Sometimes you have to take stock of what is going on. Sometimes you just have to sit down and think about what is happening and how much control you have, or indeed, you want. I have been pondering over this lately. We all know that things change. We all learn to deal with changes the best way we can. However, that doesn’t make them any easier!
I see changes in my family all the time. My mum is a fairly healthy eighty plus but my sisters and I are seeing her needing a bit more help than before. The big change this year is that Mum is also beginning to accept our help, which in a way is an indication that she realises there are certain jobs that she can no longer manage on her own and she is accepting, and often asking for our help. Younger family members on the other hand, are fairly certain that actually they are pretty knowledgeable about most things and having the strength to let them get on with it without my advice is an on-going challenge for someone who is a tad controlling such as I! I also have to keep reminding myself that my youngest son is growing into an independent young man with thoughts and ambitions that are his and for him to act on. Actually I should get that tattooed on my arm and chant it daily but that’s another train of thought!
School is no different really. The difference for me is that in this situation I do honestly believe that people have different skills and knowledge from me, and therefore, I have no fear in giving tasks to people whose skills and knowledge are better suited to mine in order to get the job done successfully. The awfully clever DHT and all his technology know how and his ability to look at data in many forms and make it understandable for me are only two cases in point. I am amazed at how he breaks graphs, tables, columns and coloured boxes into information that I understand, and that all this information and subsequent debate, discussion and sometimes slight hysteria affects the progress of everyone in our school. His patience during such conversations is to be commended, though I am aware of dark mutterings as he strides back to the sanctuary of his office!
Our young people are just the same and through opportunities such as cooperative tasks, I believe that we have the setting to lay some foundations for people working together supportively in order to achieve something. Interestingly though, I also fear that we push our young people into being “cooperative” far too quickly and sometimes, without much planning. I was reading with interest that groups were tricky (not just for schools). In groups of more than four it can be challenging to keep focus and cohesion and ensure that everyone actually contributes. In groups of three two can often get together, do most of the work and the other one is left in limbo. Pairs work together. If they don’t, it is much easier to spot and support. I thought of all the times when, as a class teacher I gaily put children, of all ages, at all stages, into groups for cooperative group work. I always tried to mix personalities and abilities but I never actually thought about the numbers in each group and what would be achieved for each person. I was more focussed on the end product – who will complete the job? Learn new knowledge or a new skill rather than the inter-relationships and dynamics of the group. Looking back I think that with the many youngest classes I worked with – P1 and P2 in particular I should have concentrated on getting positive paired work established for longer before expanding my groups to slightly more. This struck me at the end of last session when the weather was good and the classes were able to have more time outside. I watched young people in teams who had never worked together before (and in some cases they hardly spent any time with each other in and out of school) working under an expectation from the adults that they would take the team spirit and all the work on teambuilding and come together on the field for however long the activity was for. It gave me pause for thought. Team work, effective team work, is very tricky to get right in my opinion. It is always a major “work in progress” on my To Do list.
The Designs for Learning and Designs for Leadership courses are excellent stimulus and support resources for this sort of thing (and so much more, thank you again Lynne and Andrew) and as we manage to get more and more staff members along to these excellent development courses we are seeing the difference, and reaping the benefits in our own school. This is important, this is about supporting our young people in a changing and challenging society but just as importantly not forgetting about the rest of us either. We all need support so as the song says – Don’t forget about me or you…us…them. We all count, we all matter, and we all need support in which ever form it takes.

There are a couple of reasons for this title. At the start of session my friend sent a couple of boxes of stuff I’d left at the previous school. That school is moving to a new building and she’d found loads of stuff such as bandas (loved the smell of a freshly printed banda!) and books etc. that were my own copies. There in the bottom was the booklet form War of The Worlds. Off I went to my CD collection and I have been listening to the sound track of War of The Worlds and loving the wonderful sound of Richard Burton’s narration as ever – I could listen to that man recite the phone book. As well as loving this personally, it reminds me of a great theme I did with a P6 or P7 class way back when. I had been given the topic The Victorians which can be very interesting but didn’t really inspire me, a young teacher in her twenties at the time. However, I had bought a copy of the concept album in 1978, complete with the booklet of illustrations and lyrics so off I went. Being out in “the huts” certainly helped because the music played a huge part in our learning but I remember all the interest we generated in that room about the Victorian era through using this. Linking the learning and creating interest and enjoyment are still the foundations of successful learning. I am not one for topic grids where certain topics were “done” by certain year groups. I have always looked at the skills and knowledge and, as a young teacher, argued that if I was interested, and more importantly the weans were interested, then the skills and knowledge would be easier to attain. I remember one Heedie shaking her head at me sagely and saying on my own head be it when the parents complained – luckily they didn’t and I was smitten by thematic learning.
