by Margo Williamson
Hello and welcome to the Angus Children and Learning Blog.
As Strategic Director, I have been charged with writing the first post. This is a privilege and a challenge. Specifically, what aspect of learning, including mine, do I write about?
Having thought really hard, there was only one avenue to pursue for the first blog: Angus Council staff.
As Strategic Director – People, I have responsibility for ensuring the delivery of the highest quality services for all our citizens in Angus. In equal measure I have also to ensure the highest quality is affordable so we live within our means. I can only do this through you.
I am only as good as my team.
The McKinsey Report 2007 and The McKinsey Report 2010 states quite clearly, no education system can exceed the quality of its teachers. Similarly, I would argue, no public service can exceed the quality of those staff who serve.
The only way to improve outcomes for our citizens is to evaluate what we do and learn from it.
I believe our biggest asset is our staff and significantly we have a staff group largely made up of people who see themselves as learners . Since coming to Angus in 2013, I have been struck by the hard work , commitment and dedication of staff to the children and young people of Angus. I fully acknowledge their leadership of a huge range of issues including considerable national and local change, much of it requiring new learning: : The implications of the Children and Young People’s Act; Curriculum for Excellence; Changes to Qualifications; and GIRFEC and the named person, to select a few. I know it has been a challenging but commitment has been unwavering. Our staff can and do support young people in a considerable range of events beyond any ‘prescribed’ hours.
I realise the hours staff spend on Council ‘duties’. I am aware that working on these often are at the cost of the time they would spend with their own families and friends, yet many do this without reservation or complaint. Their example sets the tone for our young people and motivates them to equally contribute beyond expectations and I want to acknowledge that fully.
Recently, I came across this cartoon.
With this age of change, it often feels we are constantly having to recalculate, draw on our learning and consider what our best judgement is this time. Sometimes, it can feel incredibly complex as we work through possible solutions. Sometimes, it can feel quite isolated as we seek fresh ideas or approaches to the challenge. Sometimes, we believe we, as an individual, must come up with an answer. Often, we miss the opportunity to clarify our own thinking or create a solution by working with another.
This blog is a forum for such discussion, clarification and thinking. It is to allow us to present our challenges; our learning and our communication of that learning. It is also an open forum to enable other learners and contributors to participate, adapt or build on our ideas.
Everyone is being given the opportunity to interact meaningfully with this blog. By getting involved we can all be active begetters of knowledge rather than simply the recipient of information from others. The blog is open, democratic and gives the opportunity to air ideas and opinions to an audience working at all levels.
Technology promises us snappy answers, like the satnav mouse seeking direction in the cartoon, but what is more valuable is how it offers a range of opportunities for the kinds of virtual discussion with a range of participants that we could not have in the past.
I look forward to engaging with questions or discussing some of our challenges in this blog. To get us started I thought I would share the following:
We recently asked our children and young people about what life was like living in Angus.
94% of our children and young people responded.
Out of that 94%, 40% responded with answers indicating ‘poor engagement’ with school.
These questions included:
- interest & effort with school work
- the value placed on learning
- truancy
Why is such a pattern emerging?
What activity would you try to test this hypothesis?
Given we all have to go to school for about 11 years, how do we improve engagement and participation?
As a social worker who selected an occupation where I felt I could best work with others to improve the life chances of some of our vulnerable children it is sad to hear from the Wellbeing research that many of the children in Angus have difficulties with their relationships within schools. I think this is quite a complex problem which starts with professionals’ engagement with parents at an earlier stage. However we have an opportunity with part six of the Children and Young People Act 2015 to reach out to some of our most vulnerable children and their families through Early Learning and Childcare for eligible two year olds. Building relationships with families and offering support to parents who have the pressures of caring for young children while often experiencing multiple stresses.
Hopefully we can all take this opportunity to ensure those families who are eligible for funding for their two year old are given the opportunity. If you would like more information go to http://www.angus.gov.uk/info/20267/school_and_nursery_places
Thank you Karen,
Good quality care and learning for our youngest children is absolutely essential. As a follower of Sir Harry Burns, I believe the importance of nurturing children is necessary for improving outcomes later in their lives. See link from Carnegie trust
http://www.carnegieuktrust.org.uk/blog/june-2014/changing-nature-with-nurture
That 40% figure for poor engagement surprised many school staff and I am hopeful that we will hear about some creative ways to improve pupil engagement with schools. I also hope we will think more carefully about the ways in which we evaluate pupil perceptions and feelings about what we deliver in all of our schools. Please share your good practice here!
Trish, thanks. I am sure it did. Our schools are doing a terrific job broadening the curriculum; creating exciting opportunities and experiences and involving our young people. For me, I have valued learning very differently at stages of my life. When I could not connect my learning to how it would help me understand why things were the way they were or how they could be different, I tended to exert little effort. That may say something about my perseverance with my learning at that time, but it may also be about how the learning and connections were defined.
Agreed! And hopefully all the good work staff and pupils are doing together on Growth Mindset will help us all develop enhanced resilience and so persevere when the going gets tough or things feel like a struggle.
Hear, hear! It is vital that we help pupils develop a ‘can do’ attitude. I was one of those learners who needed to know why rules worked…..especially in maths! If I didn’t understand I didn’t engage, and even when I did engage I often didn’t remember. The lack of opportunities to ‘struggle’ and make sense of maths, in my own time and in my own way, very quickly resulted in a fixed mindset – I was no good at it! I know many adults who hold a similar view and who often, unintentionally, pass their own negative attitudes on to their children. We need to turn this around and help learners realise that everyone can succeed in maths. On this note, I was delighted to have the opportunity to catch up with Angus colleagues, old and new, at last week’s Numeracy Event and hear about some of the great work that has been happening around growth mindset in maths – full post to follow!