From: Katie Stonehouse [k.stonehouse@schoolsnortheast.com]

Sent: 10 November 2008 16:44

Subject: FAO Head Teachers - weekly news update 7

Text Box: SCHOOLS NorthEast weekly update
The future of our region is in school

This week...get you school prepared for all things enterprising as next Monday heralds the start of National

Enterprise Week and don’t forget that anti-bullying week starts on the same day.

The SCHOOLS NorthEast Board is meeting this Tuesday – to find out who your local board member is visit the

SCHOOLS NorthEast About Us section . Minutes of the meeting will be available online.

........................................................................................................................................................................................................

News and Events

Not to missed: Heads Up Event:

Testing times - are schools made to measure or fit for purpose?

SCHOOLS NorthEast invites you to join Professor Peter Tymms, Director of Durham University’s Centre for Evaluation and

Monitoring for a timely and topical discussion of the future of school performance assessment. The event will be held at the

Lindisfarne Centre, St Aidan’s College, Durham University on Wednesday 26 November from 4pm-6pm (light refreshments will

be served).

This event is free to attend and open to all, but places are limited so please R.S.V.P to - info@schoolsnortheast.com or call: 0191 280 5037

Enterprise Week

There are many exciting Enterprise Week activities happening right across the UK and the North East is no exception.

Go to - Enterprise week North East to find out what’s going on in the region,

to get ideas or to register your school’s events (it’s not too late!). You can also claim free merchandise to get your Enterprise

Week activities off to a flying start.

Sustainable School, Global School

One World Network North East presents a day of workshops and talks which aim to increase awareness of the DCSF’s

sustainable schools framework as a whole school improvement strategy. On Wednesday 12 November from 09:15 to 15:30

at the CastleGate, Newcastle Upon Tyne.

For more details or to reserve a place go to One World Centre Events or contact Nikki Lamb –

n.lamb100@durhamlea.org.uk

Safety Conferences

Places are still available for the conferences being run by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, the Home Office

and Youth Justice Board aiming to help teachers to keep pupils safe. The events are open to anyone working in education and held in

four locations including Newcastle on 28 January.

For more details see - www.dcsf.gov.uk or phone 0207 273 5611. To reserve a place, contact Juliette.Duah@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk

News round-up

Local News

· Praise for Ashington 'super school' partnership (The Journal)

· North East to school the nation in creativity (The bdaily)

· Awards for hard working students (The Northern Echo)

· Plans unveiled for three new schools in Durham (The Journal)

Government rethink on the primary ‘Challenge’

· Closure threat U-turn for 'failing' schools (The Independent)

· Ministers change tack to improve poor primaries (The TES)

School admissions under fire

· Big rise in parental complaints about school admissions (The Guardian)

· School admissions problems remain (BBC News)

· Over half state schools breach admission laws (The Guardian)

· The secret pathway to the best schools (Times Online)

· Code breakers get the message - rules on admissions will be enforced (The TES)

Academies programme under threat

· Resignation casts doubt on academies (The Independent)

· Academy expansion under threat (The Guardian)

Latest comments on SAT’s

· Why did truth about SATs take so long to dawn? (The TES)

· SATs fiasco had no impact on pupils, claims man in charge (Sunday Telegraph)

Exclusions for under fives

· Thousands of under-fives suspended for school assaults (The Independent)

· Staff fears in toddler exclusions (BBC News)

· Many violent pupils not expelled (BBC News)

School strikes decision

· Decision on schools strikes due this week (The Guardian)

· Teachers say no winter strikes (BBC News)

Teaching Assistants lacking support

· Fears over Teaching Assistant pay (BBC News)

· Heads are 'failing to support assistants' (The TES)

Other education news

· Tories would double GCSE pass mark, says Michael Gove (The Telegraph)

· Youngsters losing hand co-ordination (The Times)

· Traditional lessons 'dumbed down', says top headmistresses (The Telegraph)

· Creationism should be taught as science, say 29% of teachers (The Guardian)

· Independents face giving more charity (The TES)

· Jamie Oliver warns MPs 'recession could worsen obesity crisis' (The Telegraph)

· Struggling schools spared taking excluded pupils (Times Online)

· Foot rubs for toerags (Daily Mirror)

· ‘All the teachers are deserting us!’ (The Guardian)

Star pupil

Creativity, Culture and Education – The newly independent organisation formerly known as Creative Partnerships

has chosen the North East as its headquarters. Creative Partnerships has already worked with more than 750,000 young people

and 2,000 schools across England, and with its new base in Newcastle, the North East gets ready to ‘school the nation in

creativity’.

Could do better

School Furniture – Pupils are no longer fitting the school furniture as they are generally so much bigger (in ‘height and girth’)

now than children of the 1960s for whom the furniture was designed. A report by former Education Secretary Charles Clarke,

claims that the number of cases of children suffering from bad backs are increasing due to the ill-fitting chairs.