Thinking outside the box as they say, is what makes effective teachers. Yes, we need to inspire the academic scholars to join our teaching ranks but, I have always been stunned by people who think that they main attribute to being an effective teacher is being considered as clever. I am not belittling the academic requirements of our profession; far from it. We are a graduate profession and rightly so. Teachers hold such power over the course of a young person’s life choices. A teacher can inspire a young person to reach goals. Social, emotional and economic factors loom large, but a teacher can give the support necessary for ambitions and dreams to be fulfilled – or not. A negative experience of education can have long-lasting, detrimental effects on young people that shape their future decisions in so many ways. I believe that today, in Scottish schools today, we are open and transparent enough to ensure that teaching that does not match the needs of our young people is tackled and rectified. I am not saying that we have it sorted but we are trying. A main focus this year for us as a staff, is based in continuity and progression of skills, and knowledge, for all young people in their core learning. It is tricky stuff and I know that a few heeds have been nippin’ with it all. Having our tracking system established is a huge help in focussing in on the main learning intentions. The stuff you’ll live and die by the awfully clever DHT is heard to shout on numerous occasions. Important stuff to consider for everyone as the nights draw in – and that is another point; all this has to be sustainable within a realistic timeframe. Being at school from very early to very late isn’t the answer, it isn’t healthy, and above all I am frightened of the dark so again, as autumn arrives we should adjust our time accordingly.
Now, all this links to autumn where this blog started. I love autumn, it is my favourite season. I love the crisp sunny days like yesterday and I even like the gale force wind and rain of today (because I am inside). It is also when we are settled back into routines. School is settled, plans are being put into action and almost everyone has stopped crying when they come in! I have started meeting with staff to talk over their long-term thematic plans, opportunities for linked learning and to hear their thoughts of their new classes. Teachers have been assessing in a variety of ways and are making the learning pathways for their young people. The teachers wrote their first evaluation blogs last week so I have been able to get a flavour of what individuals are thinking about and considering. Examples of learning are going home for parents and families to share and I am beginning to feel that we are going about our business as usual.
I was out of school for a couple of days recently. This is always a bit of a dilemma for a Heedie because having a day out of school has to be very worthwhile. School doesn’t stop because I am not there and neither do the things I need to do just not appear on my desk because I am not in the building. I never worry that things will go awry because the awfully clever DHT and the staff are more than capable of dealing with all, and everything and anything (I came back once to a full school evacuation- going according to plan I may add). My time is precious so being out has to be useful and pertinent to the improvement of my school, and me. Sometimes the best information is gleaned over coffee when chatting with colleagues and that is when my belief in our education system gets a shot in the arm. We are all there to make a difference for children and young people. We are all there to be the best that we can, and support and challenge others to be likewise. We all have similar stories which make us laugh and shake our heads in equal measure and we often pick up wee tried and tested tips on working through a challenge. I like autumn time – now roll on Christmas!

Quite an apt show tune as I sit and think about the first two weeks of the new session. It has been a funny couple of weeks- both moments of laughter (slightly hysterical from me at one point) and moments of quizzical groans and an odd growl from the awfully clever DHT.
I did smile when telling P2 that I was going to be teaching them for part of the morning and a wee lad quite earnestly asked if I was a teacher. I assured him that I was and, a long time ago I was the teacher of a P2 class just like them. Was that when you were really, really young, like a girl? He enquired further. I did say that yes, it was when I was younger. Putting his head to once side he paused thoughtfully and then delivered the killer blow- yes, he said that would be a long, long, long time ago. Out of the mouths of babes as the saying goes!
This is the unsettling time of a new session because we are all finding out who everyone is in some way or another and getting to know each other for the first time, or all over again after the summer break. We have several new teachers in our team this session. Three of them are spending their probation year with us and therefore they are getting to know everyone, and our routines from scratch. It is a hugely exciting and challenging journey that they are setting out on, and equally, we, as their mentoring school have a responsibility to support and challenge their professional development too. The new revised Full Standard for registration is high on our agenda as a teaching team and we have already had the first of several meetings about this continuous professional structure and its implications for all of us, no matter what stage of our career we are at. I am expecting interesting debate and reflection from all of us as we familiarise ourselves with the guidance. An aspect that is certainly catching most teachers’ eye is the individual responsibility for continued professional development. This is always a thorny issue in times of budget constraints and time/workload issues so it is certainly on my To Do list for the foreseeable future.
