Trust are inviting
pupils aged 7-13 years to try and make them laugh by entering the
Young
Poet’s Competition. The theme for the competition is: ‘Laughter – what makes
you laugh?’ and children are asked to write a poem
of
less than 100 words for submission into the competition by the 30 June.
The winning poem will complete a collection of 25 favourite
children’s
poems, chosen by celebrities, to be published by The Children’s Trust (and
illustrated by Quentin Blake) on National Poetry
day
2009 (8 October). The winning poet also receives £500 of Walker Books for their
school.
For
more details on the competition and how to enter your pupils, go to -
Send
your little artists to No 10!
Get
your pupils working on a masterpiece in art class and send it off to London for
the No 10 Art Competition. Budding artists are being
called
upon to use their creativity and artistic flair to create a picture around the
theme of the Environment. The winning artists will be
invited
to No 10 to see their work hung on display in the Prime Minister’s waiting
room, next to work by some of the country’s greatest
artists!
The competition welcomes entries within three age groups: 5 – 7, 8 – 11 and 12
– 16 years. Whether painters, sketchers or digital
artists,
your pupils can enter the competition by posting their artwork on a landscape,
A3 piece of paper to:
ART
COMPETITION, Direct Communications Unit, 10 Downing
Street, London, SW1A 2AA
Closing
date for entries is the last day of August. To find out more about the
competition, go to - www.number10.gov.uk/Page19404
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Wise words
"I think the next
best thing to solving a problem is finding some humour in it."
Frank A. Clark
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SCHOOLS NorthEast is your network. Please get in touch
with your ideas, concerns, views and experiences- email: think@schoolsnortheast.com
....and don’t forget, if you’ve missed any of our previous weekly
news updates, you can find them at:
http://www.schoolsnortheast.com/content/new-resources/weekly%20news.html
To unsubscribe to this weekly
update, please email us at – info@schoolsnortheast.com
Have a good week!
SCHOOLS
NorthEast Team
Katie
Stonehouse
Communications Officer
SCHOOLS
NorthEast
Tel: 0191 280 5037