Subject: Weekly news update 15
This week.....sign up for the SCHOOLS
NorthEast Future Leaders programme in conjunction with the CBI, and have some
of the region’s brightest budding business brains on hand to
offer your school help in a choice of five project areas. Go to our
website – www.schoolsnortheast.com for more details.
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News and Events
Last chance.. Our Working with the media surgery takes place this
Thursday morning at ONE NorthEast’s offices in Newcastle.
The two-hour event will be led by the ONE NorthEast media team. Karen Thomas, from
Tyne Tees television will also be on hand
to offer advice on how to handle camera crews at your school and
what makes a good broadcast interview. There are a couple
of places left at the event so contact us today to grab one - please
email – info@schoolsnortheast.com
or call 0191 280 5037
Places filling up fast.. Funding Advice surgeries
Gain practical tips on producing successful funding applications
and writing winning bidding letters from national and regional
funding bodies including the Big Lottery and Lloyds TSB.
Find out about developing your own strategic fundraising framework
and identifying key dates and processes. Discover how to
make the most of your PTA, maximise the opportunities presented
by Gift Aid, and exceed funders’ expectations. You can also
explore the market place before and after the event to network with
your peers and gather further information. Choose from two
dates:
29 January – Burnside Business
and Enterprise College, North Tyneside. Time: 8.00am for 8.30am start – 11.00am
12 February – Carmel RC
College, Darlington. Time: 8.00am for 8.30am start – 11.00am
To reserve a place/s at one of
the surgeries, please email – info@schoolsnortheast.com or call
0191 280 5037
Not to be forgotten.....Raising and realising aspirations conference.
Government Office for the North East invites you to a conference
on raising and realising aspirations for children and young people in the
North East. The event aims to promote understanding of the
impact of both low and unfulfilled aspirations on outcomes for the region’s
young people. Chaired by Keith Moore, Director of Children’s
Services, Sunderland City Council and including a speech by Estelle Morris
and think tank session on action planning by IPPR North. Date:
Friday 30 January, time: 10.00am-16.00pm, venue: Stadium of Light,
Sunderland.
For more details or to book a
place, contact Dominic Baird at dominic.baird@gone.gsi.gov.uk by 9th
January 2009.
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News round-up
SCHOOLS NorthEast in the news
Local news
·
Go-ahead
for plans to merge Durham schools (Sunderland Echo)
·
Turf
cut for £6.5m eco-school in Darlington (Northern Echo)
·
The
North East’s ‘struggling schools’ able to offer "golden handcuffs"
deals (Gazette Live)
·
Durham parents speak
out on academies (The Journal)
·
Chinese
visitors help strengthen school links (Sunderland Echo)
·
School
funding could come five years early (Northern Echo)
·
Acklam
Grange launches 3D virtual school (Northern Echo)
·
Top
teachers’ deal for worst schools (Gazette
Live)
Local League table news
·
Performance
tables show huge improvement for Teesside schools (Gazette
Live)
·
Darlington
schools make best improvement in the country (Northern Echo)
·
More
schools making the grade (Gazette
Live)
·
Balls
defends threat to shut under-performing schools (Northern
Echo)
·
North
East schools post improved GCSE results (The Chronicle)
·
Sunderland
and County Durham schools GCSE and A-level tables - full list and report (Sunderland
Echo)
·
School
league tables published (The
Journal)
GCSE league tables
·
GCSE
league tables show fall in failing schools (Children and Young People Now)
·
School
tables: Comment by Richard Garner, Education Editor (The Independent)
·
School
league tables 2009: 400,000 children in failing secondaries (The
Telegraph)
·
School
league tables 2009: Ed Balls attacks 'excuses culture' in English schools (The
Telegraph)
·
Balls
gets tough on academies (The TES)
·
Heads
told: No excuse for failing (BBC news)
·
'Poverty
no excuse for poor school performance,' says Ed Balls (Times
online)
·
Rate