Getting to know our colleagues and our new classes always takes a few weeks. Even taking a class, or part of your class, on for another year can surprise you as our young people change and develop over the summer holidays. There are also the usual groans from at least one teacher in this position that the class seemed to have forgotten everything that they had been taught the year before. Luckily, experience has taught us that, like us, the young people do get back into the swing of things pretty quickly.
Our newest P1 pupils are also embarking on their journey and, although we know most of them thanks to having our nursery class, and really effective transition routines, again, this is a hugely important time for staff to be clear about who they are and what they do and, importantly, finding out about just who these eager young people are in front of them. Things are going really well (touching wood as I type). Our youngsters survived the shock of coming back on a daily basis and yes, as usual, coming back after a weekend to do it all again did unsettle a couple. As I said we are getting to know them better and, they in turn are settling into our routines too. The biggest challenge has been the dining hall. When you stop to think about it; nothing at home or nursery can really prepare you for the routines of a school lunch hall. I found myself in a heated discussion with a P1 pupil when his behaviour was less than acceptable. “Well,” he retorted angrily. “ I don’t like your lunch anyway and you will never be invited to a dinner party at my house! “ However, having said that for the rest of the week, with support from staff and our P7 Lunch Buddies, he has been just fine. When do you get the children to line up, take a tray and cutlery (not a word that some of our children were familiar with – much better to stick to knife, fork and spoon at the beginning I have discovered!) and then when you are finished go and sort out where everything goes away? Very few opportunities when aged four or five except in school. I have to say that our senior pupils have shone at helping out with these routines and our youngest pupils have settled in really well. We are now, after two weeks, at the stage where we are actually having time to chat with all the pupils as they have lunch and that is always a good way of getting to know them. I tend to be in and around the lunch hall over lunch time whilst the awfully clever DHT “mingles” outside. We then grab a quick bite to eat when everyone is back in class and we always have something to tell each other about a conversation or something we saw. It is an invaluable way to get to know the young people we work with. From a family event, to a birthday, to something that is worrying them, we have an opportunity to have a chat and show interest – and help where we can. Many a support strategy has been nurtured through something said or done over lunchtimes. Equally, it is just nice to sit down and chat for a minute or two, especially with some youngsters who I may not see too much of during the normal running of the day.
There are also parents and families who don’t know us well yet, and some new families who have just moved in and so it is all really new to them. It is a time of everyone starting off by just saying hello and I hope, getting to know us well as we work together. One of our newest pupils informed me that he was in charge of everything and he didn’t like what I was saying…….as I said; a time for getting to know each other – he has a better understanding of my role now!

Yep, we are all back; boys, girls, staff. Everyone came bursting into school last week. For some it was the start of a whole new experience, for others it was as if we had never been away! The big difference this year for me was how well everyone looked – adults and children. The lovely summer weather, here and abroad, meant that everyone just seemed more relaxed and rested. That feeling last for me until about 8.40 am on the second day when the school opened for pupils – then it was hit the ground running time again. By the end of the first day when it was mid-afternoon and coffee, lunch or even a comfort break were all still on the To Do list I began to wonder if I was up for my thirty-fifth new term! The memories of summer conversations with a dear close friend, who brings out her pension papers wistfully at least once a month (not a teacher), were beginning to take on a new slant! Maybe I was not as unready for thoughts of retirement as I kept saying? However, the minute the bell rang, and the doors opened we were back in business and so was I.
We have had a great first week of term. There was a buzz about the place from the start. Our newest pupils came in fairly willingly with only a few tears (grown-ups too). This was our first session where the newest pupils didn’t have a half day start so from day one they were faced with a whole day at school – including lunch! Now I quite often debate the merits of some education systems where children start their formal education at an older age. I have had, and still do hold, some reservations about just how young our new P1 pupils are when they start off. Curriculum for Excellence, the developments and joining up of all thee experiences youngsters have are, beginning to address some of my issues and queries. However, this is something that I think we must never underestimate in its power and effect on the long-term learning journey of our young people. These early experiences building on the home and pre-school experiences are crucial to getting the foundations for lifelong learning in place. We have now got an additional teacher on our staff that has enabled us to have a teacher full-time this session in our nursery class. This is really exciting for my established, highly skilled team of early year workers. We have had teacher input over the last couple of sessions on a rota basis that gave us valuable input and support but left us wanting more. It is a fabulous opportunity for us to cement and develop the links between our nursery class and our early years classes. We have several key developments going on this session that will all impact positively on our learning experiences in school but enhancing the early years team is a major asset- watch this space.
