Subject:                                     Weekly news update 18

 

 

 

 

 

This week.....set the agenda.

 

The first annual SCHOOLS NorthEast summit will be held on Friday 19 June, 2009.  It is your event so we want you to set the

agenda, please email us with names of speakers you would like to hear, sessions that you think would be useful and issues you

would like discussed.  More news will follow soon but for now put the date in your diary!

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News and Events

 

Last chance! Funding Advice surgery

Last Thursday, SCHOOLS NorthEast held the first of the funding advice surgeries where delegates were offered practical tips on

producing successful funding applications and writing winning bidding letters. The next funding surgery is on 12 February (this

Thursday) at Carmel RC College, Darlington, 8.00am for 8.30am start until 11.00am. National and regional funding bodies

including the Big Lottery and Lloyds TSB will be on-hand to help you develop your own strategic fundraising framework, identify

key dates and processes and make the most of your PTA. To reserve your place please

call 0191 280 5037 or email – info@schoolsnortheast.com.

 

FAO: Art Co-ordinators

Locomotion - Innovart network

Send along a member of staff to this free professional development event at the Railway Museum in Shildon, County Durham to

learn how your school can use the region’s museums to inspire it’s pupils in their art. Teachers and Museum educators will have the

to opportunity to discuss ways in which they can work together to develop new and exciting projects that benefit students and schools.

To be held on Friday the Friday 27 February with Lunch and registration is at 12:30pm followed by a led tour of Locomotion. Bursaries

are available for teachers to help cover any supply costs although places are limited so booking is essential.

For more information or to book a place, contact Thomas Elwick or Jonathan Wightman on: 0191 2639860or email thomas.elwick@twmuseums.org.uk

or jonathan.wightman@twmusuems.org.uk.

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News round-up

 

Local news

·         Teeside schools' unsung heroes set for recognition (Gazette Live)

·         Northumberland school piecing together 100 years of education (The Journal)

·         Sunderland school closures: NUT warns of teacher recruitment headache (Sunderland Echo)

·         Durham school wins seal of approval for innovative approach (Northern Echo)

·         Winning Sunderland schools are in the money (Sunderland Echo)

·         Blooming good effort by Durham pupils (Sunderland Echo)

·         Oakdene Primary School pupils produce Amazon art (Gazette Live)

Apprenticeship Teaching Scheme

·         Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill 2008-09 (Government Bill introduced by Ed Balls)

·         Bill creates apprenticeship 'tsar' (The Guardian)

·         Bill ushers in education and early years reform (Children and Young People Now)

·         Ed Balls: 16-year-olds 'should work in schools' (Daily Telegraph)

·         Schools to benefit from apprentice plan (Financial Times)

·         Apprentice teacher scheme attacked (Independent)

·         'Apprentices could join teachers in class' (The Guardian)

·         Apprenticeship plan for schools (BBC News)

 

Political Parties and Education

·         David Cameron unveils new Tory vision for comprehensive education (Daily Telegraph)

·         Cameron makes state school pledge (BBC News)

·         Lib Dem's £2bn plan to end 'class-based education divide' (The Guardian)

·         Lib Dems: pay schools to take poorest pupils (Daily Telegraph)

·         Lib Dems' Laws aims to level the playing field (The TES)

·         Lib Dem pledge to cut class sizes (BBC News)

·         Tories pledge powers for teachers to seize iPods (The Guardian)

·         Tories set out education reform plans (Children and Young People Now)

Special Educational Needs

·         School action urged on behaviour (BBC News)

·         School adviser calls for better early SEN support (Children and Young People Now)

·         Teachers 'failing to spot' causes of bad behaviour (The Guardian)

·         Behaviour tsar puts special needs under microscope (The TES)

·         Schools told: share badly behaved pupils (Daily Telegraph)

 

SATS and Report cards

·         End national tests, say parents (The TES)

·         Sats 'should be scrapped', say parents (Daily Telegraph)

·         Unions 'unimpressed' by report card for schools (The TES)

·         Testing times for parents and children (Daily Telegraph)

 

Diplomas

·         Youngsters 'confused by Diplomas' (BBC News)

·         Diploma pledge is 'crackers' (Children and Young People Now)

 

Other educational news

·         Quango to control all academies (The TES)