schools with GCSE points system, urges Gove (The
TES)
·
Half of academies still falling short (The Independent)
·
Thousands
fail to get GCSE target (BBC News)
·
Fewer
schools failing to make the grade in GCSE and A-level exams (Times online)
·
Schools
accused of 'hot housing' to get results (The Guardian)
·
State
grammar schools beat private sector for A levels (Times online)
·
‘Losers’
in school league tables face closure (The
Guardian)
Social Mobility
·
Social
mobility: Labour tries to revive flagging crusade to help poor children (Times
online)
·
Social
mobility drive focuses on schools (The
Guardian)
·
The
value of a good teacher (The
Independent)
·
PM
launches social mobility package (Gazette
Live)
·
Education
and mobility (Northern Echo)
·
New
law to enforce social mobility (The Independent)
Money for Teachers
·
Cash
for working in tough schools (BBC news)
·
Brown
offers teachers £10k 'golden handcuffs' (The Telegraph)
·
£10,000
‘golden handcuffs’ for teachers (Times online)
·
Struggling
schools will be able to offer "golden handcuffs" deals to teachers
(Gazette Live)
Diplomas
·
Royal
Shakespeare Company helps develop humanities diploma (Children and Young People Now)
·
Royal
Shakespeare Company helps boost Labour's diplomas (The
Telegraph)
Wellbeing / Bullying
·
Girls
bullied for longer than boys, study shows (Times online)
·
Girls
more likely to be bullied throughout primary school (The
Telegraph)
·
Bullies
biggest threat to children online (Financial Times)
Virtual learning
·
Ofsted urges
schools to increase use of virtual learning (Children and Young People Now)
·
Schools
failing to make the most of the internet, say inspectors (Times
online)
·
Virtual
learner slow starter (BBC News)
Other educational news
·
Children
should face multiple choice tests instead of 'joke' Sats (The
Telegraph)
·
Four
is 'too early to start formal school' (The Telegraph)
·
Sir
Jim faces revolt on September start for all (The
TES)
·
Pupils
learn about stab wounds (BBC News)
·
Bids
requested for free school meal pilots (Children and Young People Now)
·
If
lessons are dull, it's Ofsted we need to thank (Bernard
Trafford in the TES)
·
Dyslexia
is a myth, says Labour MP (The Independent)
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Star pupil
North East Schools – Like them or loathe them the league tables were all over the
news last week and the good news is that all
areas in the region showed improvement. There were
standout examples of North East schools more than holding their own at a
national level and some impressive leaps in achievement levels – so give
yourselves a pat on the back!
Could do better
Everything! – If you’re feeling a little gloomy today there is a perfectly
good ‘scientific’ explanation. Cliff Arnall of Cardiff
University used an elaborate
formula which
took into account six factors: weather, debt, time since Christmas, time since
failing our New Year's resolutions, low motivational levels and
the feeling of a need to take action, to work out that today is in fact
‘most depressing day of the year’ or "Blue
Monday" as dubbed by Psychologists. Keep your chin up...its nearly Tuesday!
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Head to Head
Callum Kid has been Head Teacher of Carr Hill Community Primary
School in Gateshead for just under two years. Prior to this, he was
Deputy Head Teacher of Quarry View Junior School in Pennywell,
Sunderland LA and had been acting Deputy and Acting HT
in two schools before his first permanent appointment as DHT. He
began his teaching career 22 years ago in the ‘old’ ILEA
(Inner London Education Authority) before moving to Manchester
and working in the ‘very challenging but rewarding’ Moss Side
community. Callum also worked in Gateshead LA’s advisory service
supporting the teaching of primary science and technology
across the borough.
Last week was been challenging to say the least! You would think after 12
years of headship I would have ‘cracked it’
but one of the fabulous things about this job is you can not
plan or predict for what is unexpectedly thrown at you! My Administration
Officer (right hand person of 12 years) got a new job just
before Christmas so I returned on January 5th without any admin
support.