We also welcomed three probationary teachers this session. It is always good to have fresh ideas and experiences to share in our team, and equally, we have a wealth of skills and knowledge as a learning community to share with them. So much of what we do in school just happens (a theme I often reflect on) and the skills of established teachers and support staff are often just taken as” just what we do”. It is only when we interact with people embarking on this amazing journey that it can be brought to the fore that it isn’t just a case of what we do – our engaging, developing and motivating learning communities are built on knowledge, understanding, empathy, humour and a healthy dose of self-evaluation to name but a few. The good-will and unpaid overtime are a given. Yes, I can say that it is good to be back.

Phil Collins has sort of gone off my music radar but in his Genesis days and his music in the 80s he was on my playlist a lot. This was one of my favourite post Genesis tracks and I found it the other day. It fits exactly where we are as we go into the last few weeks of the session. As always, we don’t know how we are going to get it all done, and as usual, we will. The Education minister is quoted in the papers to say that he is listening to teachers regarding concerns over workload, especially paperwork. And this would be addressed. Now, as a school, and especially as the HT and DHT, we have worked to streamline our planning formats. We firmly believe that planning, delivery and assessment are all crucial corner stones of an effective learning community. However, we need to be free to teach and to spend time with the young people and actually engage in learning. I believe that we have a fairly sound balance in long and short term planning, tracking and assessment data but it is always something that we revisit and discuss throughout each session. The awfully clever DHT is focussed on meaningful assessment and tracking that really influences the teaching and learning for all in our school community. None of us has time to waste. Staff support each other on a daily basis both formally and informally and, against all odds, we get it done. The biggest challenge is managing our development and progress with external demands. Therefore when a new reporting format was introduced we got to work as early as possible. The new software usage, technical hitches and just getting used to a different approach caused great angst and many late nights for everyone. We have changed our reporting timetable to free time and ensure that we don’t have duplication but it has been a challenge. It has taken away my family time at the weekend over the last couple of weeks. I fear I may have missed our Scottish summer and I hope that before next session we, as a larger group, have the opportunity to reflect with colleagues on how we develop this further. Paperwork to one side, the challenges of budgeting come to the fore at this time of the session and, as everyone knows; times are hard! Maybe a bit harder than I had actually taken on-board. In fact I got such a shock that I did send off an email asking if that was really the final figure! Once I had started breathing again I knew that of course it was, and actually I knew that and I have planned for it all. It doesn’t make it any easier. The core of effective teaching is squarely with an effective teacher but resources do play their part. The awfully clever DHT and I have worked with people to ensure that we are getting best value for our money. Our resources have to be the very best and absolutely what we need to enhance the learning and teaching for everyone in our school community. What we mustn’t forget is our biggest and most important resource is our people. Our staff, who I know as throughout every school, are beginning to wane, are the glue that keeps our school improving and delivering effective learning opportunities. We are saying goodbye to our probationer teacher and welcoming two new colleagues who will join us next year along with our newly appointed nursery teacher so it is exciting to get ready to welcome new people into our community. The awfully clever DHT is putting together our Standards and Quality report, looking back at this session and I have collated all our information to finish our School Improvement Plan giving us our template for next session. Already I am excited about the focus areas we have agreed on and on-going developments and new projects that are planned for next session. My box of “school stuff” is beginning to fill up for some holiday work but I won’t be looking in it until after I have relaxed in some summer sun in France, and as many books are lined up for school work, so are those filling up the Kindle (and several paperbacks just in case of a technical hitch). We are on the final count down, we doubt that we will get it all done, we all need our holidays; children and adults, it is the final of the French Open, Queens starts off the grass court season next week and Wimbledon is round the corner. We have had a couple of BBQs, there has been some sunshine and so it is every year, and every year we get there – against all odds, and come back ready to do it all again in August – even better.