·         Cost of literacy scheme slammed by think tank (The TES)

·         Pupils pass GCSE paper with less than 20% (Times)

·         Should we have academic selection at 14? (Times online)

·         Schools to help social services protect children (The Guardian)

·         Ed Balls follows in Jamie Oliver's footsteps (The Guardian)

·         Grammar schools are accused of bias after adopting 'state pupils first' policy (Times online)

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Star pupil

Andrew Perry – Following the warning last Sunday night of heavy snow, Head Teacher Andrew Perry of St Katharine's Primary

in rural Wiltshire drove to his school that night to ensure a smooth opening and warm welcome for the students the next day. Five

days later and Andrew was still camped out in his office, stranded by the huge snow-drifts and adamant that when the school did

finally re-open, he would have it ready. Now that’s commitment!

 

Could do better

Jim Knight  - As his blog was found to be littered with spelling mistakes last week, you have to wonder if the Cambridge-educated

MP and Schools Minister Jim Knight should be sent back to school to take a few spelling tests....remember Jim its i before e except

after c.

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Head to Head

 

John Hardy has been Head Teacher of St John Vianney Primary school in Hartlepool for just over 5 years (although his Deputy

Head says it feels like a life-time!). He joined the school as Deputy Head in 2000 after working in two other primary schools in the

North East as class teacher. Previously, John practiced as an architect.

 

Last week was like history, it has been ‘just one thing after another’: weather, selfish parents, counting down maths and that is

just the today programme before starting.

The two best things that happened last week was the snow on Monday – seeing the excitement on children’s faces as we played

in the snow, many of whom had never seen so much snow in their lives. And, Year 1 (5 & 6 year-olds) led our collective worship for

the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (Candlemas) on 2nd February. The joy and wonder truly was a ‘light to the world’.

The biggest disappointment at school last week for me was not being in school all the time – I seem to be ‘dragged out’ of school

to more and more meetings, briefings, clusters, conferences, forums, trusts, training.

The funniest thing that happened in school last week was one of our eco warriors, while emptying the class recycling bin, commented

that our school was ‘full of rubbish’ . . . and I had to agree!

One thing that would have made my job easier last week not having to find all the extra documentation needed to achieve the

FMISSISSIPPI (The financial standard thing)

Top of my to-do list for this week will be preparations for our day in Tokyo on Friday. (We are ‘virtually’ walking around the world at

the moment and have made it to Japan!)

My heroes of last week were the road gritting drivers and staff.

My villain of last week was Carol Vordeman and her ‘Countdown’ approach to learning.

The one thing I would change in school to have the biggest impact on the children would be giving free meals – breakfast and

 lunch – for all children at primary school.

My question for next week’s Head is: What will you do when you ‘leave school’ as the children ask me?

 

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

 

Get your Fair Share

The Fair Share programme is designed to support specific local communities in the North East who may have missed out on Lottery funding in the past. Grants of between £5,000 and £250,000 are available to your school if it is a registered charity or ‘Friends Of’ (if you have one, ask your PTA), for projects that meet at least one of the local priorities. Fair Share is managed by the Community Foundation Network and administered by local grant-making bodies. Go to - http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/prog_fairshare_uk.htm for more details.

 

....Don’t forget your value for money

Register your school for the free DCSF-funded consultancy and get advice specific advice on how to get the best out of your

school’s resources and achieve value for money. The DCSF offer all schools a day of consulting support under its Value for Money

(VfM) programme to support Head Teachers, Bursars and Business Managers. The VfM Consultants help with a wide range of

Issues including strategic management, staffing and building collaborative relationships with other schools.

For more information or to register your school, go to – www.schools.tribalavail.co.uk or call 020 7079 9000

 

Leadership library

The National College of School Leaders (NCSL) offers a new free online resource providing information to help (and inspire) you to

lead increasingly effectively. The Leadership Library brings together knowledge and support from a global variety of leadership and

management thinking, offering advice from successful organisations and respected researchers.

To access this resource, go to – www.ncsl.org.uk/leadershiplibrary

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State of the Nation

 

In 2020, there will be 5million less low-skilled jobs than in Britain today. 40% of all jobs in 2020 will require graduate-level entry.

 

Business in the Community: Time for Action

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Wise words

 

To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe

 

Anatole France

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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

www.schoolsnortheast.com