Head to Head - a week in the life of a North East Head Teacher

Judith Pressley has been the Head Teacher at Ingleton CofE Primary school in County Durham for exactly 10 years this term.

Before her Headship, Judith taught Years 5 and 6 in another local school after initially teaching science in a comprehensive

school.

Last week was extremely busy!! We are a small rural school of 49 pupils but we run wrap around childcare for our

school and two other local schools. The childcare manager was off all week so I was on breakfast club duties. This meant an

extra early start (it was so dark and horrible last week too!). As I live on a farm, every morning is Breakfast Club for my herd of

pedigree belted Galloway cattle, dogs, hens, cats, husband and two kids! I had a great time withthe childcare children and will miss

enjoying my breakfast with them.

As I teach three days a week, I always have lots of meetings in the evening and last week was no exception. I was also busy

with school photographs, our Christmas fayre, a jumble clothes collection for school funds, epilepsy training for staff, a school

grounds health and safety check and a training course for the Challenge Award. I did 15 hour days on Wednesday and Thursday

so by Friday I was using matchsticks to keep my eyes open!

The two best things that happened last week were the Christmas fayre as so many people came along from the local

community (a great bit of community cohesion!!). It was lovely to meet so many new people and as I had the job of

serving the mulled wine everyone wanted to talk to me! Also, the two lessons I taught last week were really enjoyable. In the

Year 5/6 session on electricity, one boy who has learning difficulties in literacy, had a 'eureka' moment when he managed to light

rooms in a model house with one circuit. And in the KS 1 SEAL lesson about feelings, the standard of language from the reception

pupils was fantastic. I love working with the children and look forward to my teaching sessions. When I’m in the classroom I can

then forget about the 'piles' in the office. I suffer from piles... piles of paper!!

The biggest disappointment of last week was not getting enough sleep. I just wanted to stay warm in my bed on these horrible

mornings!!

The funniest thing that has happened at school last week was at Breakfast club on Friday morning. We were all very tired

after the Christmas fayre, one child put on a music CD and we all sang along to a Grease compilation using our spoons as microphones –

you do have to be a bit batty to be a Head!

One thing that would have made my job easier last week would have been cloning myself so that I could have been in two places at

once.

Top of your to do list for this week is making sure all my 'stuff' is ready for my performance management meeting with SIP and

Governors.

My hero of last week was my husband who came to collect me from work and made me a hot meal as I've had no time for lunch.

He's a great cook and I'm useless. There was also a lady from the village who served me a hot cup of tea and a cream scone at

the village coffee morning on Friday. Since the Post Office closed, villagers had nowhere to go to chat so now they use the school as

a place to meet up.

My villain of last week was the boy (or boys) who stuffed toilet paper down the urinal and caused a bit of a flood. I needed my wellies!!

One strategy that is successful for getting parents involved in their children’s education is having a chat over a glass of mulled

wine at the Christmas fayre!

My question for next week’s Head Teacher is: If you could go back in time what would you like to change about education/

schools?

If you would like to take part in our ‘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.

Funding and opportunities

North East School Business Managers

If you are thinking of appointing a School Business Manager to your school leadership team or if your existing School Business

Manager is a member of the Leadership Network, the NCSL are keen to offer guidance and promote the professional status of

School Business Managers in the North East. To learn more about the roles of Advanced School Business Manager and School

Business Director or if you are interested in developing a North East network, contact Sarah Monk, NCSL NorthEast School

Business advocate at - Sarah.Monk@ncsl.org.uk or find out more about the future of school business management at -

NCSL Business Manager programmes

Diploma Support Programme

Free in-house training and consultancy for those schools delivering or preparing to deliver Diplomas. Apply online by downloading

an application form at – www.diploma-support.org.

For more information call 0845 071 0800 or email - diplomatraining@LSNeducation.org.uk

FAO: Primary Art/ P.E Co-ordinators

Get your school excited about sport and art in what has been a fantastic Olympic year. Sport England North East are running an art

competition for children aged 11 and under throughout the North East which requires that they produce pictures that depict what sport

means to them. The winning masterpiece will receive a cruise to Amsterdam and runners up will get sports goody bags. Selected

artwork will also be shown at the North East Sports Awards.

For more details on how to get your School involved call Janice Foster on 0207 273 1691 or go to –Sport England

North East in a Nutshell – know your region

The unusual village name of Pity Me in Durham is said to have originated from the words Petit Mere (or Petty Mere) meaning a small

lake or ‘mere’ of which one was originally found at the settlement. A more fanciful suggestion however is that St Cuthbert’s coffin

was dropped here by wandering monks on their way to Durham. The miracle working saint is said to have pleaded with the monks

to be more careful and take pity on him.

Wise words

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the

change that we seek.”

Barack Obama, US President Elect

SCHOOLS NorthEast is your network. Please get in touch with your ideas, concerns, views and experiences- email: think@schoolsnortheast.com

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