I have a fairly eclectic taste in music and the title of this blog came about partly because of this. I am listening to this classic being sung by Orlando Napier. I was looking for a Ray Charles loop to listen to as I type and his name came up too so I am having a listen to him. The title was also apt because we are hurtling along to the end of yet another session and as ever there are things coming in from everywhere and deadlines to meet (with a few near misses, but so far so good) but we also have the start of the holiday season. A long held conversation topic around this time is how long we teachers are having long summer holidays. Now, that isn’t as black and white as it may first appear, not least the split between holidays and school closure days which is now in place. We also have the whole thorny issue of working from home and in holidays. I like to think that I am a pretty organised person in all aspects of life but especially in school. I also take it as a given that although, thirty odd years down the line, I do not take work home regularly during the week ( as opposed to when I was a class teacher. I had marking down to a fine art most times but planning and making resources etc. were still mostly done at the dining room table). However, I do spend time each weekend catching up on things. My choice entirely and it suits my life. I just don’t have all the time I need even though I am in school for at least eight hours a day, and, I am afraid of the dark so late nights at school are few and far between and only at times of sheer panic! No, my tipping point comes with the conversations about the cost of holidays and the unfairness of childcare costs and how much easier being in my profession makes all that. Really?
I have always marvelled at the way some people seem to think that the holiday/school closure days had to be a deciding factor in my career choice. I don’t decide the holidays. Do I appreciate them? Absolutely. I sit and listen when friends in other professions talk about putting their holidays in, or being unable to get the weeks they wanted because someone got there first. I listen to things such as taking a week off to prepare for a big family event such as a wedding. We don’t have that in our professional lives. Doctor and dentist appointments can end up in a game of “pin the tail on the donkey” as you go further and further away from the date you should be there because appointments after school are like gold dust. I have no problem with appointments in school time for our pupils when there is no alternative and I appreciate that our youngsters are taken away and brought back as quickly as possible. I was once in fear of being deregistered by my dentist practice because I kept cancelling check-ups because I couldn’t get away even though I’d made the appointments in their last slots. Yes, emergencies happen and we deal with them, covering classes and rearranging things; we all have families. We have lives outside of school and we juggle and compromise like every other family.
So why am I writing about this? Well, I was putting together the newsletter for the next couple of weeks and I struck me that there were a lot of things going on. Some of the annual events such as end of session assemblies or the transition visits are already set and I could give dates. However, there are things that come up that we perhaps don’t have a lot of notice of or just can’t firmly plan for because of other considerations. We always try to give as much advanced notice as possible but sometimes we do only have a few days. Our senior class have the opportunity to spend an additional day at the academy next week. This is a great idea and we managed to get it all organised within a week or so. Our Walk Around the Classroom visits will be taking place early next month and classes will decide when suits them best to invite folk in. I also know that some of our young people will miss these events and experiences because they won’t be in school, they will be on a holiday. It is part and parcel of school life and family life is important. I understand. Family time is at the centre of most of our lives, certainly for me and I treasure mine. However, I have to plan our school year as if we are all going to be there every day, each day, all session. So if a holiday time is out with your control or family circumstances make it necessary, then so be, it but we will carry on as usual. Me? Well, husband has it all planned out and he reliably tells me a weekly count down and we are into single figures. Great.

Against All Odds

Just found myself listening to some Genesis and Phil Collins and I always liked this song from him and at this stage in the session I thought the title was pretty apt. My favourite Genesis song is “I Know What I like (in your wardrobe at night)” and the footnote says 1976! Anyway, best not dwell on that!
For those of us that managed to get up with the alarm, be it the mechanical kind or mum‘s tone getting more threatening, we tumbled back into school this week and settled into the final term. I know it is often said that it is a sign of old age when you notice how quickly time passes but the rate in which we have reached this final term of our session is really frightening. Husband is crossing off the weeks until we go off on our annual holiday to France and he has been telling me all weekend that in ten weeks’ time we will be packing up to go. Ten weeks? On one hand that is great – especially with the thought of the peace and quiet of rural France with sunshine and books in the garden but on the other hand the clock is ticking for all the tasks that need to be completed by the end of session. The learning and teaching goes on as ever and this week the awfully clever DHT was continuing the assessment tracking meetings with staff, focussing everyone on where we have been and what the next steps are for us as a learning community. I have been working on our School Improvement Plan, taking all the ideas, evidence and comments from this session’s focus areas and where we have thought our journey will take us. This has to be shared with everyone involved in school in such a way that it makes sense and easily shows our pathways of learning and development. It may seem odd to be working on this now with still nearly 3 months of this session to get through but in school we are always looking forward, to the next milestone check, the next piece of learning whether it is knowledge or skills, how we practice these and use them in a variety of ways to help us all to progress. It doesn’t mean that we have taken our eyes of the ball for now but, especially for the awfully clever DHT and I, it is our time to look to the future. I always choose to spend some time of collating all our comments and evidence and conversations about our way forward during the spring break. It is my choice but for me, it then gives me time to speak with other stakeholders such as our young people and parents who I can only see during school time. All that effort can’t be put into something that we don’t then refer