My feeble shouts of ‘Julie’ fell on an empty office and I
realised just how much I had depended on her over the years. She knew me
inside out and now I’m lost without her (even though I’m
terrifically excited about the prospect of appointing a ‘Business Manger’
to
take over the strategic administrative reins of the school). Oh,
I forgot to mention this week was not just challenging, it was hell as I
was also without my Site Manager who had slipped on the ice
before Christmas and now has 3 broken ribs and a month long sick
note! Help…!
The two best things that happened last week were: 1) All staff have
updated our school’s ‘vulnerability’ audit over the Christmas
break and we have been able to look at each pupil individually
to identify areas where we can support them further. The school’s
SENCO, Assessment Leader and Extended School’s Coordinator have
identified a group of pupils who, for one reason or another
have needs which have to be carefully planned for. This has been
a job well done and will have significant impact upon attainment
and ‘excellence and enjoyment’. 2) A Head Teacher colleague took
pity on me and let me ‘borrow’ her School Business Manager to
complete the annual school census on Thursday last. Without her
I would have been lost! Thank you Kim J
The biggest disappointment at school last week was the Year 6 pupil
who has little to no support from home, has special
educational needs and behavioural difficulties became
increasingly more challenging to the point where he was disrupting teaching
and learning and had to be removed from class. My efforts to
raise support from his parents fell on deaf ears and have left him
vulnerable and quite isolated. We have a review arranged for
next week to see how we can support his needs further. In 12 years I
have never excluded any pupil and I don’t plan to give up on
this one!
The funniest thing that happened in school last week was when the fire alarm
was activated twice in one morning by the steamer
in the school kitchen. If you had seen my face as everyone filed
out for the second time – Victor Meldrew and Basil Fawlty didn’t have
a look in!
One thing that would have made my job easier last week even though it’s not my
style but….having my office door shut, ‘phone
turned off and no interruptions to allow me to get the 101
things that are overdue completed!
Top of my to-do list for this week are three safeguarding
children reports to complete for review conferences taking place next week.
Oh, I need to ‘sign off’ the annual school census too.
My hero of last week was Mrs Jan Stephenson – a teaching assistant from our
Foundation Stage! She has been doing bits of admin
where she can and kept us afloat and my sanity intact.
My villain of last week Probably myself J I try to maintain high standards in my work and its impact upon
pupils and staff in my school.
I tried to plug the gaps this week to ensure a ‘smooth
operation’ without two key staff supporting me. In the end the rest of my team
did what
they usually do – pulled together and got us through the week. I
need to calm down!
The
single biggest thing that will influence and affect our work as Head Teachers
in the next 5 years I think will be Funding. In
this
current economic climate I’m uncertain about whether this present government or
any other in the future will be able to fund large
challenging
schools like mine with ‘social disadvantage’ money. This funding over the last 5-10
years has been significant in supporting
our
social inclusion and raising the attainment and achievements of so many of our
pupils.
My
question for next week’s Head is: If you were not a Head Teacher which other job would you want to
do?
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
Employer engagement - Diploma training
Receive free diploma training in a relevant employer venue near
to you from the Learning and Skills Improvement Service. Regional
Workshops will be held until mid-February 2009 to help you
develop practical ideas for applied learning and employer engagement,
discover ways to embed work-related learning into diploma
delivery and create an exciting and inspiring programme for learners.
Large regional and smaller local ‘Inside the workplace’
workshops are available until mid-Feb and local events at an employer venue
Will be held from March to July 2009.
To book your place go to – www.diploma-support.org.
Next Generation Learning
Following Ofsted’s report last week that schools need to improve
their use of Virtual Learning, the Next Generation Learning website
could be useful for any schools who require more support in this
area. Next Generation Learning aims to raise awareness of the benefits
of the use of technology in education and ensure that technology
is used as effectively as possible across the whole education system.
For advice and support on
improving Virtual Learning in your school go to – www.becta.org.uk/nextgenerationlearning.php
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Education around the globe
South Korea only recruits its primary teachers from the top 5%
of the graduate population
‘Time for Action’ - Business in
the Community
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Wise words
I don't know the
key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.
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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
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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