to and use throughout the session. As a community we need leadership and management but these aren’t confined to senior management so our School Improvement Plan reflects the roles of everyone. However, some jobs just get done and no one really thinks how or when; the requisition of materials for next session that involves office staff checking stock and organising distribution of new stuff. Class teachers filling out their lists for next session and wondering how many pritsticks I am actually going to buy. We haven’t even got to jotters yet! Do you know how many different space sizes there are between the lines in jotters? We don’t go through a lot of jotters and teachers have their favourites but, whereas they like the ones with the red covers, or the blue, we have to know about feint lines, centimetre spaces and with or without margins! Anyway, as the title says; against all odds we usually get it all sorted by August. Having our plan about where we are going is important but actually having the tools to work with is the next foundation stone. These are difficult times for everyone when it comes to value for money and schools are no exception. Canny buying and making the budget count is a long process. I always start with the staff because they are the ones who know what they need and use most effectively. Can we buy everything we would like? No. Do we buy the quantities everyone would like? (back to pritsticks- important pieces of kit but expensive), again no but we try to make it workable. Balancing the costs is time consuming and quite honestly makes my head hurt but it is one of those things we need to do each year to be ready. We have to make sure that we do what we said we’d do, we have the tools to do it with and we build on it. Against the odds, we usually do and so as I get a bit twitchy thinking about everything that has to be done in this final term – haven’t mentioned transitions in and out and internally, haven’t mentioned Sports Day, haven’t mentioned reports (and the new system we are going to use) but I am sure that during the coming weeks I will be writing about one and all of them. For just now I am going back to Peter Gabriel (preferred him to Phil Collins), The Doobie Brothers and a coffee.

This week at school was one of very mixed emotions. Again and again I was struck by how people act impulsively and do not contemplate the consequences. This manifested itself in a very visible way this week with conversations outside of school, but also, in several little conversations, that, while said and done in a matter of minutes, left ripples of angst and agitation.

Parents’ Evenings are held in our school twice each session with formal and informal written reports and updates throughout. Parents’ Nights are always busy and it is a chance to really focus for those short 10 minutes on the young people we work with. We believe that there should never be a “bolt from the blue” moment for parents and carers in this short snapshot; important issues are always conveyed as soon as possible to parents and carers. Sometimes it is the little point such as glasses no longer being needed (or so we are told) which actually should always be worn, sometimes it is a wee niggle that shared with the teacher can quietly be rectified without the youngster ever knowing about our intervention. It is also an opportunity for the awfully clever DHT and I to just to say hello and catch up on things. On one evening a mum was staying after the appointment time to help out at an information stall. Dad was duly sent off with the children. As mum was chatting to me, about 10 minutes later one of her daughters appeared. “Why are you back?” she asked. “Oh, we have never been away, “she said with a sigh. “Dad’s still talking to Mr McLaren.” My guess was that by the animated chat going on it wasn’t all school related stuff either. That is what is nice about having folk in school. I know how hard it can be for working parents to get to many school events. I am a working mum, and was one from when my son was months old. I know what it is like to miss events and organise other family members to be there. Thank goodness his dad was a shift worker – he saw much more than I ever did.
In a couple of weeks we have our annual Open Evening which is a chance for the young people to show off all there learning and the school is full of colour and chat and laughter. It is a really nice social occasion as well as another way to let families know about what is going on in school; especially when the stock answer to “What were you doing today at school?” is “Nothing much.” There is never, ever “nothing” going on in school! We have a large outdoor space around our school and, as I was writing about previously, our parents and friends of our school community have been super in helping us fundraise to develop a sensory garden in one area of our outdoor space. Years of fundraising events and letters for grants have been undertaken and finally we are working with a landscape gardener and we have a timeline for work beginning on the garden. Everyone in school has been involved in this, talking about ideas, looking at catalogues and we, adults and young people, will be putting together plans of what we hope our garden will look like to share with everyone. A variety of local authority services have been helpful and supportive and we have been getting more and more excited about the thought of this outdoor area. One major factor was security. With young plants and furniture and mosaics all planned we were very mindful that our corner plot is open to the elements (and it is snowing outside as I type this) and, unfortunately we have had several experiences of vandalism that have destroyed some previous outdoor work that the young people have undertaken. With all this in mind we now have a fence around the large area. It is a fence that has been used in other schools and it is grey. Not the most ornate fence, but a fence that will give us added safety, protect our garden and give us a background to decorate and adorn as we progress our development further. We aim to have colourful plants such as honeysuckle and ivy growing up, where we hope to have boards designed by our young people around it showing aspects of our school community and using commercial fun activity boards and games on the inside – who knows, one day we may even paint it. However, this all takes commitment, money and time and since it has taken seven years of fundraising to develop our outside space to this stage, we are in it for the long haul! My end of term newsflash has been somewhat superseded by some less than supportive comments posted online, which were disappointing reading. However, we are all equally assured that we will have an outside space to be very proud of in the not too distant future and our young people’s experiences both socially and academically will be enhanced because of all the work that is going on. Everyone positively involved deserves a huge thank you for getting us this far and the next stages will be great fun to be involved with too.
Was I a bit down by Friday? Actually, yes, but tomorrow is the start of a whole new week with our P7 pupils off on a first ever cluster residential visit for a few days and singing events, and lots of Roman soldiers popping up all over the place, to say nothing of sloths and kolas ,jungle creepers and penguins and magic wands! Yep, nothing much is going on at our school!

I like David Bowie. I like the music, his changing personas but I didn’t like the last song he released one bit. There you go; I’ll just enjoy his back catalogue as ever.
Life On Mars is pretty apt as I settle down to write this because I have been thinking about all the changes going on in education these days and more than once this week I have thought that I’d dropped into some parallel universe as I listened to people and watched them thinking “are you serious?” Hopefully I have managed not to actually say this out loud, but really it has been close- and living on Mars may have made a nice change some times this week! My dark mutterings and much rolling of eyes are nothing new. Now though, I am wondering how much of it all is just me (age) or are things more complex and frustrating for everyone. Listening to colleagues and several close friends who are also school leaders I know that I am not alone. I also often wonder how we can explain what schools are, and get the message out there about what we are all about. It is a difficult concept sometimes; to fully appreciate what we do and how learning is nurtured. It can be a challenge to think of various ways in which we can let people see and become involved in what our school community is all about. . As a staff we have started talking about next session and behind the scenes the awfully clever DHT and I have one eye on the here and now, and one firmly on the future. I know it is midterm when I create a new folder on my computer with the following session’s dates as a title. I did that a couple of weeks ago and the 2013/14 folder is starting to fill up. We have Parent/teacher meetings coming up, we have an open evening later this month to let everyone come and see all the diverse and challenging learning going on and yesterday saw the Parent Council organising a successful Coffee Morning for our outdoor spaces projects. . We are fortunate that, like so many schools, we have a supportive and proactive body of parents who help us enormously. One big project is developing our outdoor spaces. This has been an on-going project for many years and we have had many successes such as our wooden adventure trail that has been enjoyed for several years now, seating and plants. We are very lucky that we have such large outdoor spaces around our school but, as with everything there are challenges. We have been working towards developing a sensory garden area and through fundraising by our parents, a successful bid for funding and the support of council services we are on track to have a wonderful space to learn, play and relax in by the end of this school session. This is equally important to our school community as having the new workbooks or maths software and I get just as much pleasure from hearing about the different outdoor planters and bins as I do when I see the young people engaged in their learning with colourful displays and learning prompts around their classrooms and the communal areas of the school. This particular project will be a very visible thank you to everyone who has helped us fundraise and all the school community will benefit from having this space. Then of course there is all the behind the scenes stuff going on. Nothing ever happens without planning and that is always on going. Thinking about next session we have made up our list of essential items such pencils and pritsticks (you wouldn’t believe how many of these wee things we need in a year) and we have gazed longingly at all sorts of glitzy craft things and yes, as always when I am shopping, a few non-essential items have slipped into the trolley – well, everyone needs colour in their lives so sequins and fluorescent paint really are must haves! I have appointments with a couple of people from literacy and numeracy companies whose products we use lined up too as we need to top up some stock. This is my once a year get together to talk about what we need, looking at new materials and generally having a look to see how best to spend our money. I am not at ease with budgets and it is very much a combined effort with staff thinking carefully about what they need and what they’d like, and the awfully clever DHT and I marrying that with what we’ve got available. Do we manage? Yes, but sometimes it is the budgets we have no control over, such as staffing that cause us the biggest challenges and they are to the fore too just now. With nursery places and primary one enrolment and class configurations and options submitted to the centre, we are looking firmly at the transition arrangements for everyone but especially our youngest and oldest pupils as both get ready for a major transition in August. So much of what will happen next session starts with decisions from out with school and sometimes I can feel as if we are on Mars as decisions are taken and filtered through to us. Sometime those decisions knock our plans sideways, sometimes they enable us to continue on a route we had started planning, and sometimes it is back to the drawing board with a blank sheet of paper. As always I spend lots of time talking to people face to face, on the telephone and via e-mail and as always we never lose sight of our young people. We are their advocate in so many situations and decisions and we champion our community in many forums. So how would I describe what our school is all about whether the visitors were from Mars or along the road? You know, I almost think that our community could speak for itself – certainly I believe that our young people could give a good idea about what we do in school and as a staff we share a similar vision about effective teaching and learning and hopefully sometime before June the outdoor space will better reflect our ethos too. Maybe I’ll give Mars a miss after all (not much atmosphere anyway I hear).

One of my favourite songs- always makes me smile and no, I can never hold that note! (Can’t hold any note!). Released in 1977! I also like the Maroon 5 version but Bill Withers always makes me relax a wee bit more and I need that this morning! I am not smiling about Glow which is trying my patience about as much as the Scottish national rugby side who are in action this afternoon. They can do it! They just don’t do it consistently! But I’ll be watching, singing Flower of Scotland at the top of my voice with tears streaming down my face! (Any time, any place if I hear Flower of Scotland I cry). As for Glow…..Over this weekend, as always, I have been commenting on teacher’s evaluation blogs and my comments have disappeared into cyberspace right, left and centre! Thankfully I do formal comments on word first then cut and paste so I have a copy- just can’t post many of them! Leaving that now before I get cross! I don’t know if I’ll be able to post this but I will have the word copy – technology!
Anyway, technology aside I am full of the joys of having been on a course that I really enjoyed. I cannot remember the last time I felt like that about a course. I don’t go on many for a variety of reasons ranging from cost to content. However, it came to light that I had put myself down for a three day course way back in September for last week. It had totally been locked away in some dark corner of my mind and if a colleague hadn’t emailed to say see you there I would have been a no-show participant! Even up to the last minute I had doubts about spending 3 days out of school on another leadership thing! And it was on the back of a school break and on and on went the excuses. However, Last Monday off I went, picked up said colleague and found a couple of others and teamed up with a group of colleagues, many of whom I hadn’t met before. The Designs for Leadership course was so good I didn’t doodle once! I can count on one hand the number of courses I can say that about. Andrew and Lynne were clearly passionate and very well informed about the whole idea of engaging and developing learners – no matter the age, stage, post etc. The good humour, mixed with a variety of activities that challenged and supported us as leaders, really had me hooked. The coffee and cookies also helped! All the guilt that I felt melted away as I enjoyed the discussions and debates, enjoyed meeting new colleagues and sharing anecdotes relating to school and our own lives – hysterical laughter at one account of an attempt to learn to drive by one colleague and empathy with stories of relatives and their foibles!!!Talk of food, wine, France and dogs were also in the mix and it was very enjoyable.
Mostly though, a huge point for me was when someone said” this reaffirms how important it is to invest in ourselves as leaders.” I had time to reflect and discuss issues that are important to the wellbeing and continuing progress of our learning community at every level. It also reminded me that we are not in it alone and that many of the things that make my brows crease were doing exactly the same to other colleagues in other schools. Everything we discussed and explored affected everything about our school community. There were no lightning bolt moments when the secrets of successful and effective leadership were revealed – there aren’t any secrets and no one size fits all exists. What there was, were three days to think, to explore and to talk shop without having to be on duty to everyone about everything. I love my job and I manage usually to roll with the punches but some days are just frantic! I wasn’t “watching my custard” as I was asked to do a few weeks ago when one of our youngest people left his pudding to go to the toilet during lunch. I wasn’t answering and deleting emails (though, yes I do get them on my phone and yes, I checked them) and I wasn’t juggling all the plates at once (I’d left the awfully clever DHT to do that, and, as ever, he did). I was thinking and considering and learning and it was great. There were two of us there from our cluster of schools and we both would like to take this pedagogy and practices forward within our own schools – and share it even further, so we are going armed with a plan to our next cluster meeting to talk to our colleagues about it, and financial schemes to get more people on the courses. As my focus turns to the School Improvement Plan for next session I really felt a wee smile twitching. I was up for the challenges again. Oh, and as a reality check – no one missed me at all! (That is surely the sign of effective leadership? Aye, right!)